The Rover Scarab was a convertible four seater intended to sell at £85, and had a V twin engine of only 839 cc, which was rear mounted. Despite the engine position, the Scarab had a conventional (dummy) radiator grill at the front. Some other 1930s
rear engined cars had a down-curved grill-less front. These included the
Porsche Typ 12 prototype, the
Mercedes-Benz 120 test car, and the subsequent 130 / 150 / 170 H, the
Tatra V570
The Tatra V570 was a prototype early 1930s car developed by a team led by Hans Ledwinka and Paul Jaray. The aim of the construction team was to develop a cheap people's car with an aerodynamic body. However the company's management decided that t ...
prototype,
T77,
77A,
T87 and
T97 and of course the KdF-Wagen (later better known as the
Volkswagen Beetle
The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...
; see
Volkswagen controversy). Only a few Scarabs were built, examples being shown at the London (Olympia) Motor Show and the Scottish Motor Show, both in 1931.
References
*https://web.archive.org/web/20120722081518/http://www.carkeys.co.uk/features/five-million-rovers-and-more
*http://www.motorbase.com/vehicle/by-id/-1561926686/index.ehtml
Scarab
1930s cars
Rear-engined vehicles
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