The Hall-Scott

Sir,

I read with considerable interest the article “A Mystery Solved” (page 219, March 1974) concerning a Hall-Scott.

As a postscript to this, it may be of interest to you, that I have had a fair amount of experience with Hall-Scott V12 marine engines, produced during the last war, and installed in various high-speed rescue launches. Two such craft finished up in the hands of the Royal New Zealand Air Force after the war, hence my contact with them.

I am enclosing a few pages selected from a workshop manual and I hope you will find them interesting, particularly the single o.h.c. valve-gear arrangement, and the dual-coil ignition system complete with that “modern innovation”, ballast-resistance.

These engines, like most, had their idiosyncrasies, and one in particular comes to mind. The camshaft sprockets were not keyed or positively located on the camshafts, but held only by friction on a large-diameter shallow taper and centre bolt. Should, for any reason, the engine have backfired whilst running under load, there was a fair chance of the sprocket slipping, with rather disastrous results!

Fuel consumption at cruising r.p.m. was in the region of 30 g.p.h.—each A bit rough at today’s prices.

As a postscript to a postscript, I would like to recall the last occasion I wrote to Motor Sport. It was in 1949-50, as II rather youthful corporal in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, that I wrote asking for information and technical data for my 192426 (?) Rhode!

You really made my day some weeks later, when my name appeared in print, featuring in the “We Hear” columns, although at the time I was a little put out by your remarking that I had “unearthed” a 1926 Rhode! It was my first car, and my pride and joy. Not an investment for the future, but bread and butter transport.

Crawley J. T. Moran