Paul Jaray was a genius. And I don’t throw that term around lightly, usually limiting it to whomever invented the corn dog or whoever had the idea to shit into a bowl of water. But when it came to aerodynamics, Jaray was definitely a genius. A simple Cold Start isn’t really the place to go into everything he’s done, but there’s some fascinating images here we can enjoy, like that picture up there of Jaray’s streamlined prototype for the Ley company in 1922, the Ley T6. I chose that one because there’s something about that car that reads like a small car, but as you can see by the person by it, it was sort of and strangely large, and large in proportions that we’re not really used to in a car.

Jaray was born to a Hungarian-Jewish family in 1889 and seems to have been interested in aerodynamics all his life. His career started with designing zeppelins and airships, and later moved into the area of auto body design, with a focus on aerodynamics. Jaray licensed designs to Tatra, and was hired to design bodies (or had his ideas used by) for companies like Chrysler, Adler, Audi, Dixi, Maybach, Mercedes-Benz, Ford, and others.

Even though Jaray designed many revolutionary body designs and pushed the science of aerodynamics further than ever before, the situation in 1930s Germany wasn’t exactly friendly to a Jewish aerodynamicist, which severely impacted his career.

But for now, let’s just look at some of these fascinating images. Like the patent image for the Ley T6:

The unusual proportions of the car can be seen in these drawings as well; Jaray was something of an aerodynamic purist, striving to make cars that came as close to the aerodynamic ideal of a water droplet as possible, even at the expense of the packaging and interior space of the car. Scaling up was one possible solution to this issue.

The patent is also interesting because it was Jaray’s patents on streamlined cars that forced Chrysler to settle with him and license his designs for the Airflow, whose design was initially found to be in violation of Jaray’s patents.

Jaray had a neighbor named Hans Erni, an artist, who created this lovely diagram showing the benefits of a Jaray-streamlined car compared to a conventionally designed automobile:

I like how you can see the white paint used for corrections and changes now that the underlying paper has yellowed over time.

I just love the almost cartoon-like look of this thing; it really was quite aerodynamic, so it’s not just aerodynamically-styled, it actually does cut through the wind. At some point we should cover Jaray and his work in more detail; but for now I’m just appreciating these machines, aesthetically.

Seeing the car in motion is even more fascinating; look at this:

What an amazing machine; the 1540cc inline-four engine only made about 20 hp, but the not-light (2,500 lbs) car could still go over 65 mph. That’s impressive stuff, especially for over a century ago!