Does this trike have a spoiler for downforce? I saw a 1977 Masa Slingshot leaflet on ebay (source), copied below.
It has a lot of differences from a modern tadpole, in particular what looks like a &quot;spoiler&quot; on the front.
Is this similar to a spoiler on a sports car that is intended to provide more downforce to the wheels at high speed? Would that be effective / beneficial on a trike?  I have read that this design was intended for oval track racing, so I assume the riders would get up to a good speed, so maybe that makes sense.  I also read that with its long wheelbase a lot more weight went onto the rear wheel than on today's trikes, which also support the idea. And the brake seems to be on the rear wheel as well which seems consistent with that impression of weight distribution.
On the other hand, is this device just intended for something else? It actually isn't very wide or large in comparison to the frame, you'd think for relatively low-speed spoiler more surface area would have helped and looks like it should have fit. Would extra downforce even be needed? Plus, a larger &quot;spoiler&quot; might have acted somewhat like a fairing to reduce drag. (Is that actually all it really is, just an early or inexpensive / lightweight fairing design?)
Looking around I can find other images of these Masa trikes but very few which have that attachment. The few examples I did find lacked any explanation, though a forum post did use the same term &quot;spoiler&quot;. No examples of modern racing recumbents or trikes that I could find had anything like this.
According to this post from an owner the wing is for looks:

Earlier models came with an aluminum ‘wing” over the front axle, probably more for looks than anything, and a bullet-shaped, sports car-styled rear mirror on the left side.

According to the post the trike was made specifically for on track racing against like trikes.

MASA was a Japanese company, but targeted the US with this form of racing. In 1975 they finally brought a few of these over here and did some exhibition races between their own staff. It never really caught on, but they still imported about 1500 of these into the US over a three year period.

and later

Since these trikes were focused on track racing only against like trikes, the lack of braking and their size was not a problem. Their wide, long front end was thought to be better protection for the rider.