It ain’t pretty, that’s for sure. But it is unique and it once held the record for the most powerful car in the world. Say hello to The Beast, a one-off creation that is now up for sale.

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Going Back

The Beast started out life in 1966. It was conceived as a road-going car and is powered by a 27-litre V12 Meteor Rolls-Royce engine. Yeah, you read that correctly, twenty seven litres. John Dodd, with whom the car became synonymous, acquired shortly after it was built. 

Dodd built and fitted an automatic transmission to the original rolling chassis. He then had a custom body made to fit over the box-section frame. The Beast is nearly six metres in length although it only has two seats. And, cheekily, it wears a Rolls-Royce badge. In fact, even after a court battle the car’s official documentation refers to it as a Rolls-Rolls.

Click here to read our driving review of the Rolls-Royce Spectre prototype.

Most Powerful

The heart of The Beast is its naturally-aspirated V12 engine which reportedly delivers around 560 kW (750 bhp) at the flywheel. When The Beast was featured in evo magazine, its creator claimed it produces 716 kW (950 bhp) with 1 030 N.m of torque.

Its massive power output allowed it to achieve a top speed of 295 km/h in 1973. The Guinness Book of Records listed it as the most powerful road car in the world in 1977. Thankfully it has disc brakes at all four corners. You can read more about its colourful history at this link. You can watch The Beast in err… full flight in the video below: