Identify this car for 1 point:
Cooooool!
This is the 1936 Dawn Impala, created by Claude May.
This is believed to be the only surviving picture of the car.
The same picture appears in this months Classic and Sportscar. P33. Feb 2011.
With the full story of the car. Written by Simon Taylor.
That's what it is, yes. The picture was taken during testing at Brooklands in 1936.
It had a Meadows 1500cc 4-cylinder engine positioned just in front of the rear wheels, giving very stable handling. It also had an elementary continuous belt-drive transmission, something which its designer Claude May also apparently worked on for DAF.
The car was in a lock-up in London during WW2 along with all parts and papers when it was destroyed during a bombing raid, leaving nothing whatsoever behind.
I'm impressed and flattered that the car I wrote about in this month's Classic & Sports Car got onto Autopuzzles.com within hours of the magazine hitting the bookstands!
Seriously, I'd be delighted if anybody can tell me anything else about Claude May and his futuristic design. Mr May wrote a letter to me about it in around 1990 and, if he hadn't enclosed that one photo, I probably wouldn't have believed his story. He was clearly a very clever young designer when he built the car - it was amazingly ahead of its time in 1936 - and it's a tragedy that it was destroyed without trace in World War II.
Since the magazine came out I have discovered that he died in 1996. But if Autopuzzles.com happens to reach anyone who knows any more, I'd really like to hear from them.
Welcome to AutoPuzzles Simon.. I think I know which of your colleagues told you about the Impala being featured!
Always on the lookout for real rareties and this one was a natural, especially as the streamliners are always very popular puzzles and I thought even PJ wouldn't know this one!
However, to use a puzzle from a current magazine was perhaps a bit of a mistake: maybe I should have left it a few months until it faded from people's memories a bit, as it should have lasted a bit longer being quite so rare and almost completely unknown.
Never mind, sure the story will be of interest to AutoPuzzlers.
Framework drop.
For one point, please respond and identify this car.
up
Hoffman?
No
Stout Scarab?
No
Adler ?
No
American?
No
Italian car ?
No
Morman?
No
up again
Dymaxion?
No
Bech 1937 three-seater?
No
Rokri-Wagen 1939?
No
German?
No
Scandinavian one-off?
No
French?
No
Central European?
Dutch?
Twice no
Western European?
Yes
UK?
Yes
Swift by Southern Aircraft (Gatwick) Ltd?
No
Nobel?
No
For a production vehicle or a one-off?
One-off
By an automobile manufacturer?
No, by a private person, but with the intention to start a production.
Was it a microcar?
No
Was it from the 1950s?
No
1930s?
Yes
3-wheeler?
No
Was it ever completed?
Yes
Rear-engined?
Yes
1937-1939?
I don't have an exact year, just sometime in the middle of the 1930s.
Did it have an unconventional door arrangement?
Not as far a I can tell
Did it have 4 doors?
There were two at the right side, I guess there were two on the left one also. :)
Has the car or its builder appeared on AP before?
I just noticed that it is a repost, but with another picture. So I'll leave it here. I must have forgotten to check.
Burney?
No, less known
Similar teardrop/streamline design?
Yes
Dawn Impala by Claude May:
Correct!
Merged
An interesting car worth revisiting. Thanks for the point!