The story of William Stout’s 1936 Stout Scarab
This is the story of William Stout and his unique automotive creation.Who was William Stout?
William Bushnell Stout, born in Quincy, Illinois, in 1880, was an American pioneer in the fields of automotive engineering and aviation. He is widely considered, along with the pioneering work of German engineer Hugo Junkers, as one of the earliest supporters of all-metal aircraft construction.
His exploration and invention in aviation took place in parallel with a burgeoning career as an automotive engineer, a career that started at a small company called Scripps-Booth before joining the bigger Packard Motor Company and later collaborating with Ford. He started Stout Metal Airplane Company, which was bought by the Ford Motor Company in 1924 after the Stout Air Sedan received press coverage. Around the same time as founding his airplane production company, he launched Stout Air Services, the first regularly scheduled passenger airline in America.
William Stout’s design of the iconic Batwing Plane and Torpedo Plane were followed by a number of all-metal transport planes for mail delivery use in Stout Air Services. These planes would go on to influence the development of the famous, influential Ford Trimotor: a three-engined aircraft with an engine on the front of the fuselage and one engine on each wing. Another famous work of Stout’s was the Skycar. Despite having ‘car’ in its name, it was purely an aircraft that attempted to feature automotive-like comfort and basic car controls, like an ignition switch and a starter button. William himself would use one of the earliest Skycar models as personal transportation for a number of years.
The 1936 Stout Scarab
In the earliest days of the creation of the Stout Scarab, it has been said that William met with Buckminster Fuller (creator of a fellow odd, and somewhat beautiful, concept car that never made it, the Dymaxion). The design of the Stout Scarab clearly owes some inspiration to Fuller’s creation.
This design is the swooping, bug-like look (a scarab is actually a beetle that was sacred in ancient Egypt) of the Stout Scarab. A curvaceous figure of noir-futurism that, despite being despised as ‘ugly’ by some at the time, has become become an influential art deco icon. The large, round headlights further the namesake’s ‘buggy’ appearance and the location of its Ford eight cylinder engine—chosen for its modern technology, power and compact nature— in the rear also predates another more famous ‘bug’, the classic Volkswagen Kombi.
As well as being credited as an art deco icon, the Scarab also holds the honour of potentially being the first-ever minivan, but its the detail in the design—borrowed from aircraft technology—that made it unique.
The car, or van—though William always called it a car—was made in a similar way to his planes. It featured a tubular frame fuselage and lightweight materials like aluminium wrap and doors made of light, but strong, magnesium. The leather front seats were made to swivel rearward and encircle a table for playing games with friends or enjoying a meal together. The shape was designed to be aerodynamic but not for reasons of performance or even fuel consumption. The real reason was to eliminate wind noise to ensure comfort and peace inside. The interior featured a pollen-filtration system to keep dust and allergens at bay, ambient lighting for mood, a thermostatic heating system and electronic locking doors. Like the simple Kombi that would come decades later, this was a car for people.
The modern Australian connection
Like John DeLorean’s DMC-12, The Stout Scarab has gained new fans by modern pop culture. The Stout Scarab features as a car that can be driven in L.A. Noire, a neo-noir action-adventure detective game created by Australian company Team Bondi for Windows PC, Playstation and Xbox 360. L.A Noire is often credited as the biggest game ever made in Australia.
In the end
Despite its beauty and charming design—though these may be superlatives depending on who you ask—production never made it beyond a handful. Perhaps this was due to its price being some ten times that of other, traditional manufacturers at the time. A price out of each for all but the richest in post-depression era USA. Some nine Scarabs were created and only five survive today. It is now one of the rarest cars ever produced.
Go for a ride in a Scarab Stout with Chuck.
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