Here’s What Made The Legendary Rolls-Royce Meteor Engine So Great – SlashGear

Rolls-Royce began collecting Merlin engines from downed aircraft during the early periods of WWII. The purpose was to reuse some of the parts for future applications. Everything changed when British tank manufacturer Leyland approached Rolls-Royce for a new and more powerful tank engine. The Rolls-Royce team led by William Arthur Robotham took a modified Merlin Mk3 engine made from salvaged parts, removed the supercharger, re-engineered the engine rotation into the reverse order, and shoehorned it inside a Crusader tank.

Despite not having its trademarked supercharger, the first Meteor engine had 550 to 600 horsepower, more than twice the output of a Liberty V12. These are impressive numbers, given the Meteor has the same V12 and 27-liter displacement. The tank recorded an excellent 50 mph top speed, and the added power means engineers could fit thicker armor to its new wave of battle tanks.

However, Rolls-Royce had its hands full, building Merlin engines for the war effort. Rover stepped in and made Meteor engines in 1942 for the Cromwell tank, and it didn’t enter service until the dawn of D-Day in 1944. While the top speed was limited to 32 mph, the Meteor engine’s reliability and horsepower drew praise from tank crews on the battlefield. The Meteor remained in service until 1964 and found a home in many tanks like the Conqueror, Comet, Challenger, and many more.