The first part of this article described several notable cars, all record holders, which were powered by the Napier Lion engine. In this second article we’ll take a brief look at the elegant speedboats that used this amazing engine and the exciting races that ensued. Later, part 3 will cover Lion powered aircraft.

You can’t help but admire those engines that have achieved fame by powering top class winners over a long period of time. The engines with winning longevity that most often come to mind are the Cosworth DFV and its derivatives, and the Offenhouser four pot motor. The Cosworth, introduced in 1967, won Formula 1 races up to 1982, and the F3000 variant still gave Luca Badoer the F3000 driver’s championship as late as 1992. The legendary Offy dominated American midget and roadster racing for over 50 years!

For a long time I suspected the story about the 1990 Phoenix Grand Prix, Ayrton Senna and the ostrich as being apocryphal – about the same veracity as the bishop and actress tale. But once Nigel Roebuck, that doyen of motor racing journalists, mentioned the fact on a Motor Sport magazine Q/A web-page, I've been intrigued to find out more. It appears the story is true.

Just as the first COGG-Blog is going to press, Peugeot have announced their withdrawal from the FIA World Endurance Championship, the highlight of which is the Le Mans 24 hour race. Citing the very high cost of participation being incompatible with the current difficult economic climate, the car company naturally will concentrate its resources on vehicle sales.

With the launch of COGG-Blog we felt it was appropriate to use this first blog to introduce ourselves.