“Rodzilla” – A 1928 Studebaker With Twin-Turbocharged Tank Engine

Now here is something you don’t see every day – it’s a 7 feet high 1928 Studebaker fitted with a 29-liter (1,791 cubic inches) V12 twin-turbocharged Continental AV1790 tank engine!

As you can see from the pictures the chassis is not a standard one and was actually sourced from a truck as the engine alone weighs a tone and delivers a massive 1400 HP. All this needs some technical know-how of how it may all come together.

The builders report a quarter-mile time of around 11 seconds. You probably won’t want to take your grandmother grocery shopping in it. We suspect that the torque (1,800+ pound-feet of torque) really does the job of pulling the nine-tone monster.
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Once it gets going stopping the beast is no easy task. The builders have developed a unique braking system especially to cope with the speed and weight of this spectacular hot rod.

The car itself does about 3.5 miles per gallon and has covered around 15000+ miles so far without too many issues although if the power is applied to quickly the engine has been known to disintegrate transmissions and rear-axles!

The unit is similar to the one that powers Jay Leno’s well-known Blastolene Special.

You can see an interview in the video below with the builders via the Yokohama Motorsports You Tube channel.