Spat (pronounced spat)
(1) A petty quarrel; a dispute.
(2) A light blow; a slap or smack (now rare).
(3) A classic footwear accessory for outdoor wear (technically an
ankle-length gaiter), covering the instep and ankle, designed to protect these
areas from mud & stones etc which might be splattered (almost always in the
plural).
(4) In automotive design, a piece of bodywork on a car's fender encapsulating
the aperture of the wheel-arch, covering the upper portion of the wheel & tyre
(almost always on the rear) and used variously to reduce drag or as a aesthetic
choice. In the US, these tend to be called "fender skirts".
(5) In aviation, on aircraft with fixed undercarriages, a partial
enclosure covering the upper portion of the wheel & tyre, designed to
reduce drag.
(6) In zoology, a larval oyster or similar bivalve mollusc, applied
particularly when one settles to the sea bottom and starts to develop a shell; young
oysters collectively, especially seed oysters.
1350-1400: From the Middle English spat
(argument, minor scuffle), from the Anglo-Norman spat, of unknown origin but presumed related either to (1) being
the simple past tense & past participle of spit or (2) something vaguely imitative
of the sound of a dispute in progress. In
use, a spat implies a dispute which is minor and brief. That doesn’t preclude violence being involved
but the word does tend to be applied to matters with few serious consequences but
a spat can of course escalate to something severe at which point it ceases to
be a spat and becomes a brawl, a fight, a murder, a massacre or whatever the
circumstances suggest is appropriate.
Otherwise, a spat is synonymous with words like bickering, brouhaha,
disagreement, discord, falling-out, feud, squabble, tiff or argument.
As a descriptor of the short gaiter covering the ankle (which except
in technical and commercial use is used only in the plural), use dates from
1779 as an invention of American English and a shortening of the trade-terms spatterdash (or splatterguard) (long gaiter to keep trousers or stockings from
being spattered with mud), the construct being spatter + dash (or guard), the former
the same idea as the noun dashboard which was a timber construction attached to
the front of horse-drawn carriages to protect the passengers from mud or stones
thrown up when the beasts were at a dash.
In cars, the use of the term dashboard persisted although the device
both shifted rearward (aligned with the cowl (scuttle) & windscreen) and
changed in function. In aircraft where the
link to horse-drawn transport didn’t exist, the preferred equivalent term became
“instrument panel”.
Stanley Melbourne Bruce (front row, second from left) in spats,
official photograph of his first cabinet, Melbourne, 1923.
Spats date from a
time when walking in cities could be a messy business, paved surfaces far from
universal. As asphalt and concrete
became commonplace in the twentieth century, spats fell from frequent use
though there were those who clung to them as a fashion accessory. Stanley Melbourne Bruce (1883–1967; prime
minister of Australia 1923-1929) liked spats and wore them as late as the 1940s
but historians of fashion note it's said nothing was more influential in their
demise than George V (1865–1936; King of the United Kingdom 1910-1936) eschewing
them after 1926.
However, despite losing the imprimatur of the House of Windsor (ex Saxe-Coburg and Gotha), when Disney in 1947 created Scrooge McDuck (the world's richest duck, noted for diving into his vast "money bin" to swim among the cash), spats must still have been associated with wealth and uncle Scrooge has almost always been depicted sporting a pair.
Spats (left) and gaiters (centre & right). Historically, gaiters were either medium (mid-calf) or long (reaching to the knee) while the shorter variations, extending from ankle to instep, were known as spats. In the fashion industry, the terms gaiters and spats are often used interchangeably and except among the equestrian and other horse-oriented crowds, they now exist only as a fashion item, improvements in the built-environment meaning the need for them as functional devices has diminished. They days, spats tend to be seen only in places like the Royal Enclosure at Ascot or smart weddings (used as a wealth or class signifier) although
variations are still part of some ceremonial full-dress military uniforms. Technically, a spat probably can be called a “short”
or “ankle-length” gaiter but it’s wise to use “spat” because gaiters are
understood as extending higher towards the knee.
Lindsay Lohan in SCRAM bracelet (left), the SCRAM (centre) and Chanel's response from their Spring 2007 collection (right).
