marque	McQUAY NORRIS
modèle	STREAMLINER
finitions	cockpit sur châssis Ford V8
année	1 9 3 4
quantité / prix	6 ou 15 selon la source
carrosserie	monospace 2 portes 4 places
moteur/boite	V8 Ford

EXPOSITION DU <<HYMAN SALES >> de SAINT LOUIS (Missouri)

hôte : ce vendeur que je n'ai pas visité met de temps en temps des véhicules exceptionnels (celui-ci n'en fait pas partie) à vendre sur e-bay voitures américaines : il est plus spécialisé dans les voitures anglaises, surtout Austin et MG mais les américaines sont présentes Photos malheureusement petites de Hyman

CE QU'EN DIT LE VENDEUR

Here's a scarce and little-known Oddie that today finds its home in the Hemmings Motor News fleet, a 1934 McQuay-Norris Streamliner. Bug-eyed, bulbous and ungainly looking, these vehicles were not created in an attempt to break any land-speed records, that's for sure. Instead, they were intended as rolling test beds and promotional vehicles for the McQuay-Norris Company of St. Louis, which manufactured replacement pistons, rings, bearings and other automotive bits and pieces that one might need in order to rebuild an automobile engine or chassis. The idea to build the cars first came in 1932, and the task fell to Cincinnati, Ohio's Hill Auto Body Metal Company, which used unmodified 1932-33 Ford V-8 chassis and engines as the basis for the six Streamliners. Bodies were constructed of steel sheet metal attached to wood framing, with the exception of the doors, which were aluminum. In completed form, they very closely resembled the one-off, Ford-powered 1932 Arrow Plane that Hill had built for a wealthy Chicagoan. Notably absent from the body design are rear windows and windshield wipers. Reportedly, the company engineers who drove the streamliners noted that the faster they drove, the more visibility improved during rainy drives, as the water rolled back thanks to the rounded Plexiglas front window panes. Rearward visibility was handled by rear-view mirrors mounted on either side. The McQuay-Norris rode on General Jumbo Airwheels, which were much larger than the stock Ford rolling stock, though the stock suspension system was retained. In an interview in SIA # 14 with author Robert J. Gottlieb, McQuay-Norris engineer George E. Leutwiler related that, "These cars were easy to drive, but they had some peculiarities. For instance, you needed good shocks or the car would dance around a lot, because of the donut tires. In those days most of the roads were nothing but gravel. When I first drove from St. Louis to Memphis and New Orleans, it was gravel all the way, and that winter I did a few dances around curves on gravel roads." As noted before, there really wasn't any reason for the aerodynamic teardrop styling other than to attract attention, even though it did apparently help increase the vehicle's top speed over the Ford cars that it was based upon, and it is what was inside these unique machines that mattered. All of the drivers were required to rebuild the engine in their vehicle with McQuay-Norris parts, thus providing adequate first-hand testimonials as to the fitment of the parts. For reliability, the vehicle itself provided proof of the durability of the components. There were no less than fifteen different gauges to monitor various aspects of the health of the drivetrain. Most were housed in a large wooden bulkhead that covered the engine in front of the driver; behind the driver was a blow-by gauge that measured the levels of unburned gases in the exhaust and acted as a wear indicator for the piston/ring assemblies. Some of the other gauges that provided relative analysis of the performance of the McQuay-Norris components included exhaust gas analyzer, viscometer, exhaust gas temperature, compression, vacuum gauges along with more common dial indicators for engine oil level, pressure and temperature, water temperature and ammeter, and an accuracy refined speedometer and odometer. That's only a partial list, and that console must have been quite an eyeful for the driver. The drivers apparently kept copious records of all the information that this instrumentation provided, which was subsequently referenced during impromptu seminars held when the Streamliners rolled into towns where there were existing or potential distributors and users for its product line. They were kept in operation until 1940, then individually sold off. To date No. 9 (the Streamliners were numbered up to 15) is the only one known to have been found and restored to as close to original condition as is possible. Its survival can be credited to its purchase in 1973 by a British sports car restorer, who then sold it to one Michael Schoen in 1975. It was he who started its restoration. It took Schoen fifteen years to get the Streamliner into an operable condition. Hemmings acquired it nearly a decade later, and it is still kept in driveable condition. It is used for the occasional parade and displayed during Hemmings' annual open house events, at which it draws more than its fair share of attention. 1934 MCQUAY- NORRIS STREAMLINER The McQuay Norris Streamliner is an important piece of automotive history. The car was one of six such cars built by McQuay-Norris, a St. Louis based manufacturer of internal engine and chassis components. The cars were built using a 1934 Ford chassis and running gear and the highly advanced streamlined body design was constructed of steel and aluminum over a wood framework. The aircraft inspired windshield and canopy design was constructed of Plexiglas. The cars were built to be used by McQuay Norris representatives for promotional purposes but more importantly they used as test cars and as such they were equipped with a multitude of gauges mounted to the dash to monitor the performance of various components. It is one of 2 such cars known to exist and the only one that is restored. It was restored in 1990 and became part of the Hemmings Motor News collection until purchased from them. $149,500.00

PHOTOS DE LA McQUAY NORRIS STREAMLINER 1934

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