They look wrong and clumsy on some cars, yet others would seem naked without them. As well as the 2CV and wild new Pagani Zonda Barchetta, here are seven more favourites that wear their wheel spats with pride, and would look frankfully ridiculous without them.
Axon's automotive anorak: The 7 best cars with spats
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1. 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic
Rear wheel spats (and occasionally front wheel spats as well) added hugely to the look and style of the decadent Grande Routier era of prestige French cars of the 1930s. The beautiful Delage D8-120S of 1937, the stunning Delahaye Type 135 MS and flamboyant tear-drop shaped Figoni et Falaschi Talbot-Lago T150-C SS were made all the more exotic, exciting and aerodynamic by their wheel spats, with the ultimate expression of this art deco era being the beetle-backed 1936-38 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic. Bugatti only produced four supercharged Atlantic coupes using riveted aluminum, all powered by supercharged 3,257 cc in-line-8 engines, these 1stunning 170+ horsepower coupes capable of more than 120 mph. In 1936!
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2. 1934 Tatra T77
Introduced in March of 1934, the Tatra T77 was the very first serially produced streamlined car equipped with an air-cooled and rear-mounted engine. The T77 followed the aerodynamic design ethos of the 1933 Tatra V 570 prototype, but stretched its proportions to include seating for six. It was positioned atop Tatra’s model range, far better appointed than the V 570 would have been, and the decision to produce the larger model sealed the fate of the V 570. The T77 sported a body designed by Paul Jaray, under the watch of Tatra’s chief designer Hans Ledwinka. Jaray’s background included time with German airship manufacturer Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, so the designer was well aware of the importance of aerodynamics; producing a shape slippery to the wind would yield an automobile with superior performance, fuel economy and even reduced cabin noise, making covered rear wheels a must. It’s difficult to believe that this car is now more than 80 years old, as us Brits were driving around in shoe box-shaped Austin Seven and Morris 8s at the time!
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Photo courtesy of Hexagon Classics
3. 1948 Jaguar XK120
One of the undisputed stars of the 1948 Earls Court Motor Show (along with the Morris Minor MM and Bristol 401), William Lyon’s inspired Jaguar XK120 truly wowed the crowds at British first post-war London Motor Show. The world’s fastest car at launch (tested to 132.6 mph), the XK debuting Jaguar’s acclaimed straight-six engine (the world’s first production double overhead camshaft DOHC motor) that lived on until 1992 and took victory for Jaguar at the Le Mans 24 Hours an impressive five times. The sleek XK120 caused a sensation at launch 70 years ago with its full-length rear wheel spats, although the Jaguar did draw heavy inspiration from the special Mille Miglia Touring-bodied BMW 328 of 1938, which inevitably also wore spats!
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Photo courtesy of Thomas T.
4. Daimler DE 36 by Hooper
Dignified but dull would be a slightly harsh but fair description of Daimlers pre-war. Suitably formal and imperial, Daimlers were the preferred choice of royalty and dignitaries the world over, beautifully built and engineered; solid, stately but stodgy. Immediately post-war, Daimler’s Chairman, Sir Bernard Docker joined, the Board of the respected London-based coachbuilding firm Hooper, a subsidiary of Daimler and the BSA Groupe at the time, with his notorious second wife, Lady Nora, also appointed to Hooper’s Board of Directors in 1951. In this time, the Dockers commissioned Hooper to build an increasingly extravagant series of ‘show cars’, based on the formal platform of the 5.4-lite V8 Daimler DE 36 models. Each of these Docker Daimlers wore rear wheel spats, ranging from the elegant Sedanca de Ville limousine, of which c. six were built on a DE36 chassis, through to the 1948 Green Goddess, the Daimler Gold Car that stunned the crowds at the 1951 Earls Court Motor Show, and a personal favourite, the flowing two-tone Blue Clover of 1952
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1952 Bentley Continental R-Type
In 1952, cars that could hit a top speed of 115mph were uncommon. Cars that could cruise at 100mph with four occupants and luggage were almost unheard of, until Bentley released its impressive Continental R-Type. Although only 208 were produced, the R Type Continental created a template for Bentley grand touring that lasted decades, the model even inspiring the design team working on the first-generation Continental GT coupe. The original post-war Continental’s designers sketched a low, long and lithe body shape, with its radiator inclined backward from the vertical, a steeply raked windscreen, rear wheel spats and a fastback roofline, adding fins to the rear wings to aid stability at high speed to create the best-looking and most inspired post-war Bentley model.
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6. 1970 Citroën SM
When Citroën revealed its game-changing DS at the 1955 Paris Salon, the car’s detachable rear spats were just part of the astonishingly-advance package of this new range-topping saloon. Part-covered rear wheels quickly becoming a key signature feature of all Citroen models, from the Dyane and Ami 8, through to the GS, CX, BX and so on, with the Maserati-powered SM of 1970 being the ultimate spated Citroen, its rear wheel covers blending gracefully with this powerful GT’s sleek and aerodynamic design.
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7. 1999 Honda Insight
Based on the fish-like profile on the Honda J-VX concept car, unveiled at the 1997 Tokyo Motor Show, Honda’s late-1999 production Insight coupe was Honda’s first production vehicle to feature its Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system, the 67bhp two-seater becoming the first hybrid vehicle available in North America, followed seven months later by the commercially more successful first-generation Toyota Prius. Powered by a hybrid IMA system, including a brushless 10-kW electric motor and 1-litre 3-cylinder petrol engine, the efficient Insight alloy-bodied coupe achieved a remarkable average of 73 mpg from its compact, lightweight and astonishingly aerodynamic (Cd of just 0.25) coachwork, aided by its rear wheel spats. A form of spat remains of Honda’s current limited production FCX Clarity II fuel-cell model.
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