By Gijsbert-Paul Berk
What the Europeans learned from the Americans
In the previous articles we have presented a number of eye-catching projects and aerodynamic studies created by European coachwork builders or car and aircraft designers during the first three decennia of the 20th century.
See Concept Cars and Aerodynamics, Part 2, Part 1
Though it often seems that the Europeans had the edge in design, during the first thirty years of the century a number of American designers and manufacturers became important sources of inspiration for the European car makers. In this chapter we will determine how the Americans inspired and influenced European manufacturers and what they learned or copied from each other.