Rolls-Royce Merlin Rolls-Royce Merlin The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British liquid-cooled V-12 piston aero engine of 27-litres (1,650 cu in) capacity. Rolls-Royce designed the engine and first ran it in 1933 as a private venture. Initially known as the PV-12, it was later called "Merlin" following the company convention of naming its piston aero engines after birds of prey. After several modifications, the first production variants of the PV-12 were completed in 1936. The first operational aircraft to enter service using the Merlin were the Fairey Battle, Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire. The Merlin remains most closely associated with the Spitfire and
Rolls-Royce V8 engine by Volkswagen Group by customer demand. Renamed the L675, it remains under continuous development, despite an attempt to replace it with the 6.0L W12 Volkswagen engine. The Bentley brand and all former Rolls-Royce and Bentley automotive manufacturing assets have been owned by Volkswagen AG since 1998. "For further detail of the L Series V8 engines developed since the 1950s for use in Rolls-Royce (to 1998) and Bentley (ongoing) automobiles, see Rolls-Royce - Bentley L Series V8 engine" Around 1987, the requirement for a more modern, downsized V8 engine was identified. Engine designers Derek Jackson and Geoff Attwood performed the majority