10 so wonderful cars that it’s hard to believe in their reality
Not all cars have the form that modern people are used to. When developers strongly “hit” in aerodynamics, fashion design, or strive for uncompromising maneuverability, it turns out a technique that terrifies or makes you smile. These cars simply can not appear on the road, because they will attract so much attention that they can cause a lot of accidents.
1. OSI Silver Fox
The OSI Silver Fox prototype is designed to achieve the best aerodynamics. Instead of using the body of the traditional type, the Italians from OSI have designed their amazing option. The result was a high-speed car with two bodies and a passenger cabin suspended between them. Compared to ordinary cars, the OSI Silver Fox case layout with three spoilers gives it tremendous downforce. A very light body and a 1.0-liter four-cylinder engine made it possible to reach a maximum speed of 250 km / h – an amazing result for 1967. Only a single prototype was built, and a year later the company went bankrupt.
2. Firebird 1 XP-21
Seeing how successful jet engines on aircraft, engineers from General Motors decided to experiment with a jet turbine on cars. Firebird 1 XP-21 – their first attempt in 1954. In this amazing device, air is supplied to the turbine through a pair of air intakes in the nose. Unlike a jet plane, exhaust gases do not provide the main thrust. Instead, the turbine drives the rear wheels. A single body completely repeats the design of the aircraft, and on the wings there are even flaps to slow down. Still, the XP-21 was very dangerous to drive. He did not reach production, although GM tried to make a family version.
3. BMW Lovos
These are not screenshots from a new movie about transformers – this is a concept car developed by Anne Forschner for BMW. Lovos is not yet ready for mass production, there is only a scale model. The appearance of the car is made of 260 identical metal plates. Each of them is a small photovoltaic panel and is hinged so that the whole machine can act as an air brake at high speed. Dubious technical solution, rather designed for external attractiveness.
4. Aghnides Rhino
As the Cold War gained momentum, inventor Elie Aghnides realized that no vehicle could protect the Arctic expanses of Alaska and Canada. To this end, in 1954, the Aghnides developed a unique all-terrain vehicle, the Rhino. The main feature of the strange car is its hemispherical wheels, designed to give traction in the most terrible difficult terrain, and allow the Rhino to tilt up to 75 degrees to the right or left. The engine is a 110-horsepower diesel engine, consuming 20 liters per 100 kilometers. The car made of aluminum weighs 5 tons, but at the same time it can swim with the help of water cannons.
Unfortunately, the wheels were also a major weakness of the Rhino. From a military point of view, these were gigantic targets, vulnerable to small arms. Built the only prototype of the Rhino, which is not interested in the Canadian military.
5. Italcorsca / Tarf II
The car was built in 1951 specifically for setting speed records by rider Piero Taruffi. Like the Silver Fox, the Tarf, dubbed the “Double Torpedo,” consists of a twin body, but it is much smaller and lighter. The driver sits on the right side of the fuselage, which is too narrow to fit inside the steering wheel. Instead, the driver uses two levers to control the car. In the left pontoon were different engines – from 500-cc to 2.4-liter Ferrari 246 Dino. With the latter, a maximum speed of 290 km / h was reached.
