The 1935 Stout Scarab

Scarab? I thought that was a beetle...remember, like in The Mummy. Of course, when I was younger, a friend gave me a scarab bracelet but that was way after the year 1935 and this article is not about beetle bugs or special jewelry. It is about an automobile claimed by some to be the precursor to the mini-van: The 1935 Stout Scarab!

The Scarab was built by William Bushnell Stout, an aeronautical engineer in Dearborn, MI. William Stout was Father of Aviation and designed the Ford Tri-motor ("The Tin Goose") airplane for Henry Ford.

Stout Scarab on display in Genoa, Italy

(en.encyclopedia.org)

 

1935 Scarab at Owls Head Transportation Museum (Owls Head, Maine)

 (en.encyclopedia.org)

 via Google Images

 via Google Images

 

 via Google Images

Interesting facts:

• Total production = 9 cars with only 5 still in existence today

• First car with concealed running boards, flow through ventilation and modular seating

• Car known as "Car with a Bar"

• A $5,000 aerodynamically vehicle well ahead of its time

• Home to Scout Scarabs - in the garages of the Wrigleys (chewing gum), the Dows (chemicals), the Strahanans (Champion Spark Plugs) and the Firestones

  

William Bushnell Stout

Stout in 1947 with model of his skycar

(en.wikipiedia.org)

What is your opinion of the Stout Scarab? Did you have prior knowledge of this unique automobile? Were you surprised at its possible connection to the mini-van?