. . . AND FINALLY
If you feel that modern cars all look alike, it’s because manufacturers have found a standard body shape that works. In the days before standardisation, however, there were some delightfully weird designs.
1921 HELICRON
At the dawn of the 20th century, there were a surprising number of propeller-driven cars, but Marcel Leyat’s Helicron was the most terrifying of them all, because its propeller – unlike the others – was at the front… Marcel was convinced that his Helicron was the car of the future. The 1913 prototype had no shroud around the propeller, and he only installed it after Parisians complained that the spinning blades of death posed a danger to pedestrians. Later models had a roof and windows, presumably to shield the occupants from debris, and the gory remains of chopped-up pets.
1936 STOUT SCARAB
American aircraft designer William Stout watched the evolution of the car and decided it was heading in the wrong direction. The Scarab’s body was based on an aircraft’s fuselage, the engine was mounted in the rear, and it had two doors: one on the left for the driver, and another on the right for passengers. The passenger seats were not secured to the floor (the table was), because William wanted people to be able to move the furniture around as they pleased. William firmly believed the public would embrace his design within a year or two. He, however, was a man ahead of his time, for the VW Microbus with its folding table and sliding seats would only arrive decades later.
1942 OEUF ELECTRIQUE
The basic shape of a typical car was fairly well established by the 1940s and it was largely guided by American sensibilities. But Frenchman Paul Arzens, like many Europeans, wanted small electric cars to triumph. The Oeuf Electrique (French for “electric egg”) was Paul’s solution to narrow city streets, inadequate parking, and rising air pollution. His arguements were so compelling that full-scale production was approved in 1942 – in the middle of World War II! – but Germany quickly put paid to Paul’s plans. The irony is, of course, the Germans coming up with the electric BMW i3 subcompact hatchback 60 years on. Cheeky Germans.
1939 ANTARCTIC SNOW CRUISER
Prior to the establishment of McMurdo in 1956, America had no permanent base in Antarctica. One solution was to explore the continent by vehicle. South Pole veteran Thomas Poulter was asked to lead the design of a mobile base, resulting in the Snow Cruiser. With a kitchen, workshop, sleeping quarters, radio room, and even an aeroplane on its roof, this behemoth was shipped south. The king of 4x4 motorhomes unceremoniously sank into the ice due to its stupendous weight. The Snow Cruiser was eventually swallowed up whole by the ice, taking its best-laid plans with it. Nowadays, climatologists can be seen zipping around Antarctica in Hilux bakkies and camping in tents...