Interesting Aerodynamic Cars (Mike Vetter's ETV, also Avion)

[freebeard]

Heckmotor ist am besten Motor!



That is one sweet Mercedes, although I'm not partial to red.

Mercedes-Benz 150 (W30)

The Mercedes-Benz 150H was a prototype sports racing automobile built in Germany in the 1930s.[1] It was derived in 1935 from the 130 with only two seats and a more powerful engine, with 1498 cc and a power of 55 PS (40 kW). The top speed of the car was 125 km/h.

Conceived by Hans Nibel, chief engineer of Mercedes-Benz,[1] the 150H was inspired by Edmund Rumpler's Tropfen-Auto. It followed on the Rumpler-chassis Tropfenwagen racers, which ran between 1923 and 1926,[2] and was based on the backbone chassis of earlier 130H.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_130


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_in_motorsport#1923-1939

Edit: Not air cooled.

While the 130 had a 1.3-liter, water-cooled four hung out behind the rear axle, the 150's 1.5-liter four was turned around 180 degrees, its midships location giving the chassis better balance and more stable handling. In place of the 1.3-liter's sidevalve arrangement, the 1.5 had overhead valves, and produced about 55 horsepower with a Solex two-barrel carburetor and a compression ratio of 7.1:1.

http://www.hemmings.com/magazine/hmn/2010/04/1935-Mercedes-Benz-150-Sports-Roadster/2998941.html

[kach22i]

In the future, we will all be driving aerodynamic automobiles.

Yes, we will still be driving ourselves, and there are going to be some accidents along the way.

Images for > Rumpler Tropfen Auto


Looks like they used standard intersections, maybe a traffic circle or round-a-bout in the air would have been better?

Found doing a Google image search using the phrase "Tropfen-Auto".

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Edit: Not air cooled.

That is a reliable source of automotive information, however the original German website may have been mixing and matching different eras and photos with different models to tell a (complex) story.

The "H" model has an interesting history to say the least.

Using Google translate on paragraph after paragraph was getting tiresome, so I simply translated the word "air-cooled" and found this passage.

Die Mercedes-Benz Heckmotor-Fahrzeuge der 1930er Jahre - Initiative Kulturgut Mobilität

Are also formed between the end of 1931 and 1934, numerous designs of small four-seat rear-engine car with air-cooled boxer engines and liquid-cooled three- and four-cylinder engines, which are placed partly in cross motors on the rear axle. Parallel to this in the same size category as well as vehicles with a front engine and front wheel drive, in this combination downright groundbreaking. Kissel encourages the front engine design, where appropriate, to have a replacement for the rear-engine car.

The vertical four liquid cooled in the red car may have an air-cooled engine style shroud ducting air to an enclosed radiator. Hence the misleading or confusing photos requiring some sort of deciphering.

Air-Cooled = luftgekühlt

Below are the two images I consider requiring some sort of explanation:

Die Mercedes-Benz Heckmotor-Fahrzeuge der 1930er Jahre - Initiative Kulturgut Mobilität




Again, I suspected these are positive or perhaps negative air pressure ducted air enclosures pushing or sucking air through the rear mounted radiator.

I consider this to be a very efficient and aerodynamic advancement.

It is not often we look under the hoods of cars in the aerodynamic forum, this case study affords us this chance.

NOTE-1: The two photos above I think show some experimentation in packaging of the air-duct and radiator location.

The wishbone frame top one looks to be a bottom discharge.

The close-up second photo a rear discharge or the far side we cannot see discharge.

I suspect the boatail roadster used the bottom discharge.

I suspect the sedan/coupe used the side/rear discharge layout.

I also could be wrong, it's just the way I would have done it considering the body shapes involved.

Note-2: These are clearly two different engines and transmissions, and probably two different model variants from which they come from.

[NeilBlanchard]

A modified version of the Mercedes 'H' chassis was used in the Schlörwagen (aka Pillbug):




I believe that version is water cooled with a ducted fan cooling design for the radiator. I think these were designed by Dr Porsche, and they had the swing axles - which means the Schlörwagen was probably a handful to drive.

[freebeard]

I've always been fascinated by that one big 'speed hole' in the middle of the pan. It's like it was designed to mount on a rotating turret.

Just A Car Guy has burned through all the WWII bomber nose art on the 'public packet-switched network' and he's moved on to the Hot Rod archives:


Just A Car Guy: Burt works on his Scout with the Gyronaut X-1 in the background, Bonneville '65


Just A Car Guy: Bonneville, '66

Dig the front fenders on #555.

[sgtlethargic]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Possibly the world's most aerodynamic 1924 Oldsmobile?

I gotta say, that is *****in!

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by kach22i

How's everyone's German?

Random TRANSPORTATION pictures - Page 1747 - Pelican Parts Technical BBS


I'm just going to float this out there, any design which gets the radiator out of the front of the car is a step in the right direction, aerodynamically speaking.

Die Mercedes-Benz Heckmotor-Fahrzeuge der 1930er Jahre - Initiative Kulturgut Mobilität










I cannot read German, but this has got to be air-cooled.

might be liquid-to-air-cooled.

[gumby79]

The shrink wrap I used on my Aero Tonto made this semi look aero

[freebeard]

Originally Posted by aerohead

might be liquid-to-air-cooled.

Everything is liquid to air; your choices are water or oil.

[freebeard]

http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2016/09/chevrolet-moonlight-speedster-built-by.html

I always wanted to do this with a Beetle body; a wooden boat tail with a single rumble seat in the rear parcel shelf, 2+1.