Stout Scarab
The Stout Scarab is an automobile from the 1930s. The prototype was designed by William Bushnell Stout and manufactured in small numbers by Stout Engineering Laboratories and later by the Stout Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, and marketed as a stout .
The Stout Scarab is sometimes referred to as the world's first production minivan. An experimental prototype of the Scarab built in 1946 was the first car with a body made of fiberglass-reinforced plastic and air suspension .
background
William B. Stout was an automotive and aerospace engineer and journalist. At times he was President of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). During this time he met Buckminster Fuller , who had designed the " Dymaxion " at a major New York motor show , and wrote an article about this car for the SAE members' newspaper.
The production cars of this time usually had a separate chassis and a body with a long bonnet. The engine sat lengthways behind the front axle in front of the passenger compartment and propelled the rear axle via a cardan shaft under the floor of the vehicle. This design worked well, but limited the passenger space.
Stout left out the chassis and cardan shaft for the Scarab. To give the interior a low, flat floor, he used a truss frame and a Ford V8 engine in the rear . Stout imagined an office on wheels. The designer John Tjaarda designed the body of the Scarab in the style of an aluminum aircraft fuselage. Using lightweight materials, Stout achieved a vehicle mass of less than 1400 kg.
The short, streamlined nose and the rear-tapering structure anticipated the "one-box design" of modern minivans. The second row seats could be rotated back and there were removable tables.
The shape of the Stout Scarab was unusual in its time. Decades later, its futuristic design and curved nose was considered an Art Deco icon .
Innovations
The pontoon body without running boards and flared fenders and the long wheelbase of the Scarab enabled a large interior space. The driver's seat could move forward because of the rear engine and the steering wheel was almost directly above the front wheels. The driver's door was on the left and passengers entered through a set back door on the right. In addition to the fixed driver's seat, the seating system could be flexibly reconfigured. If necessary, a small map table could be attached. The interior was clad in leather, chrome-plated sheet metal and wood. The view to the front and to the side was as good as in an observation car , to the rear it was poor and there were no rear-view mirrors.
The chassis of the car was also new. When almost all other vehicles had rigid axles on leaf springs, the Scarab was equipped with independent suspension, coil springs and hydraulic shock absorbers on all four wheels. The rear-heaviness ensured good traction. The rear swing axle with long spring-damper units was inspired by aircraft landing gear. The Ford V8 powered the rear wheels via a three-speed transmission built by Stout. It sat directly above the rear axle, with the flywheel side facing forward. The gearbox was mounted in front of it and transmitted the power to the final drive via a rearward-facing shaft. This unusual layout was later also used in the Lamborghini Countach .
production
A mobile prototype of the Scarab was completed in 1932. Some parts of the framework were made of steel, the outer skin was made of aluminum. A second, slightly modified prototype was completed in 1935. In front of the headlights, grilles made of fine, vertical bars were placed and the rear was decorated with narrow chrome strips that reached from the rear window to the bumper. The body was made of steel to reduce cost.
Stout stated that the car will be made in limited numbers and will be sold on request. Up to a hundred pieces a year should be built in a small factory in Dearborn . The Scarab got a lot of press coverage, but at $ 5,000 it was way too expensive. A luxurious and ultra-modern Chrysler Imperial Airflow was only $ 1,345. It is believed that nine scarabs were built. Since the vehicles were individually handcrafted, no two Scarabs were alike.
Immediately after World War II, Stout built another prototype, called the Stout Scarab Experimental . It was issued in 1946 and looked a little more conventional. It was also fitted with a rear engine and had the first fully functional air suspension , developed by Firestone in 1933 . Its body with two doors and a panoramic windshield was the first to be made of fiberglass-reinforced plastic. It stayed with this one-off.
Stout owned his own Scarab, which he rode over 250,000 miles when traveling in the United States.
Up to five Scarabs are said to have survived. A 1935 roadworthy Scarab was on display at the Owls Head Transportation Museum in Maine for many years, but was returned to its lender, the Detroit Historical Museum . The Detroit Historical Museum's vehicle has been in the museum's warehouse since August 21, 2016.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Ford Richardson Bryan: Henry's Lieutenants . Wayne State University Press, 1993, ISBN 9780814324288 .
- ↑ Blast From The Past: 1936 Stout Scarab . Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved on August 9, 2011.
- ^ A b c Dan Austin: The Scarab has landed: Rare car back in Detroit . In: Detroit Free Press , Aug. 21, 2015.
- ^ Lloyd Steven Sieden: Buckminster Fuller's Universe . Basic Books. August 11, 2000.
- ↑ Airplane Engine Adopted To Streamline Car . In: Popular Mechanics . February 1935.
- ↑ Deluxe Bullet on Wheels Has Rear Engine . In: Popular Mechanics . January 1936. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
- ↑ a b 1936 Stout Scarab . The Frist Center for the Visual Arts.
- ^ A b Karl Ludvigsen: Colin Chapman: Inside the Innovator . Haynes Publishing, 2010, ISBN 1-84425-413-5 , pp. 114-115, 120.
- ^ Bean: Rolling Crap . August 2, 2005. Archived from the original on December 13, 2005.
- ^ Motoring Memories: William Stout and his Scarab . July 29, 2005. Retrieved August 9, 2011.