Friday 20 May 2016

[ ::: ♥Keep_Mailing♥ ::: ]™ 1936 STOUT SCARAB

 
This was written by Ron Schneider of Milwaukee, 65, owner of Leon 's Frozen Custard.
William B. Stout was a Michigan-based inventor, best remembered for
 building the first all-metal airplane and a portable folding house, one of
 which I own.  In the 1930s, he turned his attention to the auto industry 
with his Stout Scarab, of which nine were made.

His goal:   to build a car of the future.  It was no bigger than a normal car on the 
outside, with twice the room inside.  It had flush window glass and fenders incorporated
 into the body, so it would drive without wind noise.  It had a table,
 moving chairs, and three cigar lighters.

In retrospect, some say Stout built the first minivan.  But the car, so radical and
 expensive for its time (about $5,000, which would be about $85,000 today), didn't catch on.

I paid $12,000 for one, and bought another for parts, then began a two-year restoration. 
 Once done, I drove the Scarab across country twice.  Along the way, I found Bill Stout's
 grandson, living in Phoenix . I asked if the car was like what he remembered as a boy.
 He said it was, down to the finger and nose prints on the windows, 
from people wanting to see inside.

Some thought Stout was a crackpot, at first.  But his ideas were more right than wrong.  
I restored my Scarab to see if the car was as good as he said it was.  And it is.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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