Here's the Mayan Magnum wild prototype made by a sci-fi novelist back in 1960s
Wild Prototype The future vehicle boom in the 1950s to the 1960s which known as jet-age had a quite dramatic effect on Americans including the automotive designers at the time. Because the jet up to the space exploration has become a symbol of the new modern age which is attached to speed, aerodynamic shape, and the use of magical materials and the application of sophisticated techniques.
The Mayan Magnum wild prototype designed and built by Dean Ing based of the Volkswagen Beetle in 1965. (Picture from: Hagerty)
At that time, everything ranging from clothing, houses, workplaces, and cities all reflected the mentioned modern concept approaching, but might be there was no clearer influences than what's seen of the vehicles appearance of the era.
The Mayan Magnum is a unique two seater custom car featured with a double-bubble roof, and gull-wing bodywork. (Picture from: Autoevolution)
Not only the automotive industry players were enthusiastic in designing future car models at that time, but a number of private institutes and individuals who had a vehicle design background, and others were also involved. And sometime ago we already had discussed about some individual-made car of the time such the 1957 Galileo Concept, 1960 Di Dia 150 and others.
The
Mayan Magnum seem right to embody the automaker vision whose designs
and builds its bodywork into sleek hassle-free, and aerodynamics as well. (Picture from: Autoevolution)
And of the many future vehicles built based on modern concepts in the jet-age of the 1950s to 1960s, perhaps the following are the most unique and interesting for us to discuss. This quirky car (in our opinion) tends to be weird was built by an aerospace engineer, US Air Force veteran, college professor and award-winning science fiction writer named Dean Ing aka Dean Charles.
1965 Mayan Magnum by Dean Ing adopted an aircraft-style, more sculptural cockpit complete witha matching dashboard, ancillary gauges tucked behind the dashboard and grab handles for the passenger. (Picture from: eBay)
As written by Dean Charles himself in an article about those car for Road & Track in 1968, that the one-off wild prototype model which was later named the Mayan Magnum took approximately 3,000 labour hours back in 1965 to become what we could be seen today.
The Mayan Magnum cabin also has two low-back bucket seats trimmed in tan coupled with brown carpeting. (Picture from: Autoevolution)
This extraordinary futuristic-styled car is built based on the Volkswagen Beetle, while the floor panels and subframe also taken from the iconic VWs, then a 2.4-litre flat-six engine of Chevrolet Corvair is pinned on the chassis as its drivetrain coupled with the Porsche-owned gearbox. And all of the bespoke exterior and interior designs arose purely from the creative minds of Dean Charles himself.
The Corvair's flat-six large engine is mounted in back of the Mayan Magnum as its powertrain. (Picture from: eBay)
1965 Mayan Magnum by Dean Ing is powered by a 2.4-litre flat-six engine of Chevrolet Corvair is pinned on the chassis as its drivetrain coupled with the Porsche-owned gearbox. (Picture from: Hagerty)
From the looks of it based on exterior photos of the Mayan Magnum, it's clear that the automaker had a vision to build it with the right set of parts (like the Fiat's sleek wraparound windshield) and designed and crafted the sleek, hassle-free bodywork. The end result was no different from the form he learned during his time in aeronautics.
1965 Mayan Magnum by Dean Ing clearly influenced by European exotics, particularly the Maserati 450S Costin Coupe by Zagato and the Porsche-Glöckler 356 Coupe. (Picture from: eBay)
While inside of the Mayan Magnum, the DNA of the VW Beetle is clearly visible on the floor and the speedometer. As mentioned earlier that Dean Charles in building this unique car was so inspired by the world of aviation that it is not surprising that he later adopted an aircraft-style, more sculptural cockpit complete with low-back bucket seats trimmed in tan, brown carpeting coupled with a matching dashboard, ancillary gauges tucked behind the dashboard and grab handles for the passenger.
The Mayan Magnum seem right to embody the automaker vision whose designs and builds its bodywork into sleek hassle-free, and aerodynamics as well. (Picture from: Barnfinds)
This unique car was ever listed in Bring a Trailer in September 2021 on the behalf of the Dean Charles family and unfortunately the Dean Ing’s brainchild car auction ended under a statement of 'Reserve Not Met,' with the highest bidding at September 7, 2021 was $11,750 or approx Rp. 170.4 millions.😉
As quoted of eBay, finally the unique car has been sold at a price of $30,500 or approx Rp. 442.25 million in October 2021. In our opinion that's not bad number of prices, the Mayan Magnum custom built car includes all its uniqueness are worthied to sale of such prices...👍 *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | AUTOEVOLUTION | HAGERTY | BRING A TRAILER | BARNFINDS | EBAY ]