German experimentation with low Cd automobiles in the 1930's

[NeilBlanchard]

I found a picture of the Mercedes 170H chassis, like the one used in the Schlörwagen:


And here's the Wikipedia section on the Mercedes 170H:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rear-En...70_H_.28W28.29
It is mentioned that it had lousy handling, and the it (probably) was worked on by Dr. Porsche.

[Jyden]

No wonder that the car could be unstable in sidewinds. Too little weight at the front axele, and too much weight behind the rear axle.

Nice picture of the chassis.

[cfg83]

Jyden -

Originally Posted by Jyden

No wonder that the car could be unstable in sidewinds. Too little weight at the front axele, and too much weight behind the rear axle.

Nice picture of the chassis.

But isn't that the standard issue VW bug configuration? :



Maybe it would have been better if it had the VW torsion bar front end (I'm assuming it didn't from Neil's picture)?!?!?

CarloSW2

[Arragonis]

I think the VW had a "Z-bar" rear suspension but the Merc had swing axles as used in their GP cars of the time. I seem to recall the 50s cars had a low pivot swing axle, which was slightly better.

Swing axles = evil.

See Triumph GT6 for a worked example of why it's so bad.

[NeilBlanchard]

As I've pondered the 170H chassis picture, I think you can see a bit of a blower, to the right and forward of the engine, that could be the cooling system? It seems like there has to be an active cooling system, because the are only a small set of louvers visible on the rear of the car. So, it seems likely that the intake and exhaust of the cooling system would be on the bottom of the car? And that makes me think it had to have a fan moving the air over the cooling radiator.

If they were moving toward production of this car in 1939, then it would have to be cooling at least well enough much of the time...

Someone should build this car as a modern EV! With the other adjustments in the width, and safety structure, of course...

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by cfg83

This is my favorite picture. I think it needs a caption :

Pilly, we need to talk ...

Did you notice the resemblance?

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

[zoltanbod]

Thanks for posting ,great stuff!

[KazukiFennec]

I suggest looking up the Czech automaker Tatra. Under chief engineer Hans Ledwinka, they licensed the the work of Paul Jaray, and produced a series of streamlined, rear-engined, air-cooled sedans that ran from 1934 T-77 to 1973, the last year of the T-603, under the Soviets. These cars were so unusually styled and futuristic for the time that they used a 1937 T87 on Battlestar Galactica.

[orange4boy]

Front suspension was transverse leaf spring. The track was quite narrow and the car quite wide which would also be very bad for handling. Centre of lift would have been over the front axle.

Another snippet from an excellent and very long article about the MB rear engine models.Rear-engine Mercedes-Benz vehicles of the 1930s | Mercedes 500SEC.com

Measures to produce a special-purpose version of the 170 H got under way even quicker, the model’s chassis being used by Karl Schlör at the Aerodynamic Research Institute Göttingen (AVA) to develop a streamlined body on behalf of the Reich Ministry of Transport. This was custom-built by the coachbuilding firm of Gebr. Ludewig in Essen. This prototype vehicle achieved a top speed of 146 km/h on the Frankfurt – Darmstadt autobahn, over an average of three timed runs. At the 1939 IAMA the car, which had the unusual feature of a centrally-positioned driver’s seat, was available for test drives by anyone interested from the motor industry.

[cfg83]

orange4boy -

Originally Posted by orange4boy

Front suspension was transverse leaf spring. The track was quite narrow and the car quite wide which would also be very bad for handling. Centre of lift would have been over the front axle.

...

Oh, duh, I forgot about that. Sounds like a job for wide-track integrated front wheel covers. But now you lose the front/rear wheel inlining.

Piwoslaw -

Scary but true :



CarloSW2