One of those I needed to know more about...
The minute I found this random photo above my mind was set to know more. It's so damn cool !
Long story short; this is Fernand Maratuech's wildest creation. Besides his daily job, the french man had a passion to make stuff. Built in 1922, this is by far the most interesting inventions Fernand built. Since he couldn't afford to build an entire plane, he settled to combine the feeling (and look) of flying with the next best thing, and cheapper; the driving on the ground alternative. So this is how the wingless plane, or the car that looks like a plane was born. The auto-plane... or the PLAR if you will. It's my article and I'm calling it however the f@#$ I want ! :)
All my infos are based on what The Heritage Foundation ( or La Fondation du Patrimoine ) posted on their website, so you know that's not much tech info there. You can spot the first photo posted above on several links, but none with real intel.
Anyway, as you can imagine, at that time the Plar was quite a looker. And still is if you ask me. Sucha beautiful exercise of imagination and craftmanship. Another key element is the headlight. Thank God it's not a propeller there ! With this one, FM really made the whole idea work.
As the motorised part goes, ''I think'' a 350cc BSA was used. The max speed was around 80 km/h. All I know for sure is that Fernand ''flew'' around 5000 kilometers on board of his invention, between Villeneuve sur Lot, Cahors and Fumel. And that in 1990, his widow gave Plar to the ACSO ( Automobile Club of Southwest ), where it was displayed.
Anyway, as you can imagine, at that time the Plar was quite a looker. And still is if you ask me. Sucha beautiful exercise of imagination and craftmanship. Another key element is the headlight. Thank God it's not a propeller there ! With this one, FM really made the whole idea work.
As the motorised part goes, ''I think'' a 350cc BSA was used. The max speed was around 80 km/h. All I know for sure is that Fernand ''flew'' around 5000 kilometers on board of his invention, between Villeneuve sur Lot, Cahors and Fumel. And that in 1990, his widow gave Plar to the ACSO ( Automobile Club of Southwest ), where it was displayed.
In 2012 the Plar was brought to light in a better shape (read restored) thanks to an agreement between the Heritage Foundation, Motul and the Automobile Club of Southwest.
Many, many other creations immatete the look of the aerodynamic-plane design while having wheels. As so many many of them fail to look beautiful. Good job, mister Maratuech, you weirdo.
Photo credit :
La Fondation du Patrimoine : link 1 / link 2 / link 3 .
Motul
Blog Platine
Blog Platine
Ps : Speaking of the oddly motorized creations...do you remember the story of Golden Submarine ? Go, here.
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