Schlörwagen
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The ''Schlörwagen'' (nicknamed "Göttingen Egg" or "Pillbug") was a prototype aerodynamic rear-engine passenger vehicle developed by Karl Schlör (1911–1997) and presented to the public at the 1939 Berlin Auto Show. It never went into production, and the sole prototype has not survived.


Design history

Schlör, an engineer for Krauss Maffei of
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, proposed an ultra-low drag coefficient body as early as 1936. Under Schlör's supervision at the AVA (an aerodynamic testing institute in
Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...
) a model was built. Subsequent
wind tunnel A wind tunnel is "an apparatus for producing a controlled stream of air for conducting aerodynamic experiments". The experiment is conducted in the test section of the wind tunnel and a complete tunnel configuration includes air ducting to and f ...
tests yielded an extraordinarily low drag coefficient of 0.113. For a functioning model, a Mercedes-Benz 170H chassis, one of their few rear-engine designs, was used. The aluminum body was built by the Ludewig Brothers of Essen. Subsequent tests of the motorized model showed a slightly higher but still impressive drag coefficient of 0.186. The Schlörwagen was built on a modified chassis of the Mercedes 170 H. The wheelbase was 2.60 meters, the vehicle was 4.33 meters long and 1.48 meters high. The width of 2.10 meters was needed to run the wheels inside the body. The bodywork made by an Essen-based company was teardrop-shaped, had flush-fitting curved windows and a closed floor. However, despite the aluminum construction, it was about 250 kg heavier than the Mercedes 170H. The aerodynamic shape and far back center of gravity (because of the rear engine) affected the driving safety of the Schlörwagens and made them very vulnerable to crosswinds. In a test drive with a production Mercedes 170H as a comparison, the Schlörwagen tested about 135 km/h top speed – 20 km/h faster than the Mercedes; it consumed 8 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers – 20 and 40 percent less fuel than the reference vehicle. According to Karl Schlör, the vehicle could reach a speed of 146 km/h. A year later it was unveiled to the public at the 1939 Berlin Auto Show. Despite generating much publicity, it was perceived by the public as ugly. The project was shelved with the onset of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and mass production was never realized.


Later history

In 1942, the prototype was fitted with a captured Soviet radial aircraft engine, and driven around a test track. The prototype appears to have been stored until August 1948 on the site of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Göttingen. Schlör's attempts to obtain the heavily damaged body from the British military administration failed, and its fate is unknown. In 2007 the
German Aerospace Center The German Aerospace Center (, abbreviated DLR, literally ''German Center for Air- and Space-flight'') is the national center for aerospace, energy and transportation research of Germany, founded in 1969. It is headquartered in Cologne with 3 ...
(DLR), re-tested a small original model in a wind tunnel: It showed no stalls or braking turbulence. One of the original drawings kept in the DLR archives in the scale 1:5 is on display in the PS Speicher transport museum in
Einbeck Einbeck (; Eastphalian: ''Aimbeck'') is a town in the district Northeim, in southern Lower Saxony, Germany, on the German Timber-Frame Road. History Prehistory The area of the current city of Einbeck is inhabited since prehistoric times. Vario ...
. The
Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...
-based non-profit Mobile Welten e.V. is currently working on building two replicas of the cars using original Mercedes engines and
Maybach Maybach (, ) is a German luxury car brand owned by and a part of Mercedes-Benz AG. The original company was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach and his son Karl Maybach, originally as a subsidiary of ''Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH'', and it was ...
transmissions.


Gallery

File:Karl Schlör.jpg, Karl Schlör (1939) File:Schlörwagen - Construction drawings.jpg, Construction drawings File:Schlörwagen - Interior view.jpg, Interior View File:Schlörwagen - Test drive on the highway.jpg, Test drive on the
autobahn The (; German , ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of t ...
File:Schlörwagen with a Russian aircraft power unit.jpg, With a Russian aircraft engine (1942) File:Schlörwagen Windkanal Modell.jpg, Model in the DLR wind tunnel


See also

* Streamliner: Automobiles for overview of early aerodynamic automobiles ;Other early teardrop-shaped cars, chronologically: *
Rumpler Tropfenwagen The Rumpler Tropfenwagen ("Rumpler drop car", named after its raindrop shape) was a car developed by Austrian engineer Edmund Rumpler. The Tropfenwagen Aerodynamics Rumpler, born in Vienna, was known as a designer of aircraft when at the 1921 Ber ...
(1921), first aerodynamic "teardrop" car to be designed and serially produced (about 100 units built) *Persu car (1922–1923), designed by Romanian engineer Aurel Persu, improved on the Tropfenwagen by placing the wheels inside the car body *
Stout Scarab The Stout Scarab is a streamlined 1930–1940s American car, designed by William Bushnell Stout and manufactured by Stout Engineering Laboratories and later by Stout Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan. The Stout Scarab is credited by ...
(1932–1935, 1946), US *
Dymaxion car The Dymaxion car was designed by American inventor Buckminster Fuller during the Great Depression and featured prominently at Chicago's 1933/1934 World's Fair. Fuller built three experimental prototypes with naval architect Starling Burgess ...
(1933), US


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schlorwagen Concept cars Vehicles introduced in 1939 Rear-engined vehicles