☰
conceptcarz.com
✕

1917 Hall-Scott Model M

The Hall-Scott Engine Co was primarily an aircraft engine builder with facilities in Emeryville, CA, and Indianapolis, IN, building engines for World War I Army Air Corps bi-planes. In 1916 Colonel Hall designed a 4-cylinder, all-aluminum body racecar to compete in the Vanderbilt Cup Race of 1917. The engine was to be mounted in a 1917 Reo frame and running gear to accommodate the extremely tall Hall-Scott engine.

The original car that Colonel Scott designed was never built, so this car was reconstructed from original drawings with all authentic components from 1917. The build took 5 and 1/2 years to complete with thousands of rivets. It produces 125 horsepower at 1,300 RPM, which was double the power of automotive engines of the day. it produces 450 ft-lbs of torque (the same as a Dodge Viper) which is transferred to the rear end through a modified Reo transmission. It retains its dual magneto aircraft ignition and aircraft gauges. The top speed is estimated to be in excess of 100 mph.

Roadster
Chassis number: 835

This is a 1917 Hall-Scott 'The Four' built by Dick DeLuna. It has a 1917 REO chassis and is powered by a Hall-Scott 9.9 liter, four-cylinder motor which would have been typically been found in a plane or boat. The dual plug motor, which produces 420 lbs. of torque, has a 7-inch stroke and a 5-inch exhaust. The airplane engines had large torque and were built to be reliable. Everything on this vehicle is in 1917 configuration. There is an REO three-speed transmission and inner and outer rear brakes. There is an REO frame because it has an inner frame that allows the engine to be lowered 6 inches and sit low (since the engine is very tall.) Dennis Webb built the boattail body. All gauges are Hall-Scott gauges except the speedo.

Hall-Scott was a Berkeley, California company that was ranked among the most significant builders of water-cooled aircraft engines prior to World War I. It was founded in 1910 by Elbert J. Hall and Bert C. Scott. Hall was the engineer while Scott handled the business aspects. The company initially produced petrol-powered rail cars but as the rail car business was slow, they diversified into aero engine manufacturing. These engines had a remarkable power-to-weight ratio using an overhead cam and hemispherical combustion chambers.

In the early 1920s, they dropped their aero and rail car product lines. They produced two-speed rear axles for Ford's Model T through the mid-1920s.

The original car that Colonel Scott designed was never built, so this car was reconstructed from original drawings with all authentic components from 1917. The build took 5.5 years to complete with thousands of rivets. It produces 125 horsepower at 1,300 RPM, which was double the power of automotive engines of the day. It produces 450 ft. lbs of torque (the same as a Dodge Viper) which is transferred to the rear end through a modified REO transmission. It retains its dual magneto aircraft ignition and aircraft gauges. The top speed is estimated to be in excess of 100 mph.

by Dan Vaughan