Stout Motor Car Company
The Stout Scarab is an automobile from Stout Motor Car Company in the 1930s.
History
The shape of the Stout Scarab was unusual at the time. Decades later, his futuristic design and curved nose was considered an Art Deco icon.
The prototype was designed by William Bushnell Stout and by the Stout Engineering Laboratories and produced later by Stout Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan in small numbers as the Stout. The Stout Scarab is sometimes referred to as the world's first production minivan. A 1946-built experimental prototype of the Scarab was the first car with body from fiberglass-reinforced plastic and air suspension.
The production cars of this time usually had a separate chassis and a body with a long bonnet. The engine sat longitudinally behind the front axle in front of the passenger compartment and propelled the rear axle via a cardan shaft under the floor of the vehicle. This design worked well, but restricted the passenger compartment. Stout let go of the Scarab ("Scarab") chassis and prop shaft. To give the interior a low, flat floor, he used a truss frame and a Ford V8 engine in the rear. Stout's idea was an office on wheels. The designer John Tjaarda designed the body of the Scarab in the style of a lightweight aluminium fuselage. The short, streamlined nose and tapering rear end anticipated the "one-box design" of modern minivans. The seats of the second row of seats could be turned backwards and there were detachable tables.
The pontoon body without running boards and flared fenders and the long wheelbase of the Scarab made possible a large interior. The driver's seat could move forward because of the rear engine and the steering wheel was almost directly above the front wheels. The driver's door was on the left and passengers boarded through a recessed door on the right. Apart from the fixed driver's seat, the seating system could be flexibly reconfigured. If necessary, a small map table could be attached. The interior was covered with leather, chromed sheet metal and wood. The view to the front and to the side was as good as in an observation car, to the rear she was bad and there were no rear-view mirrors.
Also new was the chassis of the car. When almost all other vehicles had rigid axles on leaf springs, the Scarab was equipped with independent suspension, coil springs and hydraulic shock absorbers on all four wheels This made good traction. The rear swing axle with long spring-damper units was inspired by aircraft landing gear. The Ford V8 drove the rear wheels via a built by Stout three-speed transmission. He sat directly above the rear axle, with the flywheel side forward. The gearbox was mounted in front and transmitted the power via a rear-facing shaft to the final drive.
A mobile prototype of the Scarab was completed in 1932. Some parts of the truss frame were made of steel, the outer skin was made of aluminium. A second, slightly modified prototype was completed in 1935, vertical bars were placed in front of the headlamps, and the stern was adorned with narrow chrome trim that stretched from the rear window to the bumper. The body was made of steel to reduce costs.
Stout explained that the car was manufactured in limited quantities and sold on request. Up to a hundred a year should be built in a small factory in Dearborn. The Scarab was widely reported in the press, but at $ 5,000, was far too expensive. A luxurious and ultra-modern Chrysler Imperial Airflow cost only $ 1,345. It is believed that nine Scarabs were built. Since the vehicles were individually handcrafted, no two Scarabs were equal.
Immediately after the Second World War Stout built another prototype, called Stout Scarab Experimental. It was issued in 1946 and looked a bit more conventional. This was also equipped with a rear engine and had the first fully functional air suspension, which had been developed by Firestone in 1933. Its body with two doors and panoramic windshield was the first made of glass fibre reinforced plastic. It stayed with this unique piece. Stout had his own Scarab, with which he travelled over 250,000 miles when traveling in the United States.
