An automobile with a fabric skin? In the 1920s, it was actually a fairly sound idea.

Yes, the notion of a fabric automobile body may seem more than a little strange today, but in the 1920s the approach had considerable merit. The most successful fabric body system was developed by Charles Terres Weymann, a French-American aviator, inventor, and entrepreneur who decided that the fabric-over-wood aircraft construction of the time could be successfully adapated to automobile bodies. Opening his first plant in Paris in 1921, he soon added facilities in London and Indianapolis, serving a steady stream of customers seeking coachbuilt bodywork.

The Weymann Silent Flexible Body, as it was known, employed a hardwood framework, usually ash, that was not unlike the conventional metal-covered bodies of the period. However, instead of joining the wood pieces together directly with mortise and tenon, the Weymann method used a patented system of stamped metal brackets that connected the pieces without allowing them to touch, thus preventing squeaks and rattles. Over this structure were placed layers of muslin batting, followed by the final exterior skin of artificial leather, aka leatherette  (nitrocellulose plastic with a cloth backing). On the  U.S.-made bodies, DuPont Zapon was commonly used.

The Weymann system offered a number of advantages. First, it was hundreds of pounds lighter than conventional  bodies, which was of particular interest to buyers of sporting cars, especially Stutz (1930 Stutz Monte Carlo in the lead photo above). Next, it didn’t require expensive stamping tools or laborious hand metal-forming and could be changed at will. Meanwhile, the leatherette skin had no need of extensive prepping, painting, and polishing like metal. Finally, the construction was quiet, free of rattles and oil-canning.

1929 Duesenberg J Sedan by Weymann

On the downside, there was little or no crash protection (not that safety was the concern it is today) while the cellluloid exterior fabric was not terribly durable, especially in harsh weather. And as you might expect, some luxury-car buyers simply couldn’t warm up to the dull, grainy exterior surface, preferring the look and feel of shiny metal. Still, Weymann bodies were selected not just by Stutz customers (Stutz apparently had an interest in the company’s U.S. operations) but by Duesenberg, Peerless, and other buyers, too. Across the Atlantic, Bentleys, Voisins, Bugattis, and more were equipped with lightweight Weymann bodywork.

As metal body manufacturing improved in the late ’20s, with the introduction of Duco lacquer and other advances, Weymann fabric construction became less attractive. The company attempted to adapt metal exterior panels to its process but without financial success. The Paris factory closed down in 1930, followed by Indianapolis in 1931,  while the London operation, under new ownership, soldiered on for decades producing  bus bodies.

1930 Peerless Limousine by Weymann