Aerocarene 700
Aerocarene 700, the aircraft-inspired machine, featured highly unusual light alloy bodywork with very unconventional entry for passengers: the whole front of the body slid forwards to allow access to the two seats, which were afforded protection from the elements by Plexiglass panels.
It was firstly presented in 1947 at the Paris Motor Show. It is easy to imagine the reaction of bourgeois who saw this streamlined car with wheels hidden in the wings and fuselage among the usual cars.
The car has a lot of interesting moderen features. It had a windshield of triplex, rack and pinion steering, the steering wheel was provided both on the left and on the right, the brakes were hydraulically driven, the rear of the body was raised for easy access to the engine. Another interesting feature of the Aerocarene-700 was that the headlights located in the wings and turned with the wheels. This means that the head lighting technology, automatically tracking the trajectory of the car, appeared almost two decades earlier than the famous Citroen DS headlights!
A two-cylinder two-stroke engine of 684cc transmitted its 23bhp of power to the single rear wheel via a Cotal four-speed electromagnetic gearbox. The front suspension was independent, and the rear was coil-sprung.
The Aerocarene’s creators, engineers called Desbenojt and Bodu, said the car weighed 280kg, reached 75mpn (120km/h) and averaged 70mpg (4l/100km). A planned production run of 30 cars never materialized, however.
Specifications:
- Engine: In-line 2-cylinder 2-stroke
- Capacity: 76×76 mm
- Power: 23 hp at 4000 rpm
- Suspension: front — independent torsion bar, rear — spring
- Tires: 135×400
- Length: 3430 mm
- Wheelbase: 2425 mm
- Track: 1520 mm
