‘The Beast’ at auction: John Dodd’s famous Merlin-engined monster is up for sale

Auction listings like this don’t come along every day. In fact, we may as well go as far as to say they absolutely never do. Although today might just be the exception to that rule.

You see, this is John Dodd’s legendary ‘The Beast’, and it’s heading up for sale on Car & Classic next week.

Now, if you’ve never heard of The Beast, the first thing you need to know is what’s under that 10ft long bonnet. It’s a 27-litre V12 Rolls-Royce Merlin engine – yes, the very same one as deployed (in supercharged form) in the Spitfire. 

Originally conceived in 1966, The Beast’s rolling chassis was created by fellow engineer Paul Jameson and first featured a Rolls-Royce Meteor tank engine. Dodd – who was a gearbox guru – built the transmission and then eventually bought the whole project from Jameson for £400 in the early 1970s.

A body was then built by a company called Fibre Glass Repairs and The Beast was fitted with a Rolls-Royce grille and mascot. Sadly, that original was damaged by a fire whilst Dodd was driving in Sweden, but he rebuilt the car with the current Merlin engine, a Silver Shadow grille and that iconic beige paintwork. 

Rolls-Royce took a dim view of Dodd’s creation and took him to court, hence why the car now has its creator’s initials front and centre. In 1977 the Guinness Book of World Records listed The Beast as “the world’s most powerful car” and in 1973 the RAC recorded it at a top speed of 183mph. However, although he was approaching his 90th birthday, late last year Dodd had a new rear axle fitted and (according to his son) was prepping to bring the car over to the UK with the hope of hitting 200mph and recording a 10-second run at Santa Pod Raceway. Sadly, his health deteriorated and he passed away in December 2022.

So, Dodd’s family has decided that The Beast should go to a new home, and we’re just praying that whoever places the winning bid uses the car on the road as Dodd did so frequently. Rumour has it that it’s making between 750bhp and 1,000bhp, and that it’ll do somewhere between two and six mpg. Yikes. Still, just imagine this thing – which ironically is still listed as a Rolls-Royce on its V5 – blasting past you on the motorway…