Wow- that's a good one; never seen it befur.

Something about it beyond the 'torpedo back' says Nash to me- not sure what or why, tho it has Lincoln-esque door pushbuttons. The 'transom' windows are quite unique.

Dammit balthazar, that signature of yours is effing awesome!

Mr. Fly, I thought I hadn't seen that car before, but I have... that ring on the roof rings a faint bell in my pea brain, I just wish I could bemember what it is...

Edited December 6, 200618 yr by ocnblu

I've seen a picture of the front of the car before, I am almost positive. The circular antenna is quite distinct.

I'm trying to figure out WHERE I've seen it now X_x

The radio antenna style should help. Also, you can consider this car a sort of a hybrid.

Whatever it is, it looks like it can only seat four.

There's enough sheetmetal to add an extra pair of doors and seat six.

It's...it's...

an ugly piece of crap!(?)

Whatever it is, it looks like it can only seat four.

There's enough sheetmetal to add an extra pair of doors and seat six.

224520[/snapback]

Nope. Six-seater!

Hmm... Three pairs of seats, or three seats per bench?

some sort of Tatra?

I am getting a Ford Motor Company vibe from this.

I've seen this fugly wannabe Chinese Tatra ripoff before...

drawing a blank . . . . .

Damnit, that's it.

Aluminum body & frame. 100-hp Franklin air-cooled flat 4 powered an electric generator which powered 4 electric motors, one at each wheel.

Projected price also didn't help the concept: $5000 (top-shelf Chevy sedan was about $1200).

Oh hell. Now that it's been revealed, didn't Mr. Fly post something about this a while back?

Yup.

Hmmm... on a related note I'd love to "trim" the tail section &

wings off an airplane junkyard Cessna 172, & then mount the

body onto a junkyard 1980s G-body frame. I'd put a fan-boat

style "shroud" around the propeller & have it pull itself along

down the road looking like a 1970s version of THIS.

This angle is dead sexy

What it lacked in grace it made up for in innovation. Balthazar pointed out some of its features. The Franklin motor could be mounted in the rear or in the front if desired. It also incorporated early safety features like copious amounts of glazing influenced by aircraft greenhouses, protrusion-free door panels, and a dashboard set far forward of the seats. The doors also cut into the roof to allow easier access along with hip-level seats.

It claimed 160mph and 30mpg in tests because as dumpy as it looks, it was very, very aerodynamic. Also, the ADF-style radio loop was there for a mobile phone system that Beech fully intended to include as standard equipment.

Some engineers at Boeing also pitched a car design but it was decided against because of the highly-competitive car market and the pickup in military and civilian contracts.

The Tucker Torpedo of Bizzaro World.

The photo Satty posted makes it look like a certain purple Teletubbie that set off alarms among the religious right.

160 mph??

Tucker hit 132 at Bonneville with 166 HP and it was very aerodynamic also (cd: .27). More 'top end' gearing and the Tucker was theoretically capable of 150, but I cannot see 100 HP hitting over 110.

The 'competitive market' sounds like spin: late '40s was an unprecedented seller's market; it had to primarily be price than killed the Plainsman's prospects.

Well; that and looks.

Well... not trying to argue with you Balthazar... 100

horsepower seems like way too little to push a car

that fast even if it IS aerodynamic, but I was pretty

shocked at how easily my 2.5 ton GVW '86 Cadillac

Fleetwood Brougham would do tripple digits with

just a 140 horsepower. I guess those 2.28:1 gears

were good for something other than fuel economy.

Sure; the Fleetwood's gearing is instrumental in it's top end. And 140 is nearly 50% more than 100.

My buddy's all-stock '53 Merc with 125 hp (3-spd/3.90 gears) would not exceed 97 MPH no matter how many times we tried. Cars in the late '40s-early '50s frequently had gears around 4.00:1.

I do not know if its valid to compare the 100 hp of the Plainsman WRT top speed when it is driven by electric motors... but if it was a 100-hp IC-driven car, then 160 is way too high for the power.

Edited December 10, 200618 yr by balthazar