Airflow-optimised cars date back to the 1920s. Although it was initially racing cars that inspired the art of aerodynamics (bar a few notable exceptions), the resulting principles eventually filtered down to road machines – and soon there were wind tunnels at HQs from Stuttgart to Detroit…
The importance of aerodynamic efficiency in automotive design was initially appreciated by only a few. Naturally, these included aeronautical engineers such as Hans Ledwinka and Paul Jaray – the pair behind the first mass-produced, aerodynamically-focused road car, the Tatra 77 – as well as automotive artistes such as Giuseppe Figoni. The latter, the creative half of French coachbuilder Figoni et Falaschi, realised beauty often went hand-in-hand with aerodynamic efficiency. His design for the Talbot-Lago T23 Teardrop Coupé is a perfect example of stunning aesthetics moulded by the forces of nature; his work on the Le Mans-winning Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 of 1932 proved the value of his intuition with measurable competition results.
Airflow-optimised cars date back to the 1920s. Although it was initially racing cars that inspired the art of aerodynamics (bar a few notable exceptions), the resulting principles eventually filtered down to road machines – and soon there were wind tunnels at HQs from Stuttgart to Detroit…
The importance of aerodynamic efficiency in automotive design was initially appreciated by only a few. Naturally, these included aeronautical engineers such as Hans Ledwinka and Paul Jaray – the pair behind the first mass-produced, aerodynamically-focused road car, the Tatra 77 – as well as automotive artistes such as Giuseppe Figoni. The latter, the creative half of French coachbuilder Figoni et Falaschi, realised beauty often went hand-in-hand with aerodynamic efficiency. His design for the Talbot-Lago T23 Teardrop Coupé is a perfect example of stunning aesthetics moulded by the forces of nature; his work on the Le Mans-winning Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 of 1932 proved the value of his intuition with measurable competition results.
More: http://www.classicdriver.com/en/article/cars/art-aerodynamics-10-streamlined-legends-classic-driver-market
