Random Aerodynamic Oddity of the Day Thread

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by kach22i

I think it's safe to say that self-driving cars have the potential to radicalize traditional automotive aerodynamics. At least as much as going electric.

Kind of like comparing the looks of a submarine to a surface ship.

Makes sense. Well, usually I don't see people paying much attention to the design of a taxi, as long as it gets the job done, so neither would I expect them to become so vocal against some design features which are not so favored by now.

[MetroMPG]

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

IMAGE

That's so outrageously dangerous.

I know this first hand based on the various height and angle experiments I did to develop the rear spoiler on my pickup truck.

The first spoiler was about 8" tall, and I had to cut it down to 4" to prevent it from feeling like I was towing a large boat on the highway (akin to a giant child crushing down on the truck like a play toy).

A 4-foot tall spoiler/deflector would bottom out the rear suspension not much over 35 mph in my opinion.

And please do not call this a wing, location and angle disqualify it from such a label.

Thanks for posting, it's odd as all heck.

[RedDevil]

My spoiler is bigger!

[freebeard]

Between the Panorama City Special, the first sling-shot dragster, and the four engined Challenger 1 Bonneville car, Mickey Thompson built this twin-engined streamliner:

Originally intended for the quarter-mile, an impromptu stop at Bonneville during Speed Week resulted in Thompson and Voigt temporarily abandoning their drag-racing intentions to instead capitalize on the dragster’s off-the-trailer first run of 242 mph on the salt. Later that week Thompson hit a one-way best of 294.117, breaking a connecting rod during his backup attempt. The front 392 Hemi was placed backward powering the front axle, while the rear 392 was in a traditional configuration, powering the rear axle.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/t...sters.1082497/

Triple Nickel!

There're interesting stories in the that thread. Streamlined bodies that aren't just faster backwards, they want to be backwards.

As far as the front wheel "pants", Nye made sets for several other dragsters at the time. One of the issues with these pants was that they were very sensitive to airflow, meaning that if the driver used the steering wheel very much on the top end, the car tended to make "immediate" turns in that direction, just like the rudder on an airplane. A little scary, which is why Nye never used them on the original Pulsator...

Craig Breelove's Spirit of America that had a rudder behind the rear axle, that had drag that wanted to lift the front end.

At Lions for test sessions Faust experienced extreme steering problems, smashing into the eyes and causing damage to the nose.

Johnson made repairs overnight and the Jungle Four team was back at San Fernando, where the same thing happened on the first pass, causing the dragster to veer off the track. The team supposedly hired a NASA aerodynamicist, who concluded there was so much downforce on the covered front tires that steering could not overcome the pressure, rendering the car unsteerable. Its best time was 8.20 at 197.80 mph.

[all www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/streamliner-dragsters.1082497/]

[freebeard]

Here is an interesting comparison:


https://rushautoworks.com/car_post/rush-sr/

Josef Ganz Peeple's Car:



Same (but shortened) fender line and rear fender form, just more complex surface development.

[freebeard]

One more from the Streamliner thread. This coupe is off topic for that thread, but has the most interesting top chop on a '33* Ford I can recall:


www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/streamliner-dragsters.1082497/page-6#post-12499410

Maybe not a stock-height windshield since it's straight on the bottom. I'd like to see a fiberglass Ford body on a VW floorpan with this.

*
Suicide doors.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Josef Ganz Peeple's Car:

His actual approach to the people's car idea was prior to this prototype he did in Switzerland. On a sidenote, Amaral Gurgel used to say every successful people's car had an engine with at least 2 cylinders, just like the Standard Superior which reached commercial production before Gutbrod was ordered to phase it out, while this Swiss prototype had AFAIK a single-cylinder.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by freebeard

[all www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/streamliner-dragsters.1082497/]

Great link, made me look up "The Beast" series.

Chet Herbert’s Beast IV redebuts fresh off its restoration to its original configuration
https://chromjuwelen.com/module-vari...-configuration

[kach22i]

https://www.pinterest.com/wayne_jeffries/tethered-cars/

Vintage Dooling Frog Streamliner Tether Car for Sale - New and Used - Astronomy Pictures.net

Find this Pin and more on Tethered cars by Wayne Jeffries.

Okay, those are cool, but $2,600 of cool?

https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/a...a-1940s/979998

I've never even heard of Tethered Cars, but in 1975 bought a tethered Cox powered P40 Warhawk with my dish-washing money (first job). They marketed them an "U-Line Control" or something.

https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/a...a-1940s/979998

Auburn Fall | Lot 1050
Streamliner 'Frog' Tether Car by Dooling, ca. 1940s
$2,588 USD | Sold
United States | Auburn, Indiana
3 September 2020