# @roadandtrack on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Dbbcd8BEjz9
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/68672274-roadandtrack-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/d358a6ecd4.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-07-30T19:30:38.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Road & Track Magazine (@roadandtrack) — https://gondola.cc/roadandtrack

## Caption

This Sixties racing engine started life as a firefighting pump.
 
First run in 1951, the Coventry Climax Featherweight (FW) four-cylinder instantly exceeded expectations. It produced 40 hp at 4000 rpm while weighing just 180 pounds, complete with the pump it powered and a carrying frame. But the FW’s specifications won wider attention when Climax exhibited it at the ’53 Earls Court auto show.
 
Cyril Kieft, builder of Kieft Cars racing machines, requested a version for his lightweight sports racer, and Climax boss Leonard Lee agreed to allow the development of an automotive version, the FWA. This got a tougher forged-steel crank, a higher 8.8:1 compression ratio, a distributor ­ignition in place of a magneto, and twin SU carburetors. Those changes raised output to a claimed 71 hp at 6000 rpm from 1.1 liters of displacement. At the ’54 24 Hours of Le Mans, the FWA-powered Kieft Sports lasted more than 10 hours before ­retiring with a broken axle. The fire-pump engine was racing.
 
Read more about this racing engine's firefighting roots at the link in our bio.
 
#firefighting #racing #carsofinstagram #roadandtrack
Photos by felixrussellsaw

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 455
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## Tags

firefighting, racing, carsofinstagram, roadandtrack

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