1947 NORMAN TIMBS SPECIAL

1947 NORMAN TIMBS SPECIAL

The 1947 Norman Timbs Special is one of the most unique and odd looking vehicles that you will ever see. Norman Timbs designed the vehicle and was an Indianapolis racing engineer before creating the vehicle which features a front-mounted cockpit and curves that lead to a tail shaped like a raindrop. The car was created with a Buick Straight 8 engine that was located at the rear of the car chassis. The 1937 Auto Union Type C racer provided a good bit of the inspiration for Timb’s design, with the car capable of traveling to speeds approaching 120 MPH. Driving the vehicle at high speeds required the use of driving goggles since the Special did not have a roof.

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1942 OEUF ÉLECTRIQUE

1942 OEUF ÉLECTRIQUE

If you have never seen an egg on wheels, then the 1942 Oeuf électrique will definitely be one of the oddest cars that you have ever seen. The auto consisted of three wheels, and was powered by batteries during an age when gasoline was the predominant means to power automobiles. Paul Arzens from Paris, France, was the primary designer of the car, and he made his name by designing railway locomotives and painting before moving into the auto industry. The bubble of the electric egg was made of aluminum that was hand-formed as well as curved Plexiglas which was just starting to find adoption as a glass substitute throughout industry in this timeframe throughout Europe and the United States.

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MAZDA NAGARE CONCEPT CAR

MAZDA NAGARE CONCEPT CAR

The Mazda Nagare Concept Car was first introduced to the public at the 2006 Los Angeles Auto Show. The auto definitely ranks as one of the strangest vehicles produced as it was part of an exercise in organic and natural car design to help guide the future of Mazda auto design. The Japanese translation of the auto name means “flow,” and the company design engineers used the vehicle to study the effect that motion had on the natural surroundings while creating the auto. The primary designer of the auto was Laurens van den Acker, and the Mazda Advanced Design Team who were located in Irving, California. The car is distinguishable by its extremely large windshield that sits at an extremely steep angle connecting to the top of the auto. The wheels of the car are extremely large and are wrapped into the wheel wells of the vehicle. This helps incorporate them as part of the car body, and are another one of the design features making the Nagare one of the oddest cars that you will ever see.

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1936 STOUT SCARAB

 1936 STOUT SCARAB

The 1936 Stout Scarab is one of the oddest looking cars that you will ever see. The auto was designed by William Stout who had been employed as an aviation engineer focused on aircraft before transitioning to the automobile industry. Drawing on Stout Air Lines success with first introducing luxury and leisure into transportation through the introduction of in-flight meals and flight attendants into flights, Stout looked to mimic these successes in the auto industry. The Stout Scarab was designed to be a diner car on wheels driven by a powerful V-8 located in the rear of the stretched auto body. Ultimately the Scarab never took off in popularity due to its high cost, and only 10 were produced in the lifetime of the brand.

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1932 FORD SPEEDSTER

1932 FORD SPEEDSTER

The 1932 Ford Speedster is one of the oddest cars of the end of the Model-T era in the United States. The car was created by company designer, Eugene Gregorie and Henry Ford’s son, Edsel Ford, and was extremely long and sat low to the ground. The Speedster included a flathead V-8 engine and even had a start button for the engine many decades before this would become a standard feature throughout the auto industry. The original concept for the flathead V-8 and ignition system had been discussed in concept several years earlier, but Ford held off on expanding production of vehicles with the technology for business reasons for several years.

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