Car-Trailer Combination (Feb, 1938)
Filed under: Automotive — @ 7:29 am
Source: Science And Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1938
| Buy on Ebay
Tags: trailers
Source: Science And Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1938
| Buy on Ebay
Tags: trailers
Car-Trailer Combination
A radical departure in automobile design is represented by a streamlined automobile in which the body and frame are integral and which, it is claimed, increases safety in driving while combining all of the features of a pleasure car and trailer. The structure is streamlined and is 16 feet long and 6 feet 4 inches wide overall. The inside height is 6 feet 4 inches. The motor is in the rear and operates on the rear wheels. The car is suspended from variable pitch coil springs and has a cruising speed of fifty miles an hour. Its floor is 12 inches from the ground and the road clearance is 9-1/2 inches. This together with improved driver visibility, it is claimed, makes the car especially safe to drive.
Cool!
This should be in the ‘Origins’ section too, the first minivan.
Comment by Stannous — September 5, 2007 @ 8:20 am
It appears to be a version of the Pribil Housecar, designed to carry 8 and sleep 3. Engine was either a 30hp Mathis or a Continental four-cylinder. More information at: http://blog.hemmings.com/index.....ty-stunts/
Comment by Dan — September 5, 2007 @ 10:12 am
Wow, a 30hp engine? I wouldn’t want to try going up a hill with 8 people in that thing unless 4 of them got out to push.
It looks pretty comfy though.
Comment by Charlie — September 5, 2007 @ 10:16 am
A tricycle wheel arrangement? Bet it handled well too–especially loaded.
Comment by mrdweeb — September 5, 2007 @ 4:22 pm
Looks like a deathtrap. Though with 30hp I can’t see it hitting anything very fast.
Comment by Eamonnanchnuic — September 5, 2007 @ 4:35 pm
A Dymaxion car from 1960s Yugoslavia?
Comment by jayessell — September 5, 2007 @ 8:04 pm
30 hp isnt so bad… a 1978 volkswagen T2 i own has only 49…and manages to go 120 km/h, ok that goes down to a 110 if 7 seated.
Comment by K!P — September 6, 2007 @ 5:16 am
I want one - painted like a Federation Shuttlecraft!
Comment by Sorcerer Mickey — September 6, 2007 @ 10:17 am
It says rear wheels, as in more than one: they must be offset like Isetta rear wheels. 30 horses wasn’t bad way back in 1938. I’m surprised there aren’t more people building streamlined live-ins today. I’m writing this in a city where I see hundreds of people living in a “vans down by the river” or more often under the freeway
Comment by Tim Tracy — July 15, 2008 @ 2:48 pm