The Weirdest Cars Ever Made
Automobile designers and engineers have often pushed boundaries to make faster, sleeker, and more attractive cars. But sometimes that effort results in vehicles so eccentric that the world looks on in bemusement.
These automotive oddities aren’t necessarily bad cars, but they certainly stand out for being well beyond the norm, whether it’s a vehicle so tiny it can fit through a doorway or a propeller-powered safety hazard. Here are seven of the most curious cars ever presented to an unsuspecting public.
Leyat Helica
In 1913, French biplane designer Marcel Leyat had what he believed was a brilliant idea: Why not put an airplane propeller on the front of a car? The result was the Leyat Helica — basically a wingless plane on wheels, with a massive wooden propeller mounted directly to the front. The first production model appeared in 1921, but despite some initial interest, only 30 were ever built.
Leyat’s car had a few issues, but one stood out: It was spectacularly unsafe. The lightweight vehicle had rear-wheel steering, minimal brakes, a top speed of 106 mph, and a giant spinning blade where most cars would have a grille. Thankfully for pedestrians, pigeons, and anything else that stood in the way of the propeller-driven death trap, the Leyat Helica never took off.
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Dymaxion Car
When the visionary architect and designer Buckminster Fuller — inventor of the geodesic dome — turned his attention to cars, he created something both wonderful and strange. Fuller envisioned his land-based prototype as eventually being able to travel in the air and underwater as well, so the streamlined car looked like a cross between a VW camper, a zeppelin, and a torpedo.
Unveiled in the 1930s, the three-wheeled, 20-foot-long omnidirectional vehicle could reach speeds of 120 mph, make a 180-degree turn within its own length, and carry 12 passengers. To many people, it seemed like the future had arrived. But Fuller’s car never went into mass production, partly due to one of the prototypes being involved in a fatal crash.
Stout Scarab
The Stout Scarab is credited as the world’s first production minivan. Designed by aviation engineer William Bushnell Stout, the streamlined, beetle-shaped vehicle (hence the name “Scarab”) was notable for, among other things, its massive interior space.
Inside the 16-foot-long vehicle, only the driver’s seat was fixed — all other seats could rotate 180 degrees to face one another. There was also a removable table for business meetings or card games, a dust filter to clean the air inside, interior lighting, and power door locks — all incredibly cutting-edge for the 1930s. Perhaps it was a leap too far. Only nine Scarabs were ever built, but the car went on to influence automotive design for decades.
Peel P50
The Peel P50 is one of the smallest cars ever made. At just 4.5 feet long and just over 3 feet tall and wide, it’s smaller than most motorcycles and can fit through a standard doorway. And considering it weighs just 130 pounds, two people could easily carry it to the repair shop if it ever breaks down.
The original, produced between 1962 and 1965, featured a 49cc engine producing 4.2 horsepower, powering a single rear wheel to a top speed of 40 mph. The Peel P50 has no reverse gear — if you need to back up, you simply get out and pull. They are still available to buy — hand built in the U.K. and shipped worldwide — and remain both utterly impractical and absolutely wonderful.
Amphicar Model 770
The Amphicar Model 770 was based on the Volkswagen Schwimmwagen, an amphibious vehicle used extensively by Nazi ground forces during World War II. That’s not the most auspicious of starts, but the Amphicar nonetheless went on to become the most successful civilian amphibious production car ever made, with 3,878 units sold between 1961 and 1968. U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson famously owned one and enjoyed pranking guests by screaming, “The brakes have failed!” as he drove into the lake on his Texas ranch.
The problem with the Amphicar, and the reason it never sold more, was simple: It was neither a good car nor a good boat. On land, it had poor handling and minimal comfort, while on water it had a max speed of only 7 knots and very poor steering (not to mention problems with rust). Still, it was a whole lot of fun for anyone with the money to buy such an eccentric and impractical vehicle.
Vanguard-Sebring CitiCar
If you’ve always aspired to drive a large wedge of cheese, then the Vanguard-Sebring CitiCar is a dream come true. Inspired by golf carts and partly a response to the 1973 oil crisis, this tiny, wedge-shaped electric vehicle was powered by a 2.5-horsepower motor and six 6-volt batteries. It could reach a top speed of 28 mph and had a range of about 40 miles.
Selling for less than $3,000, it was cheaper than most compact cars, and by 1976, the Florida-based Sebring-Vanguard was positioned as America’s sixth-largest automaker. For a while, the CitiCar was the bestselling electric vehicle in the U.S., despite looking like a doorstop on wheels.
Fiat Multipla
The Fiat Multipla is frequently mentioned as one of the ugliest cars ever produced. With its bulbous two-tiered layout and three pairs of buglike headlights, it looks like the offspring of a beluga whale and a cartoon insect. But the Multipla isn’t a bad car. It runs perfectly well, and inside its strangely wide body are two rows of three seats, making it a true multipurpose vehicle with plenty of space for luggage — all things that earned plaudits from the automotive media.
The problem, however, was its peculiar appearance. It sold 79,000 units across Europe in 1999, but sales dropped off quickly — the Fiat Multipla never even reached America, in large part because of its reputation as an eyesore. It was discontinued in 2010, but can still be seen on the road (and purchased secondhand), albeit increasingly rarely. It remains a cautionary tale of what happens when automotive design goes awry.
