Stout Scarab

In contrast, the Scarab design eliminated the chassis and drive shaft to create a low, flat floor for the interior, using a unitized body structure and placing a Ford-built V8 engine in the rear of the vehicle.

To that end, the Scarab's body, styled by John Tjaarda, a Dutch automobile engineer,[6] closely emulated the design of an aluminum aircraft fuselage.

[8] Although reminiscent of the Chrysler Airflow, streamliner, and the slightly later (1938) Volkswagen Beetle — other aerodynamically efficient shapes, the Stout Scarab was generally considered ugly at the time.

[1] Decades later, its futuristic design and curvaceous, finely detailed nose earn it respect as an Art Deco icon.

[9] The Scarab's interior space was maximized by its ponton styling, which dispensed with running boards and expanded the cabin to the full width of the car.

The engine was reversed from its normal position, mounted directly over the rear axle and with the flywheel and clutch facing forward.

The headlamps were set behind a fine, vertical-bar grille, and at the rear, narrow chrome bars curved from the back window down to the bumper, giving the car its Art Deco appearance.

Up to a hundred a year were to be made in a small factory at the corner of Scott Street and Telegraph Road (US 24), Dearborn, Michigan.

[1] Although the Scarab garnered much press coverage, at $5,000[9] (equivalent to $109,784 in 2023), when a luxurious and ultra-modern Chrysler Imperial Airflow cost just $1,345, very few could pay the hefty premium for innovation.

Like its metal counterparts, it too was a monocoque, built up out of only eight separate pieces and featured the world's first fully functioning air suspension, previously developed in 1933 by Firestone.