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

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by sgtlethargic

It looks like Circulus got it backward.

Hucho and hundreds of others have tried to 'educate' people on aerodynamics for over a hundred years.
Birds, fish, and marine mammals might be confused by the sight of Circulus.
( Time to get back to work on the Styrofoam boat anchor patent! )

[Bicycle Bob]

Originally Posted by sgtlethargic

It looks like Circulus got it backward.

At least they know enough about Deltas to put on front skids, like the Cushman trikes, so they just slide instead of rolling like a Reliant.

[freebeard]

Aerodynamically, it would be too blunt in front and taper too fast in the rear. Here's one with the wheels sorted out:

[freebeard]

I'm unable to find another example I recall as Alberto Morelli's City car, but I did run across this, the normalized version of that diamond wheelbased 1960 X Concept:


newatlas.com/1960-pininfarina-x-concept-car-auction/35369/

Kawaii, but I fear it would have the same problem with the wheelwell impeding the driver's footroom as the VW Beetle.

Here's an earlier effort from 1956:


http://www.allcarindex.com/search/pe...berto-morelli/

edit:
Persoanlly, I'd prefer the 2-doors Daylight Opening on the 1956 chassis. It's got the Type II's first-against-the-wall driving postion. ...and Dagmars!

[freebeard]

Did anyone think that venting the front wheel well was a new thing?


https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?....&ipo=images

[freebeard]

Ed's Auto Reviews covered the post-WWII attempts at a small economy car in the USofA.

Crisis Coupe: The American Wartime Compact Light Car Projects

Yet there is no mention of King Midget or Crosley.

Which one do you like best? Here's a 1950 Rambler in red:

Much like my green 1959 Rambler station wagion. But there is the Ford Vedette. Mercury styling and a flathead Ford? Sign me up. There was also a Ford Vedette sports coupe, but the pix are buried in a backup somewhere. DDG no help.

[Bicycle Bob]

Chrysler didn't have a small car program? During one of the early stock car races, everyone was blowing tires in practice. One guy had the bright idea to get a slow but lighter Dodge, and won.

[freebeard]

So I was wrong about the 'Vedette sports coupe'. Tuns out it was the 1954 Ford Facel Comete.

automotorpad.com/ford/248020-ford-comete-facel.html



This one even has Navarro heads:



There were also the military flatheds:

https://www.hemmings.com › stories › article › born-again-flathead
Born-again Flathead | Hemmings
Commissioned by the French military for four-wheel-drive vehicles, these blocks were improved in many ways, with front sections that resembled pre-'49 flatheads and rear sections, and detachable bellhousings like post-'48 Ford 8BAs or Mercury 8CMs. Some had four-inch cranks like the 1949 to '53 255-cu.in. Mercury block.

Chrysler didn't have a small car program?

There's that one shot of a clay buck from the 1930s. It could very well have had the Pentastar drivetrain, which had a 5-cylinder radial and 3-speed with front wheel drive. It out-Beetled the Beetle before there was a Beetle, but never made it to market.

[sgtlethargic]

Eindhoven University "Stella Vita" solar camper van.

[Bicycle Bob]

Originally Posted by sgtlethargic

Eindhoven University "Stella Vita" solar camper van.

Looks like they'd find a lot of separation from the A pillars.