The steamlined, three-wheeled Airomobile had no future, but its flat-four, air-cooled engine would later make its mark on the aviation world.

The Airomobile—originally spelled Airmobile—was the brainchild of dreamer Paul M. Lewis, who first publicized his idea in 1934 and formed a company, Lewis American Airways, to produce it. To develop the radical car he commissioned two engineers from the defunct Franklin Automobile Co,  Carl Doman and Edward Marks, and the noted Briggs stylist John Tjaarda was brought in to contribute to the body design. Together they produced one of the most original and creative prototype cars of the era.

Like Bucky Fuller’s Dymaxion of the same period, the Airomobile was a three-wheeler, but unlike the Dymaxion it drove and and steered through the front wheels.  Lacking even a brake, the rear wheel was along for the ride. The transverse-leaf independent front end reportedly used some Citroen components, but the engine, developed by Doman and Marks, was totally original. An air-cooled, opposed four (just like the VW Beetle, hmm) of 129 cubic inches, it was rated at 60 hp and it could deliver up to 40 mpg and 80 mph in the 2,200 lb chassis, the company claimed, thanks in part to its streamlined bodywork.

To prove its worth to potential investors, in 1937 Lewis embarked on a year-long promotional tour with the lone Airomobile prototype, where he reportedly racked up 45,000 miles. He hoped to mass-market the car for $550 but found no backers. In 1938 the front-end styling was updated, but no funding was forthcoming and the project died there. Decades later, Lewis would produce the even more outlandish (and more unmarketable) series of Fascination cars.

While the Airomobile never got anywhere, the Doman-Marks flat-four engine soon evolved into the Franklin 4AC-150 produced by Air Cooled Motors and used in a number of small aircraft of the 1940s,  including Piper and Taylorcraft. (Also in the White Horse truck we featured here.) Meanwhile, pioneering car collector Bill Harrah acquired and restored the Airomobile prototype and it still resides in his former collection, the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada.