The 1936 Dubonnet Dolphin: A Concept Car Ahead of Its Time

Streamlined Genius - In an age when technology and imagination were racing neck and neck, a few minds dared to dream beyond the limits of their time. The 1930s, a golden era of speed and design, gave birth to many bold ideas — but few as visionary as the Dubonnet Dolphin, a car that looked more like it belonged to the future than to 1936. It was during this year that French inventor, aviator, and racing driver André Dubonnet brought his most daring automotive experiment to life, a machine that blurred the line between road and sky. 

Pedestrians looked on in awe as the 1936 Dubonnet Dolphin glided gracefully through the bustling streets of the French Riviera around 1937. (Picture from: WeirdCarOfTheDay — original black-and-white photo colorized using Krea.ai)

Dubonnet’s story is as fascinating as the car itself. Born into privilege as the son of Joseph Dubonnet, founder of the famous Dubonnet aperitif brand, André had the resources to chase his passions. He was not content to simply drive fast — he wanted to rethink how cars moved through air. With the help of aerodynamicist Jean Andreau, he set out to create a vehicle that borrowed as much from aviation as from traditional motoring. 

The 1936 Dubonnet Dolphin of André Dubonnet, and built by the renowned French coachbuilders Latourneur & Marchand. (Picture from: TCCT)

The result, completed in 1936, was the Dubonnet Dolphin, built by the renowned French coachbuilders Latourneur & Marchand. Its design was breathtaking — a true sculpture in motion. The entire body was shaped like a teardrop, the most aerodynamic form found in nature, with a large fin sweeping up from the rear as if the car were slicing through invisible waves. Even the front wheel covers turned with the steering, enhancing both efficiency and grace. 

This technical drawing illustrates the 1936 Dubonnet Dolphin’s innovative teardrop-shaped body and mid-mounted V8 layout, merging aerodynamics with advanced engineering. (Picture from: WeirdCarOfTheDay)

The Dolphin's cabin accomodated 4 passenggers, and featured an unusual door layout to access it: rear passengers entered from side doors, while the driver and front passenger shared a single, large door built into the right side of the car’s nose, making entry feel almost like stepping into the cockpit of an aircraft. The left front section, shaped purely for aerodynamics, gave the illusion that the car had only three openings instead of four — a design that made the Dolphin look strikingly futuristic even when standing still. 

The 1936 Dubonnet Dolphin is shown parked with its sleek teardrop body and rear fin design highlighting its advanced aerodynamic form. (Picture from: CarsThatNeverMadeItEtc in Tumbr — original black-and-white photo colorized using Krea.ai)

Beneath its futuristic curves lay equally advanced engineering. The car was powered by a Matford (Ford of France) 3.6-liter V8 engine mounted just ahead of the rear axle — a rare layout at the time. Power was delivered through a four-speed Cotal electrically actuated gearbox, one of the earliest systems of its kind. On March 24, 1936, the prototype was tested at the Montlhéry track near Paris. The results stunned everyone: it reached a top speed of 174.4 km/h, far surpassing the 128.8 km/h achieved by a standard Ford saloon with the same engine. Even more impressive, it was 37.4% more fuel-efficient — a remarkable feat for an experimental concept car.

The 1936 Dubonnet Dolphin features a distinctive front-opening door that forms part of the car’s aerodynamic nose design. (Picture from: RollingArt in Facebook — original black-and-white photo colorized using Krea.ai)

Shortly after this success, Ford purchased the prototype and shipped it to the United States in 1936, where it was praised as "the car of the future". Its combination of aircraft-inspired styling, clever engineering, and unmatched performance captured the imagination of designers and journalists alike. Unfortunately, the timing couldn’t have been worse. The commercial failure of Chrysler’s Airflow just two years earlier had made Americans wary of cars that looked too futuristic. As a result, the Dolphin’s revolutionary design never made it into production. 

The 1936 Dubonnet Dolphin displays its striking rear fin and aerodynamic teardrop shape during testing on an open airfield. (Picture from: RollingArt in Facebook — original black-and-white photo colorized using Krea.ai)

What happened next remains one of the great mysteries of automotive history. According to historian Richard Adatto in From Passion to Perfection, the Dubonnet Dolphin vanished before World War II, possibly stolen while in America. Some believe it still hides in a forgotten garage along the East Coast — a silent witness to an era when innovation ran faster than time itself.

The 1936 Dubonnet Dolphin prototype parked in front of 180 East 79th Street, Manhattan, New York City, around 1939. (Picture from: lAutomobileAncienne — original black-and-white photo colorized using Krea.ai)

André Dubonnet’s life continued to reflect his restless creativity. He served as a pilot with the Vichy government during the war, married twice — one of his wives notably disliked that he had named a concept car after the other — and later invested heavily in solar energy, an idea far ahead of its era but one that nearly bankrupted him. He passed away in 1980, at the age of 82, leaving behind a legacy defined by brilliance, boldness, and endless curiosity. | o3HMw0F9jvk |

Today, the 1936 Dubonnet Dolphin stands as a lost masterpiece — a glimpse into what the future looked like through the eyes of a dreamer. Every curve and contour still speaks of a time when imagination had no limits, and when one man dared to believe that cars, too, could learn to fly. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURVCES | SIMANAITTISSAYS | WORTHPOINT | WEIRDCAROFTHEDAY | LAUTOMOBILEANCIENNE | ALLCARINDEX | ROLLING ART IN FACEBOOK | THINGIES IN FACEBOOK | ART DECO AUTOMOBILE IN FACEBOOK | CARSTHATNEVERMADEITETC IN TUMBLR ]

Note: This blog can be accessed via your s mart phone.