Spats for the twenty-first century: Before Lindsay Lohan began her “descent into respectability” (a quote from the equally admirable Mandy Rice-Davies (1944-2004) of MRDA fame), Lindsay Lohan inadvertently became of the internet’s early influencers when she for a time wore a court-ordered ankle monitor (often called “bracelets” which etymologically is dubious but rarely has English been noted for its purity). At the time, many subject to such orders often concealed them under clothing but Ms Lohan made her SCRAM (Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor) a fashion statement, something that compelled the paparazzi to adjust their focal length to ensure her ankle of interest appeared in shots. The industry responded with its usual alacrity and “ankle monitor” purses were soon being strutted down the catwalks.
Chanel's boot-mounted ankle purse in matching quilted black leather.
In one of several examples of this instance of Lohanic influence on design, in their Spring 2007 collection, Chanel included a range of ankle bags. Functional to the extent of affording the wearing a hands-free experience and storage for perhaps a lipstick, gloss and credit card (and the modern young spinster should seldom need more), the range was said quickly to "sell-out" although the concept hasn't been seen in subsequent collections so analysts of such things should make of that what they will. Chanel offered the same idea in a boot, a design actually borrowed from the military although they tended to be more commodious and, being often used by aircrew, easily accessible while in a seated position, the sealable flap on the outer calf, close to the knee.
On the Jaguar 2.4 & 3.4 (1955-1959, top row; later retrospectively named Mark 1), full-sized spats were standard equipment when the standard wheels were fitted but some owners used the cut-down versions (available in at least two designs) fitted when the optional wire wheels were chosen. For use in competition, almost all drivers removed the spats. The Mark 2 (bottom row;1959-1969) was never fitted with the full-size units but many used slimmer version available from both the factory and third-party suppliers; again, in competition, spats in any shape were usually discarded. On the big Jaguars, spats (which had already been scalloped) disappeared after production of the Mark IX ended in 1961.
On cars, it wasn’t until the 1930s that spats (which some English manufacturers called "aprons" and in the US they came to
be called “fender-skirts” though the original slang was “pants”) began to
appear as the interest in streamlining and aerodynamic efficiency grew and it
was in this era they became also a styling fad which, for better and worse,
would last half a century. They’d first
been seen in the 1920s as aerodynamic enhancements on speed record vehicles and
some avant-garde designers experimented with enveloping bodywork but it was
only late in the decade that the original style of separate mudguards (later
called cycle-fenders) gave way to more integrated coachwork where the
wheel-arch was an identifiable feature in the modern sense. Another issue was that the early tyres were
prone to wear and damage and needed frequently to be changed, hence the
advantage of making access to the wheels un-restricted. In the 1930s, as streamlining evolved as both
a means to reduce drag (thus increasing performance and reducing fuel
consumption) and as a styling device, the latter doubtlessly influenced by the
former. On road cars, spats tended to be
used only at the rear because of the need to provide sufficient clearance for
the front wheels to turn although there were manufacturers (Delahaye, Nash and
others) which extended use to the front and while this necessitated compromise
(notably the turning circle and cooling of the brakes), there were some
memorable art-deco creations.
The aerodynamic advantages were certainly real, attested by the tests
conducted during the 1930s by Mercedes-Benz and Auto-Union, both factories using
spats front and rear on their land-speed record vehicles, extending the use to
road cars although later Mercedes-Benz would admit the 10% improvement claimed
for the 1937 540K Autobahn-kurier (highway cruiser) was just “a calculation”
and it’s suspected even this was more guesswork than math. Later, Jaguar’s evaluation of the ideal
configuration to use when testing the 1949 XK120 on Belgium roads revealed the
rear spats added about 3-4 mph to top speed though they precluded the use of
the lighter wire wheels and did increase the tendency of the brakes to overheat
in severe use so, like many things in engineering, it was a trade-off.
1958, 1959 & 1960 Chevrolet Impalas. Not actually wildly popular when new, accessory spats now often appear
on restored cars as a “period accessory”.
In the post-war years, concerns with style rather than specific aerodynamic
outcomes probably prevailed. In the US
especially, the design motifs borrowed from aircraft and missiles (where
aerodynamic efficiency was important and verified in wind tunnels) were
liberally applied to automobiles but in some cases, although they actually
increased drag, they anyway appeared on production cars because they lent the
desired look. Because they added to the
cost of production, spats tended often to be used on the more expensive ranges,
this association encouraging after-market accessory makers to produce them,
often for models where they’d never been available as a factory fitting or
option. Although now usually regarded as
naff (at least), there’s still some demand because they are fitted sometimes
(often in conjunction with that other acquired taste period-accessory, the "Continental" spare-tyre kit) by those restoring cars from the era although the photographic
record does suggest that when the vehicles were new, such things were
vanishingly rare.
