New, streamlined vehicles were frequently held out in advertisements as the future of transport. In this way, streamlined trains, cars, aeroplanes and boats assumed
an iconic status.
Toys were a popular way of promoting these streamlined icons to the general public (and to a younger generation). Games, models and replicas of streamlined vehicles were mostly targeted at boys, as educational and imaginative toys.
Power and progress
Streamlined vehicles also assumed political connotations. In the 1930s, democracies and dictatorships alike were aware of the political potential of streamlined design. Its progressive image meant that such design was frequently held out as a token of a country’s technological prowess.
The British, for instance, made much of the world speed record set by the Golden Arrow racing car in 1929. Germany’s first streamlined train ‘Der fliegender Hamburger’, meanwhile, came into service shortly after Adolf Hitler seized power. The Nazi regime did its utmost to take credit for the new streamlined trains, even though they had been developed long before then.
Selling the streamline
Despite the promotion of these icons, streamlined shapes did not always immediately catch on with the public at large. The American car company Chrysler launched its Airflow onto the market in 1934. The car was based on the latest aerodynamic knowledge and was touted as the comfortable, high-tech car of the future.
But the strikingly curved vehicle with integrated headlights did not appeal to the general public. The Airflow simply looked too different to the cars they knew already. Chrysler responded to this commercial flop by relaunching the Airstream the following year with a design more similar to that of conventional automobiles.
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Historical streamlining books
Much has been and continues to be written about streamlining, the design style as well as the scientific phenomenon. A selection of historical books by curator Tomas van den Heuvel.
Streamlined solar cars
Solar cars need to be as efficient as possible and are therefore completely streamlined. In this video, Luc Evertzen of Solar Team Twente tells you more about the importance of streamlining solar cars.
Streamlined athletes
Cyclist Ellen van Dijk is a seven-time world champion and set the world hour record in 2022. In this video, she elaborates on why streamlining is important to her.
Streamlined animals
In search of the ideal streamline, people often look to nature. But what are we actually talking about when we talk about streamlined animals?
Streamlining and aerodynamic drag
What is a streamline? And what is aerodynamic resistance or ‘drag’?
Future
In our present age of climate upheaval and fuel shortages, reducing air resistance is right back at the top of the design agenda.
Performance
Aerodynamics or hydrodynamics are crucial to speed sports like swimming, cycling, skating, bobsledding and skiing.
Ideal
At its height, the streamlined design was accompanied by certain modern ideals.
Style
It was no coincidence that the streamlined look became so popular in the 1930s.
Experiment
Many early experiments set out to compare forms in order to identify the perfect one.
Enchantment
For hundreds of years, a galloping horse was viewed as the epitome of speed. But this would change in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. New inventions like the train, the car and the aeroplane meant that speeds that once seemed fantastical were becoming increasingly possible. This new potential for progress had a huge…
Nature
Learning from nature can still be very useful when it comes to creating aerodynamic designs.
What exactly is streamlining?
The term “streamline” originates from science and engineering, but what is it?
