Leyat propeller car hardly a runway success

0 0 December 27, 2024 Edit this post

by Bill Buys

IN this age of lookalike SUVs, is it not time for a designer to create something new?

In profile, a Haval is almost identical to a BMW, Audi, MG, Subaru and the rest of the now top-selling vehicles.

But they’re so similar in shape that you’d need to see the badge to identify the brand.

A similar situation prevailed in the 1920s when the most popular cars were box-like creations, like the Austin 7, with many brands building similar or larger vehicles based on the 7s template.

Then, along came Marcel Leyat, a Frenchman schooled in aircraft design, who decided that most of the cars came with a lot of unnecessary equipment and their steel bodies and brick-like styling do much for aerodynamic efficiency.

As well, components like transmission, differential, driveshafts and clutch, made them way too heavy.

By comparison, aircraft were much more efficient.

They were designed to be light and aerodynamic and since a propeller could be fitted straight to an engine's crankshaft, his thoughts turned to a kind of roadgoing airplane, obviously sans wings.

Marcel Leyat, born in Paris in 1885, was a pioneer of the aviation industry.

He graduated from the École Centrale Paris as an engineer in 1907 and . From 1908, he worked for the Société Astra, a major French manufacturer of balloons, airships and aeroplanes.

He obtained his pilot's license in 1911 and built several aircraft, during WWI and went on to design and built about 30 different aircraft up to WWII.

However, he built the first of his machines, called Heliocycles, in 1913. It was a three-wheeler with a JAP engine and a smooth plywood body, and followed up with another one in 1915.

In 1919 he produced a four-wheeled version, with a MAG engine, and built six of them.

All had a similar appearance, the main feature being a big propeller in the nose while rear-wheel steering was by a simple cable system, which probably made for some exciting cornering.

Two years later he unveiled his latest creation, called the Leyat Helica, at the 1921 Paris Motor Show, where its radical looks created a lot of interest.

Some reports said he received more than 600 expressions of interest at the show.

But the Helica did have a few features that made potential buyers think twice.

The large propeller, originally unguarded but shrouded in mesh in the later models, restricted the driver's view and gave passengers, seated in tandem behind, a little more airconditioning than expected.

Also, the vehicle had to be started by a sharp pull of an external cable to initiate the propeller and the driver then had to quickly scurry into the cockpit before the Helica ran off on its own.

The vehicle had a low mass of 225kg, so it could be coaxed to some surprising speeds.

Production four-wheeled models, all with Belgian-made ABC engines, were capable of 110km/h and 10 sedans and three sport versions were built in 1921.

However, despite their novel and quite exciting features for its era, only 30 were built, and 23 were reportedly sold.

But in 1927, a special three-wheeled Helica was made, also with an ABC engine, and recorded a top speed of 106 mph (170 km/h) on the Montlhéry racing circuit.

Today, just four Helica units are known to survive, one of them in the private collection of Albert II, Prince of Monaco.

Did he ever take the lovely Princess Charlene for a spin in it? Doubtful.

Marcel Leyat ended his car venture in 1926 due to lack of funds and returned to aviation.

Ahead of his time, the forward-thinking Frenchman went on to live a long life. He passed in 1986, aged 101.

The world might need a modern Marcel to do something to revolutionise the sameness of todays vast population of SUVs – preferably without rear-wheel steering and a big propeller up front.