Spats vanished from cars made in the UK and Europe except among
manufacturers (such as Citroën) which made a fetish of conspicuous aerodynamics
and in the US, where they endured, increasingly they appeared in cut-down form,
exposing most of the wheel with only the upper part of the tyre concealed. By the mid 1990s spats appeared only on some
of the larger US cars (those by then also down-sized from their mid-seventies
peak) and none survived into the new century, the swansong the 1996 Cadillac
DeVille. However, the new age of
efficiency did see a resurgence of interest with spats (some actually
integrated into the bodywork rather than being detachable) used on some electric
and hybrid vehicles where every possible way of optimizing the use of energy is
deployed.
1 1937
Mercedes-Benz 540K Autobahn-kurier
2 1937
Mercedes-Benz W125 Rekordwagen
3 1937
Auto-Union Type C Stromlinie
4 1939
Mercedes-Benz W154 Rekordwagen
5 1939
Mercedes-Benz T80 Rekordwagen
6 1940
Mercedes-Benz 770K Cabriolet B
9 1970
Porsche 917 LH
8 1988
Jaguar XJR9
1939 Mercedes-Benz T80, Mercedes-Benz Museum, Stuttgart, Germany.
Designed by Ferdinand Porsche (1875–1951), the Mercedes-Benz T80 was built between 1937-1939 to lay siege to the world land speed record (LSR) but with the outbreak of World War II (1939-1945), the attempt was never made. It was a single-purpose machine designed to achieve maximum terminal velocity and for that reason, the T80 was an exercise in pure functionalism; not one nut or bolt was used other than for the purpose of ensuring its top speed would be as high as possible. Cognizant of the existing record, the initial goal was 550 km/h (342 mph) but as others in the late 1930s raised the mark, so were Professor Porsche’s ambitions and when the final specification was set in 1939, the target was 650 km/h (404 mph) (not 750 km/h (466 mph) as is sometimes quoted). Configured with six wheels, the T80 would have used a supercharged, fuel-injected, 44.5 litre (2716 cubic inch) Daimler-Benz DB 603 inverted V12 aero-engine, an enlarged version of the DB 601 which powered a number of Messerschmitts and other warplanes. Intended for use in bombers, the T80’s engine was actually the third DB 603 prototype and was initially tuned to generate some 2237 kW (3000 horsepower) on an exotic cocktail of methyl alcohol (63%), benzene (16%), ethanol (12%), acetone (4.4%), nitrobenzene (2.2%), avgas (2%), and ether (0.4%) with MW (methanol-water) injection for charge cooling and as an anti-detonant. This was more than twice the output of the Hurricanes, Spitfires and Messerschmitts which in 1940 fought the Battle of Britain but Porsche’s calculations suggested 2,574 kW (3,500 hp) would be needed to touch the 650 km/h target and the DB 603 would have been re-tuned to achieve this as an “emergency war rating”.
1939 Mercedes-Benz T80, Mercedes-Benz Museum, Stuttgart, Germany.
Some 8 metres (26 feet) in length with two of the three axles providing drive, the weight when fuelled and crewed was some 2600 kg (2.9 short tons) while the measured coefficient of drag (CD) was reported at 0.18, an impressive figure for such a thing as late as the 1990s and it would have been lower still, had wind-tunnel testing not revealed the need to add two small “winglets” to provide sufficient down-force to ensure the shape didn’t at speed assume the characteristics of an aeroplane and "try to take off" and notably, when in 1964 the Bluebird-Proteus CN7 set the flying mile record at 403.1 mph (648.7 km/h), it was the first LSR machine to include “ground effect” technology to reduce lift. Fundamentally, the aerodynamics are thought sound although there would be the usual vulnerability to cross-winds, the cause of several deaths in such attempts and the surface conditions of what was a temporarily closed public road would also have been critical; whether the tyre technology of the time would have been adequate under such conditions will never be known. Had the T80 been run on the long, flat straights of the salt flats in the US (Bonneville) or Australia (Lake Eyre), the prospects of success would have been better but for propaganda purposes (always a theme for the Nazis) the LSR runs had to be on German soil.
