Stout Scarab
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Stout Scarab was a 1930s U.S automobile produced in small numbers by Stout Engineering Laboratories of Detroit, Michigan. Among a host of novelties and innovations, the Stout Scarab is credited by many as the world's first production MPV (or minivan) [1].
Apart from that, an experimental prototype of the Scarab became the world's first car with a glassfibre bodyshell.
Contents |
[edit] Introduction
The Scarab was utterly unlike other cars of the era. Virtually all production cars at the time used a separate chassis and body, with a long compartment in the front, housing the engine, longitudinally placed behind the front axle, and a rearward passenger compartment. The front-mounted engine would typically drive the rear axle through a connecting prop-shaft running underneath the floor of the vehicle. This layout worked very well, but had severe limitations where space utilization was concerned.
Instead, the Scarab did away with the chassis and prop-shaft, to create a low, flat floor for the interior, by using a unitized body structure, and by placing the Ford-built V8 engine in the rear of the vehicle. The car’s creator - motorcar and aviation engineer and journalist William B. Stout, envisioned his "travelling machine" to be an office-on-wheels. To that end, the Scarab's body, styled by John Tjaarda, closely followed the construction of an aluminium aircraft fuselage. Featuring a very short, streamlined nose and a tapering upper-body rear, it already foreshadowed today's, mostly one-box, MPV designs. Although reminiscent of the Chrysler Airflow streamliner, and aerodynamically proficient, it was generally considered ugly at the time. Today its futuristic design and curvaceous, finely detailed nose earn it respect as an Art Deco icon [2].
[edit] Innovative features
Regardless of how the exterior is perceived, the main focus of the car was its interior. By discarding the usual running-boards and expanding the cabin to the full width of the car, as well as using a long, 135-inch (3,430 mm) wheelbase, the Scarab offered a more spacious interior than any American car of its time. Space was further maximized by placing the engine outside the wheelbase, behind the rear axle, and moving the driver far forward, so that the steering wheel was almost directly above the front wheels. Passengers entered through a single, large common door, and encountered a flexible seating system, that could be configured in almost any arrangement imaginable, except for the driver, whose seat was fixed. Rivalling the seating in modern MPVs, such as the Chrysler Voyager or Renault Espace, there was even a small card table which could be fitted anywhere among the passenger seats if so required. Interiors were appointed in leather, chrome and wood. Design elements also worked in a stylized ancient Egyptian "scarab" motif, including the car's emblem. Visibility to the front and sides was observation-car like, although rearward vision was almost nil and there were no rear-view mirrors.
The innovations did not end with the car's layout and body design. In an era where almost everything on the road had rigid axles with leaf springs, the Scarab featured independent suspension using coil springs on all four corners, providing a smoother, quieter ride. The rear-engine-induced weight bias coupled to the coil spring suspension endowed the Scarab with very good handling and traction . The famous Ford flathead V8 drove the rear wheels via a custom Stout-built three-speed manual, transaxle transmission.
[edit] Production
The first running prototype of the Scarab was completed in 1932, probably the first car ever with an aluminium spaceframe unit-construction body, although the frame parts were steel [3]. The second Scarab, completed in 1935, was an evolution of the first, incorporating some styling and mechanical changes. The headlamps were set behind a fine, vertical-bar grille, and at the rear, narrow chrome bars curved from the back window down to the bumper, giving the car its Art Deco appearance. For economy reasons the body was now steel.
Stout issued a statement that the car would be manufactured in limited quantities and sold to those who were invited to buy. Up to a hundred a year were to be made in a small factory at the corner of Scott Street and Telegraph Road (U.S. 24), Dearborn, Michigan. However, although the Scarab garnered acres of press coverage, at $5,000 - when a luxurious and ultra-modern Chrysler Imperial Airflow cost $1,345 - no normal person would pay this hefty premium for innovation, and total production of the Scarab amounted to no more than nine units [4]. The vehicles were completely hand-built and no two Scarabs were identical.
Apart from the nine metal specimens, Stout built one other Scarab, featuring the world's first glass-fibre reinforced plastic bodyshell. Not only that, but like its metal counterparts, it too was a monocoque, built up out of only eight separate pieces and featuring air suspension for good measure. Immediately following World War II, Stout built one more prototype Scarab. It was shown in 1946 and was more conventional in appearance, although still equipped with a rear engine. It never went into production.
Up to five Scarabs are reported to survive today. A 1935 Scarab in running condition is on display at the Owls Head Transportation Museum in Owls Head, Maine.
[edit] Literature
- Kimes, Beverly R., Clark, Henry A., Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805–1942. Kraus Publications, 1996, ISBN 0-87341-428-4
