Photos of the 1917 Hall-Scott ‘The Four’

The 1917 Hall-Scott ‘The Four’ was built by Dick DeLuna. It has a 1917 REO chassis and is powered by a Hall-Scott 9.9 liter, four-cylinder motor which would have been typically been found in a plane or boat. The dual plug motor, which produces 420 lbs. of torque, has a 7-inch stroke and a 5-inch exhaust. The airplane engines had large torque and were built to be reliable.

Everything on this vehicle is in 1917 configuration. There is an REO three-speed transmission and inner and outer rear brakes. There is an REO frame because it has an inner frame that allows the engine to be lowered 6 inches and sit low (since the engine is very tall).

Hall-Scott was a Berkeley, California company that was ranked among the most significant builders of water-cooled aircraft engines prior to World War I. It was founded in 1910 by Elbert J. Hall and Bert C. Scott. Hall was the engineer while Scott handled the business aspects.

The company initially produced petrol-powered rail cars but as the rail car business was slow, they diversified into aero engine manufacturing. These engines had a remarkable power-to-weight ratio using an overhead cam and hemispherical combustion chambers.

Here below is a set of fascinating photos of the 1917 Hall-Scott ‘The Four’.