Designed by aeronautical engineer William Stout, the Scarab would ultimately become one of the most influential vehicles of the 20th century as it would become the pioneering foundation of the modern-day minivan.
However, it wouldn’t be enough just to call the Stout Scarab the world’s first minivan, although it does thoroughly deserve this accolade. Afterall, the Scarab came standard with a number of industry-disrupting features which included ambient lighting, power locks, flexible seating configurations and a central passenger door (which functions much like the ones we see on minivans today).
Stout strived to create a vehicle that was extremely utilitarian, yet remarkably comfortable. He envisioned the Stout as the ideal vehicle for cross-country family road trips. Therefore, the chassis was built around this particular philosophy; the use of independent control arms, coil springs and hydraulic brakes amongst some of the features that ensured excellent ride quality and confident road mannerisms.
Sadly, the onset of World War II would prematurely end the Scarab’s production run at just 9 units. There are less than a handful which exist today, with one of them being Stout’s personal car which racked up over 250,000 miles – a true testament to an end product based on pragmatic engineering and design principles.
"Mwanzoni mwa karne ya 20, mhandisi wa ndege William Stout alibuni ""Scarab,"" ambayo baadaye ikawa moja ya magari yenye ushawishi mkubwa zaidi katika karne ya 20."" Hata hivyo, haitoshi tu kuiita Stout Scarab minivan ya kwanza ulimwenguni, ingawa inastahili kabisa tuzo hii. Baada ya yote, Scarab alikuja kiwango na idadi ya sekta ya kuvuruga vipengele ambayo ni pamoja na mwanga wa mazingira, nguvu kufuli, kubadilika viti Configurations na mlango wa kati abiria (ambayo kazi sana kama wale tunaona juu ya minivans leo). Stout alijitahidi kutengeneza gari ambalo lilikuwa lenye manufaa sana, lakini lenye starehe sana. Aliona Stout kuwa gari bora kwa ajili ya safari za familia za barabarani. Chassis ilijengwa karibu na falsafa hii maalum: matumizi ya mikono ya kujitegemea ya kudhibiti, springs coil na breki za hydraulic kati ya baadhi ya vipengele ambavyo vilihakikisha ubora wa gari bora na tabia ya barabara yenye uhakika. Kwa kusikitisha, kuanza kwa Vita vya Pili vya Ulimwengu kungekomesha mapema uzalishaji wa Scarab kwa vitengo tisa tu. Kuna chini ya wachache ambao zipo leo, na moja yao kuwa Stout binafsi gari ambayo racked juu ya maili 250,000 - ushahidi wa kweli kwa bidhaa ya mwisho kulingana na uhandisi pragmatic na kanuni za kubuni.