Speed record car engine heard again after 90 years

The engine of a car which became the first to exceed 200mph (322km/h) has been heard in public for the first time in 90 years.

The Sunbeam 1000hp, nicknamed The Slug, reached more than 203mph on Daytona beach in Florida, USA, in 1927, with Maj Henry Segrave at the wheel.

It is being painstakingly restored at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, Hampshire.

On Sunday, engineers switched on the newly-rebuilt rear aircraft engine for the benefit of visitors to the museum's annual International Autojumble.

Hailing the 1927 speed record, senior engineer Ian Stanfield said: "It's equivalent to the moon landings.

"It was right up there with the height of technology. No other car had gone that fast on the planet."

The car was originally built at the Sunbeam factory in Wolverhampton.

Work to strip, clean and restore the 22.5 litre Matabele V12 aero engine has taken several years, the museum said.

Over time oil in the engines, brakes and chains hardened and formed a glue-like substance that needed to be removed by laser.

The plan is to rebuild the second engine and then mark the centenary of the record in 2027 by running the car at Daytona again, albeit at a more conservative speed.

Mr Stanfield said: "We're still fundraising to get the car to America.

"There is a speed limit on Daytona beach at the moment. I won't say what it is, but there's a few decimal points missing."