British Anzani - 5 hp Super Single

[Colin]

Until several weeks ago, I’d never heard of Anzani outboards or the company. Perhaps not surprising, because as far as I know they were never sold in Canada.

I did a quick Google search and found the company’s web site. I'm interested in their 5 hp Super Single Outboard that I assume is stock left over from the 70’s and selling for £455.

I contacted the company requesting technical specifications and shipping costs to Canada, but I've never received a reply.

Does anyone know anything about the engines? Are they are suitable for displacement hulls; are they reliable and are they equal to the standards set by British Seagull?

[RickUK]

Hello Colin - At that price, I think you are looking at one of a batch unearthed in Asia and repatriated to England recently. I think the price is probably fair, but for some reason Super Singles that come on the market here don't fetch any money - probably £30.00 - £50.00 at best.
They are rated at 5HP, and are a 158cc motor. A personal bias, but I don't like them as the ones I had vibrated a lot, and have a cooling system whereby water is drawn through the cylinder by a vacuum set up by the prop., and there is no easy way to know if the brutes are cooling!
They are also noisy, as the exhaust is a can behind the engine below the petrol tank, ie. no underwater muffling.
To answer your question, one would be fine on a displacement hull, which is most probably their intended use, though I don't recall seeing a longshaft version. I used one (briefly) on a 12 foot displacement hull, and it wasn't noticeably better than a Seagull 102.
I have seen one of the Asian reimports, which wasn't a longshaft either, and would be difficult if not impossible to convert, unlike a Seagull.
Super Singles were made from 1950 - ish until the '70,s., the design taken from a pre-war Sharland engine.
British Anzani made other motors - probably the most popular was the 3HP Pilot, which is on a par with Seagull Forty Pluses (buy one or two of mine), and a little 35cc Minor, like a little egg-beater, quoted as being better and having more stamina than one man rowing!
At the other end of the scale, Anzani made 10 and 15 HP Unitwins, and racing versions of them which were successful in the racing scene in the U.S. in the late '50's.
Later on they made larger horrible things such as the Magnatwin.

Hope I've saved you £455.00 plus freight!!

British Anzani had a factory in Kingston on Thames in London, and in the final years, manufacture transferred to Boxley Engineering in Maidstone, east of London. Anzani was originally founded by Allesandro Anzani in France, who started out at the beginning of the 1900's making radial engines for early aircraft such Bleriot, and progressed onto light car engines, fairground equipment etc. Rick

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

My late father had a British Anzani which he had bought in the early 50's.

This was responsible for my late discovery of British Seagulls, as I had confused the two. The Anzani was a fairly horrible engine. I am a very happy owner of a Forty Plus, however.

[RickUK]

Can you recall if it was a Super Single or a Pilot your father had, Andrew?

The Pilot was a completely different design to the Super, and a nice little unit.

They have positive water cooling via a rubber ring running on an eccentric, and the engine breathes through a ported crankshaft and ports in the piston which is crowned, all of which I regard as a loop scavenge system.
Consequently, they are easy starters and quite peppy for their size of 64cc or thereabouts, and compare very favourably with a Forty Plus ( heresy)!

The prop is a nice three bladed 'weedless' shape. Rick

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

I an sorry to say that I cannot recall - it was passed on to a neighbour, who used it on a fairly hefty dinghy for sea fishing.

My first thirty-five years of boat ownership were outboard-less, so strongly did I come to detest the thing.

[RickUK]

Must have been a Super Single to leave such a lasting scar - but my level of detestation is on a level with yours! I was being polite in the earlier messages! Rick

[Colin]

Hope I've saved you £455.00 plus freight!!

Hello Rick.

Yes, you most defiantly have saved me a bundle, although after not hearing from the company re: my questions. I was having doubts about their customer relations.

Thanks for your excellent critique, which after reading I can certainly understand why they don’t command the prices of used Seagulls.

I think I'll just continue to build my flock of Seagulls.

[Colin]

The Anzani was a fairly horrible engine. I am a very happy owner of a Forty Plus, however.

