Cummins to Show Racing Duesenberg at Goodwood Festival of Speed

Cummins has revealed today that it’s to bring a very special Napier-Railton that it has been working on to the Foodwood Festival of Speed. The car has had its original aircraft-sourced W12 engine with the company’s own 6.7-liter straight-six diesel that’s been played with to produce 500 horsepower. It looks like that’s not the only thing Cummins has up its long sleeves, as the No.8 Duesenberg racing car which completed the Indianapolis 500 in 1931.

Powered by a Cummins 100 hp Model U diesel engine, the No.8 was the first car to complete the 500 mile Indianapolis race without stopping and used only $1.40 worth of fuel at the time.  This feat also helped to promote the use of diesel as a more efficient and cost effective power source than gasoline.  Whilst running at Daytona Beach in Florida it was also the first diesel car to go faster than 100 miles per hour.

The first time the No. 8 visited the Old Continent, Cummins’ founder Clessie Cummins brought the car on a tour of Europe in the early 1930’s to drum up interest in the company and its products.  Video footage still exists of the beast running around the famous Brooklands circuit in Surrey.

"Cummins’ heritage and passion for engineering excellence and racing lives on through our employees, distributors and customers.  There are many examples of our engines being used in different racing applications that people would not normally associate us with.  These include 1600hp capable trucks, 222mph pick-ups and super fast speed boats. Visitors to our stand at the Festival of Speed will see examples of engines used in them," said Neil Pattison, Cummins Automotive Sales Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa.