The 3.47 cc Taplin Tempest diesel of 1970 was the last engine produced by the makers of the series of Taplin Twin diesels which had been on the market since late 1958. The Tempest stands out among the Taplin offerings not only because it was the final Taplin model of them all but because it was the only single-cylinder model ever offered by its manufacturers. It was also their only disc-valve model.

The Tempest was a well-made engine which started easily and ran well, albeit at rather modest levels of performance by 1970 standards. Unfortunately for the company, the engine was woefully out of step with the marketplace as it then existed - R/C aeromodellers in general had come out in favour of mid-sized and larger glow-plug engines by this time, while model boat enthusiasts were losing interest in diesel powerplants. As a result, the Tempest failed to make any meaningful impression upon the market, only remaining in production by its original manufacturers for a very short time. Good original examples are in very short supply today.

A detailed article covering the history of the Taplin series in general and the Tempest in particular will appear on this website in due course.