Thanks for your input Andrew.

Does make one wonder how they ever managed to survive for so many years in such a competitive industry.

[newbie]

Hi there I just bought an Anzani pilot off ebay, can anyone tell me what fuel mix they run? Any other information would be useful as well as the seller knew very little about it.
Cheers,
Jon.

[Forty+]

I have an anzani pilot 30, this is the sticker thats on it -
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb20 ... petrol.jpg

Heres a link to an advert on johns nostalga pages, far right advert. Anzani pilot 1.5hp, is this the same as yours?
http://www.saving-old-seagulls.co.uk/non_seagulls.htm

I was told mine is a pilot 30, looks the same at the pilot 1.5hp but mine has 2 thumbscrews instead of one.

Hope this helps

[newbie]

Thanks, I think mine is a pilot 1.5, its missing the cover and fuel tank so its a little hard to tell here is the ebay advert:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... %26fvi%3D1
if it runs 1/2 pint of oil to 1 gallon of petrol thats about 16/1 does that make it very smokey?

I have an anzani pilot 30, this is the sticker thats on it -
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb20 ... petrol.jpg

Heres a link to an advert on johns nostalga pages, far right advert. Anzani pilot 1.5hp, is this the same as yours?
http://www.saving-old-seagulls.co.uk/non_seagulls.htm

I was told mine is a pilot 30, looks the same at the pilot 1.5hp but mine has 2 thumbscrews instead of one.

Hope this helps

[RickUK]

Let me know if you need a petrol tank and whatever for the Pilot - I have a few spares.
Only thing I need to know to determine the correct tank is whethe your Pilot just has an aluminium tube as the drive leg (this means it is an early one, and the tank is smaller than the later ones, with a filler at the back of the motor), or has a casting with a bit of a boat-shaped section, which makes it one of the later ones, which have a slightly larger tank with a filler cap more towards the front of the motor and to one side.
The motor shouldn't smoke much - they have a very efficient 'breathing' system compared to Seagulls (heresy), and especially if you use a synthetic two-stroke oil.

Rick.

[mrdraddy]

Rick,sorry to be a massive bobble hat but the engine used on the bleriot while indeed made by the anzani company was infact a 3 cylinder y engine and was static unlike some of there other products wich where rotary engines ie the prop was bolted directly to the crank case and the whole lumpspun round flinging hot castor oil everywere!!
I've hand started a rotary attached to a replica sopwith camel ( a le-rhone 9 cylinder )and all i can say is that you ever get the chance dont!!
As for there outboards there does seem to be a few about at the moment.
must be worth having one in the shed just for the sake of it!

[RickUK]

Hello Paul - had to spend some time working out where your message came from! I think you are replying to my post from August last year!

'Radial' engines are fixed to the 'plane as a static lump, with the cylinders arranged in a circle, as the early Anzanis - OK - with three cylinders, which gave a Y appearance.
As you say, 'Rotary' engines are those where the crank is the static object and the engine whizzes round, with the prop bolted to it (like the Le Rhone you mention).
The castor oil was responsible for very regular toilet habits of those enjoying the aroma, and for Pilots looking like Pandas when they took their goggles off at the end of their daredevil flights.

To see anyone hand swinging an aircraft engine gives me the willies!

I have a nice Mk 3 Pilot with very little use if you are moved to add one to your collection - am I still keeping the Featherweight for you? Rick.

[newbie]

Thanks very much, I'm picking it up thursday so I'll let you know, Cheers

Jon

Let me know if you need a petrol tank and whatever for the Pilot - I have a few spares.
Only thing I need to know to determine the correct tank is whethe your Pilot just has an aluminium tube as the drive leg (this means it is an early one, and the tank is smaller than the later ones, with a filler at the back of the motor), or has a casting with a bit of a boat-shaped section, which makes it one of the later ones, which have a slightly larger tank with a filler cap more towards the front of the motor and to one side.
The motor shouldn't smoke much - they have a very efficient 'breathing' system compared to Seagulls (heresy), and especially if you use a synthetic two-stroke oil.

Rick.