Show us your streamlining pics

Chrysler Airflow...?

I posted this somewhere else only last night but it fits in here too





While there are many automotive dead ends throughout the last century and a quarter, the early years of car production probably produced a greater number than in later times. No one method of production or layout had yet taken overall precedence and so there were plenty of individuals ready to try something different.

Two such men in the early nineteen twenties were Mr Oliver North (designer) and Mr Ralph Lucas (commissioner). They proceeded to make a closed car with seating for two plus two inside a streamlined body that tapered to points at both ends. The suspension was independent all round with attention paid to a low unsprung weight by using inboard rear brakes and none at the front.



But perhaps the most intriguing part of the car was its power plant, a five cylinder radial engine, mounted in the rear. This was positioned such that the crankshaft was vertical, flywheel on the top and clutch and gearbox below, driving down to a worm/wheel final drive which incorporated a differential. The cylinders were sidevalve rather than OHV, probably of J make as they would have been easy to buy at the time though the rest of the unit must have been bespoke and was influenced by WW1 aero engine practice. One problem of the vertical set up was lubrication, the gearbox raising its oil from the reservoir by means of a screw thread incorporated in the layshaft, to let it flow back down over the gears.



A few outside parties were given test drives and were mostly praiseworthy. Production was apparently never seriously considered but Mr Lucas used it as his main car between 1922 and 1928, covering 65,000 miles so it can’t have been too bad in reality, (His wife apparently was not keen and had a Talbot) but too far removed from more usual practices for the ideas to be taken up by the bigger manufacturers. When he was finished with it it was sent back to Mr North who was by then chief designer at Scammell. It survived the war but was subsequently broken up.

Darryl Starbird shop






Rollie Free: streamlined pants...

Here's an Ax for you........



built in 1993 featuring a 1.4 diesel it claimed the guiness world record at the time for most fuel efficient production car or something.
0.28 drag co-efficiency (0.31 standard) kevlar body parts, streamling and a weight of under 700kg helped it achieve 100.9mpg.
It did Dover to Barcelona (1609km) on 10 gallons of petrol!!!!

Yes, its a Rolls Royce.

Europa - I believe the first production car to have a drag coefficient of less than 0.30cd.