# Stout Scarab Remains Oddly Relevant After Nine Decades
The Stout Scarab, William Bushnell Stout's 1930s streamliner, deserves serious attention despite its unfortunate logo. The bulbous, beetle-shaped vehicle pioneered minivan and SUV design concepts that manufacturers still chase today.
Stout designed the Scarab as a fully integrated travel vehicle. The streamlined aluminum body reduced drag. A rear-mounted engine freed interior space for passengers and cargo. The high roofline maximized headroom. Seats converted into sleeping berths for road trips. This formula directly influenced the modern minivan segment, which Chrysler essentially invented with the 1984 Caravan.
The Scarab carried a six-cylinder engine producing modest output by today's standards, yet the design philosophy transcended horsepower. Stout understood that regular Americans wanted comfortable, practical transportation. He rejected the industry norm of boxy, underpowered vehicles that wasted interior volume.
Only about 3,500 Scarabs sold between 1935 and 1940. Production stopped due to World War II and lukewarm sales, but the vehicle's influence rippled through automotive history. The Scarab's combination of efficiency, interior flexibility, and family-focused utility shaped how manufacturers approach crossovers and minivans decades later.
Modern vehicles like the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna owe conceptual debt to Stout's vision, even if engineers don't consciously reference a 90-year-old car. The minivan segment has declined in recent years, but compact crossovers have adopted the Scarab's core strengths. tall ride height, maximum interior volume, and practical design trump flashy styling for millions of buyers.
The Scarab's logo remains problematic