Photo credit: Vintage Race Car via MDDeGrande1994
No, that isn’t a typo, as Jim Lytle’s Quad AI dragster actually has 12,000-horsepower. It was officially confirmed by Guinness World Records in their 1974 edition, taking the claim of world’s “most powerful piston engine car ever built”. Quad AI also came with 10,000 lb-ft of torque, thanks to four World War II-era Allison V12 engines. For comparison, modern top fuel dragsters have around 11,000 horsepower and can cover the dragstrip in less than 3.7-seconds. Read more for a video and additional information.
Unfortunately, it no longer competes in any kind of races, just the collection of Mike Guffey, who also performed a restoration of this vehicle. Unfortunately, Quad AI looks a bit different than when Lytle owned it, since only the frame, wheels and dual bell housings are left of the original dragster.
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I was looking for another Allison project. A buddy of mine, Ron Jolliffe, made a drawing of a coupe with side-by-side Allisons, it looked pretty cool. I said, ‘Ivo’s got four engines; why don’t we? The motors were the easy part. In 1965, you could buy Allisons all day long for 50 to 150 bucks — and they made 3,000 horsepower apiece, unmodified! I only had $2,000 in that whole car, thanks to my sponsors. Cal Automotive gave me a ’glass body and grille shell; Moon donated the tanks; Champion came up with some special, unshrouded racing plugs that were developed for Allison hydros,” said Lytle.
