The Merak’s V6

The Merak’s V6 engine descended from the 2.7 L Tipo C.114, originally designed by Giulio Alfieri in 1967 for use in the Citroën SM, that was bored out to 91.6 mm (piston stroke remained 75 mm) to displace 3 litres (2,965 cc).

It was a chain-driven double overhead camshaft, 12-valve unit featuring an unusual 90° angle between the cylinder banks.

The lubrication system used a wet sump and an oil cooler. This V6 did not end its days on the Merak: it was later modified and made into the first ever production twin-turbocharged engine in the Biturbo, ending its career in the 1990s Ghibli after reaching the highest specific output of any production engine at the time. The powerplant was mounted longitudinally behind the passenger compartment, and joined through a single-plate dry clutch to a 5-speed, all syncromesh Citroën transaxle gearbox and a limited-slip differential.

Number Plate News

PEN 15

The government has recently issued a 46-page report outlining the registrations that have been withdrawn from issue for risk of causing offence.

It’s a thankless task, over which the licensing authorities have often been ridiculed. But UK number plates have never been intended to represent names or words; it’s just a happy – and valuable – coincidence arising from a random process.

Almost since inception the guardians of the system have had to be on their guard. But times, fashions and language change. Very early on, the sequence ‘BF’ was blocked because of the now innocuous and laughable interpretation ‘bloody fool’.

Inevitably, some howlers have slipped through and it is rare for them to be recalled after the event.BO11 LUX was released in 2011, then withdrawn, but the owner took on the DVLA and it is now back on the road.

Perhaps the most infamous example is that of the registration PEN 15. The representation cannot be considered offensive on any grounds yet, since it has been in the possession of Regtransfers, it has fallen foul of more than one newspaper publisher reluctant to feature its promotion.

PEN 15 is being offered for sale at online auction until 11.30am Monday 6 July.

One Direction

Unless they’re your initials, the letters DUK probably won’t mean much to you. But, to fans of the pop group One Direction – and, quite possibly, the members of the ensemble themselves – the registration 1 DUK says one thing: ‘1 D’ [One Direction] ‘UK’ [United Kingdom]. Consequently, a high price is anticipated when it goes up for auction in Stourbridge, West Midlands, on 6 July.

Of course, the plate dates back to 1963, when it was first issued by Wolverhampton County Borough Council and would be a desirable and distinctive combination in its own right.

Organisers of the sale are expecting the hammer to fall at between £25k and £30K. This respectable price is nothing compared to what was paid for the simple 1 D plate, which fetched a staggering £352,000 in 2009, the year before One Direction were formed.