The Dragon 16 was an ultra-obscure 1.6 cc English sideport spark ignition engine. It was manufactured by M. E. Bastable Ltd. of Wimbledon in South London, about whom absolutely nothing is known. Moreover, the engine itself never appeared in the contemporary modelling media either in articles or advertisements, thus being one of the best-kept secrets of the early post-WW2 era. Most if not all of the engines appear to have been sold as kits of finished components for assembly by their purchasers. A prototype of a diesel version was also produced, but this appears never to have entered production.
The release date of the Dragon 16 has generally been cited as 1948. However, no-one was releasing new spark ignition models of this type and displacement by that time. It appears far more probable that the Dragon's actual release date was 1946 or possibly early 1947. The 1948 date seems to stem solely from its unsubstantiated attachment to the engine in Mike Clanford's useful but often unreliable "A-Z" book. Unfortunately, Clanford did very little original research to back up many of his assertions of this kind.
The Dragon is interesting in that it features a unique transverse induction tube routing which appears to be aimed at reducing the engine's overall length. It also sports an unusual timer enclosed in a plastic shroud.
During the mid 1970's, Steve Blake of Maple Models in Luton, Bedfordshire somehow acquired a substantial residual stock of unused parts for this engine. He assembled a number of examples from these components, offering them to collectors at £28.68, although he clearly stated them to be “non-runners” for unspecified reasons. A number of these engines remain in circulation today.
Even after Steve's efforts, some residual components remained. These were acquired in the early 1980's by the Canadian partnership of Arthur Polson and Mike Thomas of Winnipeg and Toronto respectively. Mike created at least 11 (and possibly as many as 17) examples of an in-line twin-cylinder 3.2 cc unit using these components. These twins have nothing whatsoever to do with the original manufacturers of the Dragon 16.
A more detailed account of the Dragon 16 story will appear on this website in due course.
