Apparently so. Here's a quote from the website I lifted both pictures of the flying beast:
"From the familiar design halls of Italy's Caproni comes the naked horror of the Stipa, built in 1932 to test the thrust effect of a tubular fuselage. The 120 Hp. DH Gipsy III yielded a top speed of 81 Mph, and the lift effect of the tube made the landing speed 42 Mph."
This thing makes a june bug look streamlined.