Jeff Lane wanted a propeller-driven car for his museum. After a detailed search, he decided to have two replicas built of a 1919 Leyat Helico from original plans found after they were thought to have been lost.
Featured Editorials & ContentRoadcar ArticlesRoadcar Features

PROPELLER CARS – Odd Approach to Earth-Bound Propulsion

Avatar photo

Propellers proved to be an important development in the history of transportation. On ships, once steam power was mastered, propellers replaced oars and sails. A propeller attached to an internal combustion engine allowed the Wright brothers to make what is generally accepted as the first heavier-than-air flight on December 17, 1902. Propellers have been used to propel everything from snowmobiles to air boats and bicycles, but it was probably airplanes that inspired the use of propellers on automobiles.

Avatar photo
J. Michael Hemsley has written about motorsports and automotive history for some 40 years, drawing on a first career as a US Army officer and ocean scientist. For Vintage Roadcar and Sports Car Digest he contributes car profiles and feature stories, often on Alfa Romeo, Porsche, Lotus, Shelby, Lancia and British sports cars, along with coverage of the Highlands Motoring Festival, Chattanooga Motorcar Festival and Mille Miglia. He photographs many of his own subjects and first watched Formula One and sports car racing in Europe in the late 1960s while stationed in Germany. His work also appears on Stuttcars and Supercars.net. In the Sports Car Digest archive: 160 stories, 2012–2026.
Related
Members only$29 / year

Keep going. This is where it gets good.

Sports Car Digest Membership is for people who'd rather spend an hour with one chassis number than skim ten headlines. The rest of this story — and every other one like it — is a few seconds away.

  • 5,000+ members-only stories

    Concours, auctions, race history, driven classics and the full archive.

  • No ads. None.

    The whole site reads like a magazine, on every device.

  • The market, every week

    Auction results and classic-car values from the people who were there.

  • 30% off the shop

    Every Sports Car Digest shirt and piece of merch, all year.

Join Sports Car Digest — Keep Reading

$29 a year. Cancel anytime, no hoops.
Already a member? Sign in

BY CAR PEOPLE, NOT A NAMELESS MEDIA COMPANY. Your membership keeps a small independent team of historians, photojournalists and racing drivers doing this.

Join — Keep Reading $29/yr