![Schlörwagen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Schl%C3%B6rwagen.jpg)
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 ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
, 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 (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911.
General information
The ori ...
) a model was built.
Subsequent
wind tunnel
Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...
tests yielded an extraordinarily low
drag coefficient
In fluid dynamics, the drag coefficient (commonly denoted as: c_\mathrm, c_x or c_) is a dimensionless quantity that is used to quantify the drag or resistance of an object in a fluid environment, such as air or water. It is used in the drag e ...
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 windows with curved windows and a closed floor. However, despite the construction of aluminum, it was about 250 kg heavier than that of the Mercedes 170H; its aerodynamic shape and because of the rear engine far back center of gravity 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
The Berlin Motor Show originally started in 1897 in the German capital Berlin as the home of the International Motor Show (''Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung'', IAA) and ran until 1939. From 1951 the IAA eventually became established in Frankf ...
.
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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
and mass production was never realized.
Later history
In 1942, the prototype was fitted with a captured Soviet airplane 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 (german: Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V., abbreviated DLR, literally ''German Center for Air- and Space-flight'') is the national center for aerospace, energy and transportation research of Germany ...
(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.
The
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
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 that exists today as a part of Mercedes-Benz. The original company was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach and his son Karl Maybach, originally as a subsidiary of ''Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH'', and ...
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 plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track' ...
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 Be ...
(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
Aurel Persu (26 December 1890 – 5 May 1977) was a Romanian engineer and pioneer car designer, the first to place the wheels inside the body of the car as part of his attempt to reach the perfect aerodynamic shape for automobiles. , improved on the Tropfenwagen by placing the wheels inside the car body
*
Stout Scarab (1932–1935, 1946), US
*
Dymaxion car
The streamlined 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 Starli ...
(1933), US
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schlorwagen
Concept cars
Vehicles introduced in 1939
Rear-engined vehicles