This 1968 racer has a helicopter engine

The good folks over at Goodwood Road & Racing have brought our attention to a little-known delight: the Howmet TX.

The Howmet TX looks like a racecar from the Sixties, and that’s because it is. But it certainly doesn’t sound like a racecar from the Sixties, because it’s got a helicopter engine in it. And at this point, all belief and knowledge is suspended as we venture into the world of the unknown.

It gets its motivation force from a Continental Aviation TS325-1 – the lump from an aborted military helicopter project, apparently – which pushes out around 350bhp and 650lb ft of torque. That’s plenty for something built in 1968.

You will notice that it has three giant exhaust pipes hanging out of the back – one for the wastegate and a pair for the turbine itself – and we’re told it runs a single-speed gearbox, for very complicated mechanical reasons you don’t really want to get into at this moment.

No, you will want to hear it start up. And, incidentally, the video above shows just that. It’s been filmed at Imola alongside other period-correct racers, so while the noise gets a little overwhelmed by good old fashioned pistons exploding on track, the start-up procedure is something to behold.

And also a little bit terrifying. Step forward, brave adventurer, into a world that could have been…