Streamlined Dreams: Ten Amazing Unbuilt Automobile Designs, 1916-1939

[jzichek]

New book available which may be of tangential interest to SPF members. Automotive history is filled with concepts which never left the drawing board, with early streamlined projects being among the more fascinating. This book presents ten of the most striking and unusual aerodynamic automobile studies of the interwar period. Subjects include a torpedo-like race car driven by periscope; advanced teardrop passenger cars; rocket-powered vehicles with wings; Harry Miller’s land speed record dream car; a three-wheel GP car inspired by racing aircraft; and a pair of huge and futuristic Nazi record vehicles. All of these concepts are brought to life in stunning full color CG reconstructions showing these remarkable vehicles from every angle.

Both automotive and aviation enthusiasts will find much to like in this book. The latter may be particularly interested in:

• Three rocket-powered winged auto concepts designed by Max Valier and Alexander Lippisch
• The Gee-Bee "Atlanta" three-wheel race car from the same company that produced the most iconic racing aircraft of the 1930s
• A huge land speed record car drafted by Josef Mickl, an aeronautical engineer who worked for both the Oeffag and Ikarus aircraft companies

This softcover book features 102 pages packed with color illustrations; it can be purchased on Amazon.com and its international branches for $21.99, along with other major booksellers worldwide. A Kindle edition is available on Amazon and its subsidiaries for just $9.99, while forum members can purchase an EPUB version for just $8.99 from my shop on Gumroad.com, a savings of $1 off the regular price. Some sample spreads are shown below:

 

[XP67_Moonbat]

Looks great, Jared!

 

[covert_shores]

Georgeous designs

 

[Graham1973]

Impressive.

 

[antigravite]

Love it!

A.

 

[jzichek]

Thank you - it was a lot of work, but I think it turned out beautifully.

 

[GeorgeA]

The friendly UPS dude just dropped off my copy. I've only thumbed through it but it looks to be very good.

The T80 LSR derivatives are fascinating. Mercedes also looked into a shrunken version of the T80 for Grand Prix racing and Rekordwoche competition under the proposed post-1940 formula. The T90 was a fully enclosed mid-engine four-wheeler using either a 1.5-liter V-12 or 3-liter V-24, depending on which version of the engine formula was implemented. The one drawing in Ludvigsen's "Quicksilver Century" shows a lot of Porsche and Mickl influence.

 

[jzichek]

Thanks George, glad you like it. The T90 is definitely a candidate for a second volume, assuming this book does well enough to justify it. There's also another T80 preliminary study I'd like to illustrate; hopefully I'll get a chance to do it.

 

[Firebee]

Looks great. I will definitely get a print copy for myself.

 

[GeorgeA]

Thanks George, glad you like it. The T90 is definitely a candidate for a second volume, assuming this book does well enough to justify it. There's also another T80 preliminary study I'd like to illustrate; hopefully I'll get a chance to do it.

Looking forward to that Jared. A similar vehicle in terms of aerodynamic profile, and similarly obscure, would be the Porsche Typ 114 Berlin-Rome racer with a mid-mounted V10.