There’s just something about a steering wheel, four – or three – tires and you in the driving seat. With the wind whipping through your hair is optional but is also highly recommended. In the history of motoring certain cars have come along which were truly unique and incredible.
Here’s a list of the five most unusual cars ever made.
1936 Stout Scarab
This mysterious car was made by an aircraft designer called William Stout who had some unique visions for motoring. This is basically a diner car and has a strong Ford V-8 in the back, providing all sorts of power. The Scarab wasn’t very popular in its day, however, due to a high sticker price for its time and less than ten Stout Scarabs were ever manufactured.
The Scarab really does look a bit like a Scarab beetle and conveys images of ancient Egypt, picaresque adventure and derring-do. When the pedal hits the medal, the Scarab also drives quite well. This certainly has to be one of the most unusual cars ever made and definitely deserves a mention here, including because of how few of them exist.¹
Messerschmitt KR200
This car was also made by an airplane engineer by the name of Fritz Fend and ranks up there with one of the strangest vehicles ever made on this green earth. It was made by the German airplane company Messerschmitt and over 40,000 were manufactured between the years of 1955 to 1964.
This three-wheeled little guy is steered by a bar instead of a steering wheel and is a favorite of collectors. The Messerschmitt KR200 definitely has to be one of the most surprising cars ever made, don’t you think?²
1942 Ouef Electrique
The Electric Egg, Oeuf électrique. What a marvel of automobile history this three-wheeled, battery-powered oddity was. Tesla certainly can’t claim to have been the first to make battery-powered cars. The egg was made by a railway car designer and painter called Paul Arzens from Paris and certainly sported a unique look.
Arzen actually made this car mostly for his own use but it later took off and became very popular. It wasn’t bad, either, getting a respectable range of 60 miles on a fully charged battery and reaching speeds of 37 miles per hour. Vive l’Ouef!³
1970 Ferrari 512S Modulo
Morio / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)
The 1970 Ferrari 512S Modulo designed by Paolo Martin of Pininfarina is one of the most strange and captivating cars ever made. Its geometric body sits on the chassis of your standard Ferrari 512S racing vehicle and it first made a splash at the 1970 Geneva Motor Show.
If you see something coming towards you and wonder if it’s an alien it could actually just be Pininfarina’s take on the 1970 Ferrari 512S. Want to get inside? You’ll have to slide the cockpit glass and climb in – doors are for amateurs. As for power, the 5 liter V12 engine cranking up to 550 horsepower more than has you covered.⁴
Cadillac Cyclone
mashleymorgan from Alameda / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)
The Cadillac Cyclone also merits a place on the list of unusual cars. It was produced in 1959 and already had a form of cruise control and collision detection tech: a radar that told you when you were about to be hit. The Cyclone was a unique car that showed a lot of foresight in terms of safety technology and it looks pretty snazzy too. It certainly deserves a place as one of the most unusual automobiles that ever put rubber to the road.¹
[1] https://www.businessinsider.com/17-of-the-most-bizarre-cars-ever-designed-2014-5
[2] https://www.motorbiscuit.com/strangest-cars-ever-invented/
[3] http://oldconceptcars.com/1930-2004/paul-arzens-loeuf-electrique-1942-the-electric-egg/
[4] https://www.motor1.com/news/243799/ferrari-512s-modulo-concept-driven/