Originally Posted by
Gary cw
4 - rolls Royce decided to put together 2 of their ghost engines.i assume you have heard of a V12 ? This is the first production V12. Do you think the concept worked ? ( There was a prototype V12 marine diesel and Packard may have produced an engine or 2 )
As to the overhead cam I again believe it was mercedes who first put an overhead cam in their racing car which was left at brooklands at the start of the war. I would suggest that as rolls Royce didn't race cars they were probably simply unaware of it. If it was to be if interest I believe Aston Martin Vauxhall and a few other car manufacturers would have had more interest in it than Rolls Royce.
The only thing in common between the RR Ghost engine and the Hawk is the number of cylinders. The Ghost is a cast iron side-valve engine and the Hawk is a fabricated separate-cylinder with overhead valves and camshaft. Doubling up for a V12 does not change that
As for Daimler (Mercedes) being the first OHC in 1914, Pomeroy's book "The Grand Prix Car" tells us that the 1912 Peugeot and the 1911 FIAT were OHC. The presumption that as RR did not race they would not have taken any interest in developments of racing engines is just as improbable
Edit to ask: what did the epicyclic control gear you are thinking of control?