100 Years of the Fullagar Engine

Celebrating the 100-year legacy of the humble Fullagar Engine at Napier Faraday Museum, Faraday Street.

The Fullagar Engine is the only remaining operational example of its kind globally, and not only served as the pulse of the city for 50 years, but helped keep the lights on through Napier’s darkest days of the 1931 Hawke's Bay Earthquake.

The Fullagar engine is a two-stroke diesel that has four cylinders, each housing a pair of opposing pistons linked by oblique rods. The object of the design was to provide a high power output (by the standards of 1912) in a compact space, ideal for marine use but also adaptable for use as generating plant. As far as we are aware, it is the only remaining example of a Fullagar engine of this particular specification and layout. Installed in Napier in 1924, it became relegated to back up duties once Napier was connected to the National Grid in the late 1920s, but carried out these duties until 1970. It no longer runs due to absence of fuel supply and silencer, however it has been fitted with a friction drive, Perspex crankcase windows and internal lighting to enable the unique mechanism to be seen in motion.