...The P38 is also legendary because it was the car Harley Earl (of GM designer fame) snuck a peek at when he first introduced the tailfin on motorcars. The 1949 Cadillac tail fin was modeled after the P38.

A P38 is out of reach for all but a few, but one of these babies is "doable."

The start up on the P38 sounds very similar to the start up on my old hemispherical head 1957 Dodge - which also was a throaty, unrestricted purr. Despite the fins and even parked at General Dynamics old facilities it still couldn't fly..well, at least in the air.

Sexy sounding engines may not have been designed that way, but they certainly add to the making the ride sweeter.

The P38 was an inspirational design the dual tail inspired the Aviation world and the automotive world.

The only thing I'd like to see more than a P38 in action - is a Lockheed XP-58 Chain Lightning. Which was one third larger than the P38 but had the same top speed. It also had twin tail turrets controlled by a rear gunner and was possibly the first ever central fire control system in a combat aircraft. A North American built twin-mustang P82 would come in a close second.

I don't know if any of these still exist, probably not.

As time passes it must be getting to harder than heck to rebuild these things.

SDAI-Tech1