Bluebird-Proteus CN7, Lake Eyre, Australia, 1964.
The plan was for the attempt to be staged in January 1940 during what the regime dubbed RekordWoche (Record Week) on a section of the Berlin-Halle-Leipzig autobahn (now part of the A9), closed for the occasion. The legend is that Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; Führer (leader) and German head of government 1933-1945 & head of state 1934-1945) himself choose the nickname Schwarzer Vogel (Black Bird) but that too may have been propaganda. The design was all done in the era of slide rules and although some computer work has been applied to emulating the event, there’s no consensus on whether the T80 really would have hit 650 km/h and set the world land speed record (LSR). As it was, it wasn't until November 1965 that the 650 km/h mark was reached by a machine powered by four fuel injected Chrysler 426 cubic inch (7.0 litre) hemi V8s. On the Bonneville Salt Flats, it recorded a two-way average of 658.526 km/h (409.277 mph).
Ground effects: 1970 Chaparral 2J (the "sucker car").
The most extraordinary vindication of the concept was probably the
1970 Chaparral 2J, built for the Canadian-American Challenge Cup (the Can-Am, a
series for unlimited displacement sports cars under the FIA’s minimalist Group
7 rules). Although using a similar frame
and power-plant (the all aluminum, 427 cubic inch (7.0 litre) Chevrolet V8 (ZL1)) as most of its competition, it differed in that the bodywork was rather more rectilinear,
the transmission was semi-automatic and, most intriguingly, the use of two small
auxiliary engines (Rockwell JLO 247 cm3 two-stroke, two-cylinder
units which usually powered snowmobiles).
Unlike the auxiliary engines used in modern hybrids which provide
additional or alternative power, what the Rockwells did was drive two fans (borrowed
from the M-109 Howitzer, the US Army’s self-propelled 155 mm (6 inch) cannon) which
pumped air from underneath at 9650 cfm (cubic feet per minute) (273 m3 per
minute), literally sucking the 2J to the road, the technique enhanced by a Lexan
(a thermoplastic polymer) skirt which partially sealed the gap between the
shell and the road. The rear spats (integrated
into the body-shell) were part of the system, offering not only their usual
contribution to reduced drag but increasing the extent of the suction generated
by the extractor fans. The 2J was
immediately faster than the competition but the suction system proved fragile
although, as a proof of concept it worked and it was clear that only development
was needed to debug things.
Unfortunately, innovation and high speeds have always appalled the FIA (the
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
which has for decades been international sport’s dopiest regulatory body) and they
banned the 2J. Really, the FIA should give up on motorsport and offer their services to competitive crochet where they can focus on things like pins and needles not being too sharp.
1949 Delahaye 175-S Saoutchik roadster (left), 1967 Cadillac Fleetwood
Sixty Special (centre) & 2016 Rolls-Royce Vision Next 100 (electric) (right).
Fashions change and spats in the post-war years became unfashionable
except in the odd market segment which appealed to an older demographic and
even there, as the years were by, they were cut-away, revealing more of the
wheel & tyre but they never entirely went away and designers with big
computers now don’t even need even bigger wind tunnels to optimize airflow and spats
have been displayed which are mounted vertically, some even responding to
dynamic need by shifting location or direction.
Flown first in 1938 and named after the Spartan admiral Lysander (circa
467-395 BC), the Westland Lysander was a British army co-operation and communications
aircraft used extensively during the Second World War (1939-1945). Although it couldn’t match the extraordinary STOL
(short Take-Off & Landing) performance of the its German contemporary the Fieseler
Fi 156 Storch, it was capable, robust and had a good enough short-field
capability to perform valuable service throughout the conflict. Like many aircraft with a fixed
undercarriage, partially enveloping spats were fitted to reduce drag but those
on the Lysander had the unusual feature of being fitted with their own removable
spats (similar to those used on automobiles).
Once these were dismounted, assemblies could be fitted to mount either Browning
machine guns or stub wings which could carry light bombs or supply canisters. The arrangement was popular with ground crew
because the accessibility made servicing easy and pilots appreciated the low
placement because the change in weight distribution had little adverse effect
on handling characteristics.
