Marcel Leyat (1885-1986), born in Die, France, was an airplane designer and manufacturer. He began turning out airplanes in 1909. In 1919, he began manufacturing automobiles based on his experience with airplanes. The automobiles were built on the Quai de Grenelle in Paris.

Marcel Leyat in 1914

The first model was called the Hélica, also known as ‘The plane without wings’. The passengers sat behind each other as in an aircraft. The vehicle was steered using the rear wheels and the car was not powered by an engine turning the wheels, but by a giant propeller powered by an 8 bhp (6.0 kW) Scorpion engine. The entire body of the vehicle was made of plywood, and weighed just 250 kg (550 lb), which made it dangerously fast.

1921 Hélica at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris. (Found at Wikipedia)

In 1927, A Hélica reached the speed of 106 mph (171 km/h) at the Montlhéry circuit. Leyat continued to experiment with his Helica; he tried using propellers with two and four blades. Between 1919 and 1925, Leyat managed to sell 30 vehicles.

Hélica 2H, Series D21 (found at Frog Blog)

A page about Leyat (in French) can be found here.

This vehicle offers a practical solution for keeping bugs off your windshield; pedestrians who happen to encounter the Hélica would not fare well, I fear me.

The Old Wolf has spoken.