World's Wildest 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Has a 3,000-HP V12 Engine Under the Hood

Search any car sales website and you'll find all sorts of wild Bel Air builds, ranging from nostalgia gassers to pro touring rigs. They all come with modern V8 engines under their hoods and quite a few of them pack an insane amount of oomph. But none of them are as outrageous as "The Final Objective," a 1955 Bel Air powered by a supercharged V12 engine.

Created by Rod Hadfield of Australia's Castlemain Rod Shop, this Bel Air is arguably the ultimate Tri-Five build. And that's mostly because it has nothing in common with a 1955 Bel Air beyond the heavily modified body. One that sports a very special livery inspired by a P51 Mustang fighter.

Created as the final chapter in Hadfield's outstanding career, this Bel Air was built around a blown V12 engine that cranks out 3,000 horsepower. And the four-figure power rating is not the only ludicrous thing about this engine. Far from being a regular automobile powerplant, the V12 in question is a Rolls-Royce Merlin.

Yup, I'm talking about the 1,650-cubic-inch (27-liter) piston aero engine that Rolls-Royce introduced in 1933. Built in almost 150,000 units, it powered a long list of airplanes (including Avro, de Havilland, Hawker, and Vickers fighters) and remained in use well after World War II. It was rated at up to 1,580 horsepower from the factory, but Hadfield nearly doubled that figure.

Dropping the V12 in the Bel Air required some serious modifications, including a brand-new chassis that took two full years to create. The aircraft-inspired cockpit is a massive departure from the Bel Air's stock interior. You'll immediately spot the huge console in the center and the fact that the front seats were moved where the rear bench used to be.

The body also got extensive modifications, including a new hood and a massive wing over the trunk lid. The P51 Mustang livery is just as impressive, sporting hundreds of individually hand-painted rivets. The paint job alone was completed in 11 months. Oh, and the 1955 Bel Air body came from a car previously owned by famed American actress Ava Gardner.

In all, "The Final Objective" was completed in a whopping five years. The Bel Air is fully functional and despite tipping the scales at no fewer than 7,000 pounds (3,175 kg), it's impressively fast. Unfortunately, it's not the kind of car you'll see at the drag strip anytime soon, but it's just as menacing sitting in a museum. Check it out in the video below. And if you want to see it in action, the second video includes older footage of the car.