Right, full disclosure from the outset. This 27-litre V12 engine never actually saw action in a Spitfire. There, we said it, but please do read on because it’s still very, very cool indeed.

The engine in the images above is a Rolls-Royce Merlin – the same as was used to power the Spitfire, Hurricane, Mustang, Lancaster and Mosquito in WW2. This one, though, was built in the RR Glasgow factory in 1949 and apparently found its home in a version of the Douglas DC-4 passenger plane.

It’s most likely that it served in the Canadair North Star development of the DC-4, which used four of the iconic, liquid-cooled V12s – each putting out around 1,760bhp. Crikey.

Now though, the big beast is going up for auction at the H&H Classics Imperial War Museum sale in mid-October. The estimate? Between £35,000 (approx. RM182,000) and £45,000 (approx. RM234,000). Bargain.

This particular Merlin has undergone two years of restoration and is currently connected to a Hamilton three-bladed propeller and mounted on a trailer. That means it can be easily transported around and fired up at air shows, village fêtes, or perhaps outside your arch enemy’s house on a Sunday morning.

Take it off the trailer, though, and you’d essentially have yourself a monumental crate engine. So, yep, we’re going to ask the question we know you’ll all say is silly: what car would you put a Rolls-Royce Merlin into?

It may not even be as ridiculous as it sounds. Use that new-fangled thing called Google and you’ll be able to find a number of previous examples. That’s an easy way to get lost down an Internet hole, though, so make sure you come back to us with your answers.

Plus, if 1,760bhp sounds a little tame, you can rest easy in the knowledge that in 1937, a strengthened Merlin engine fitted to a highly-modified Spitfire tested at 2,160bhp.