SLIPPERY LOW DRAG CARS
Mercedes Vision EQXX
If you want to make a car cut as clean a hole in the air as possible, you need a smooth, teardrop shape. The new EQXX concept is basically a C-Class sized four-door saloon, but because it disturbs the air around it so little, it’s good for a claimed electric range of over 600 miles.
Honda Insight
Honda’s first Insight landed in 1999, a two-door hatchback coupe thingy good for a claimed 64mpg, but owners soon learned that over 70mpg was there for the taking. With a drag factor of 0.25Cd, the lightweight Insight was the slipperiest car in the world at the time of its revealing.
McLaren Speedtail
When designing the 1,055bhp Speedtail, McLaren became so obsessed by cutting drag that instead of a rear wing, actuators literally bend the rear bodywork to create downforce, while the cameras (of course door mirrors were banned) retract at speed to shave off even more resistance.
Tatra 87
The Tatra 87 was inspired by the enormous German airships of the same era – note the fin on the back for high-speed stability. Not that it did much good: it was so lethally hard to control in corners that it’s alleged high-ranking Nazis were actually banned from travelling in them.
Porsche 917 LH
Early 917s were lethal: impossibly fragile and prone to going light at speed. Porsche worked hard to tame the stability, and the long-tail ‘Langheck’ or LH trim was tested to 225mph. Its twin fins and rolling hills bodywork made it one of the prettiest racing Porsches of all time.
VW XL1
Faired-in rear wheels, a tiny frontal area and with cameras replacing door mirrors, the butterfly doored XL1 had a barely believable drag coefficient of just 0.19, which is less than a paper aeroplane. Only 250 were made, costing £120,000 a piece.
Oldsmobile Aerotech
Essentially a publicity vehicle to showcase a new type of workaday 4cyl engine, the Aerotech featured adjustable underbody aero and was good for speeds of up to 257mph in short-tail trim and over 275mph with a longtail rear fitted, in the hands of four-time Indy 500 winner AJ Foyt.
Saab 92
The 92 was literally Saab’s first ever production car, and instead of playing it nice and safe, the Swedes came up with a body that was stamped from a single sheet of metal. Despite only offering 25bhp, it could reach 65mph because the body had a drag coefficient of just 0.30.
Mercedes Concept IAA
We’ll always remember the IAA, or Intelligent Aero Automobile, for its party piece posterior. At 50mph, its bottom grew by 390mm, smoothing airflow off the rear and easing drag down to 0.19Cd – a world record for a four-door car. Secretly, it should’ve stood for ‘Inch-Adding Arse.’