1959 Charles Townabout Concept Car Styling
The 1959 Charles Townabout concept car styling resembled a mildly customized Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia coupe -- which essentially it was. The car's high-quality body was molded in fiberglass from a contemporary VW Karmann-Ghia coupe, hence the obvious visual resemblance. There was even a similar torsion-bar suspension.
 ©2007 Publications International, Ltd. A dipped bodyside "character line" and trendy tailfins set the Charles Townabout apart from the VW Karmann-Ghia that inspired its body design. |
Still, the Townabout had plenty of differences. Most naturally involved motivation, which comprised four 12-volt car-type batteries linked in series to twin electric motors that were coupled directly to the K-G's rear halfshafts -- one motor to drive each wheel.
Gears were cut for a 6:1 rpm reduction and beveled for
quiet operation. The motors, supplied by Baldor of St. Louis, developed
3.2 shaft horsepower apiece, roughly equal to 11 horses from an
internal-combustion engine.
To keep weight down, the VW's steel "backbone" frame
was replaced by a special box-section aluminum chassis with a welded-on
platform to serve as both floorpan and body carrier. Curb weight ended
up at about 1,800 pounds.
The light weight, sprightly gearing, and 22 total
horsepower produced acceleration along the lines of popular period
economy cars -- like the Karmann-Ghia. Naturally, there was no power
lost to a transmission or differential because they weren't needed and
were thus omitted.
Also missing was the K-G's token back seat/parcel
shelf, the space being used instead to stow the bulky battery pack. The
motors and allied components lived farther behind, in what had been the
VW's engine bay.
Veteran auto journalist Joe Wherry later wrote that,
appearances notwithstanding, the Charles Townabout body was made
entirely of fiberglass molded from a stock Karmann-Ghia. However,
bulkheads, floorpan, roof, windshield pillars, and the battery deck
were formed as a single unit for strength, matching that of the
lightweight chassis.
Townabout prototypes wore a fake grille and rather contrived bumpers. Later versions were spared the former, got small Ford-like round tail-lamps in the fins, and carried simpler bumpers comprising two wraparound chrome tubes connected by a third tube curved into an inverted U.
Read about the pros and cons of the 1959 Charles Townabout concept car in the next section.
For more on concept cars and the production models they forecast, check out:
