The Erickson Streamliner

While most cars end their lives in a junk yard, the Erickson Streamliner’s journey began in one. Anton F. Erickson built this aluminum egg of a machine in his Dayton, Ohio garage during the closing months of WW2. The slippery shape is comprised of many small sections of fuselage salvaged from a scrapped B-29 Superfortress bomber, fitted and welded together in a new process for which Erickson received a patent.

The Streamliner’s chassis is equally curious. The rear mounted engine drives the wheels out in front, while a single rear wheel steers the car. The design is thought to be based on one the famed futurist Buckminster Fuller did in 1934 as a smaller version of his ill-fated Dymaxion. Fuller built three Dymaxions before word of the car’s horrific handling characteristics got out and the project was canceled.

phot by the author

Fortunately for the motoring public, Anton Erickson did not intend to produce his Streamliner. Rather, he meant it as a showcase for his welding metal process. Only one Streamliner was ever made. It has been spared a return trip to its birthplace in the scrapyard, and has found a home in the Lane Motor Museum’s collection in Nashville, TN.

copyright@2022 by Mal Pearson