Invented and sold by Frenchman Marcel Leyat in the early 1900s. This one above, a 1922 saloon car versionhttp://www.neatorama.com/2007/03/13/propeller-driven-car/ Looks like something Professor Fate, or The Great Leslie would drive in "The Great Race"
See a very similar car: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2009/12/found-in-barn-sound-familiar-this-car.html
a replica of a 1919 Helica here: http://parkoffka.ru/item/2010/4/15/amelia_island_concours_d_elegance_2010