Is This the Motor Car of Tomorrow? (Nov, 1940)
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Nov, 1940
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Tags: worlds fair
Is This the Motor Car of Tomorrow?
REPLETE with striking innovations, a motor car of tomorrow that is ready to roll on the highways of today, is part of the Electric Utilities exhibit at the New York World’s Fair. Within an air-conditioned, noiseless body, the driver sits behind an instrument panel holding more than, a score of dials and switches. Above the panel is a green-tinted, nonglare windshield, and below a special crash board padded with cork and sponge rubber. Doors are without handles and swing open at the touch of a button. Easily removed panels of duralumin seal the underside of the car against dust and mud, and eleven types of rubber, placed at vibration points, prevent rattles. An all-wave radio, with two speakers and an airplane-type, concealed antenna, can be tuned in from the instrument panel. The driver operates the car through an electric gearshift. Four persons can sit abreast on the wide front seat, which is formed of molded rubber to eliminate vibration and road shock. Powered by an airplane-type engine, this car of the future can reach a peak speed of 115 miles an hour.
That car was known by its enemies as the Flying Wombat. It has a chapter in Timothy Jacobs’ interesting “The World’s Worst Cars”. Apart from anything else, the way the front wheels were completely faired in meant that they could hardly be turned, so its turning circle was dreadful.
Comment by Stephen — August 18, 2006 @ 5:33 am
[...] Apparently, magazine editors soon abandoned their idea that we’d be driving around in McQuay-Norrises after the Phantom Corsair debuted. [...]
Pingback by Hemmings Auto Blogs » Blog Archive » twin-boom cars, accessories and Segway’s predecessor — August 30, 2006 @ 11:54 am
Art Deco…
Comment by Boban — December 11, 2007 @ 4:43 pm
[...] Flying Wombat” in a 1938 film, The Young in Heart (you can see a few more clips here). In 1940, Modern Mechanix wondered if the Phantom Corsair was, in fact, the car of tomorrow. Alas, it wasn’t; today, the [...]
Pingback by Hermenautic Circle blog » Speeding Into The Future With The Flying Wombat [Retro Futurism] — September 10, 2008 @ 5:48 pm
[...] fotos en flickr. Un artículo de la época en la revista Modern Mechanix, y el Phantom en [...]
Pingback by Phantom Corsair (1938): Ciencia real. « Concept Cars y Diseño — November 17, 2008 @ 7:04 am
[...] compleet off-topic, maar dit wilde ik toch echt even met jullie delen, dit kwam ik tegen op het internet, de Phantom Corsair uit 1938, een prototype auto, ontworpen door Rust [...]
Pingback by Phantom Corsair… Mijn god, wat mooi! | Sins of a Gamer — February 11, 2009 @ 8:49 am
I love it!
Comment by Paul — February 11, 2009 @ 10:18 pm