The Rumpler Tropfenwagen ("Rumpler drop car", named after its shape) was a car developed by Austrian engineer Edmund Rumpler.
Rumpler, born in Vienna, was a designer of aircraft when on the 1921's Berlin car show he introduced the Tropfenwagen. It was to be the first streamline car (beating the American Chrysler Airflow and Czech Tatra T107). The Rumpler had a Cw-value of only 0.28. The measuring, which was run at a Volkswagen windtunnel in 1979,...
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The Rumpler Tropfenwagen ("Rumpler drop car", named after its shape) was a car developed by Austrian engineer Edmund Rumpler.
Rumpler, born in Vienna, was a designer of aircraft when on the 1921's Berlin car show he introduced the Tropfenwagen. It was to be the first streamline car (beating the American Chrysler Airflow and Czech Tatra T107). The Rumpler had a Cw-value of only 0.28. The measuring, which was run at a Volkswagen windtunnel in 1979, surprised engineers of the day; Volkswagen wouldn't beat the value until 1988 with the Passat.
The car featured a W6 engine, being the first mid-engine layout ever. It had three banks of paired cylinders, all working on a common crankshaft. Due to bumpy operation it was later replaced by a 4 cylinder straight engine.
Rumpler patented the swing axle suspension design, as well as the transaxle. The transaxle was used in some of the most significant vehicles of the 20th Century: the Mini, the VW Beetle, the Porsche 356 and 911 among others.
The...
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