R. Buckminster Fuller, the designer of the geodesic dome, was an inventor, futurist and he designed CARS! Lucky for us he left us with this gem the Dymaxion. Built in 1933 it went through several design changes and tweeks before it was just right.
The first version, mysteriously called Car One, came out in 1933. It looked like the front of an airplane, or the gondola of an airsip. The entire vehicle was one aerodynamic, free flowing exhibition of sheet metal art. It was powered by a 90 hp Ford V8 engine and reportedly could go like hell. Tests by Fuller at the time claimed the smooth sides and seamless body lowered wind resistance and increased fuel efficiency. Pretty forward thinking for the time. No doubt he was right. The trouble with his design however was that this vehicle was a three wheeler. Of all car designs, the three wheeler is the shittiest. Unstable, tough to get a road feel with, and unnecessary with a vehicle as big as the Dymaxion. And to top off the "just plain hard to drive" aspect of this invention, the 3rd wheel, the one that steered in this case was at the back. The power being applied to the 2 front wheels. It was remarkably unstable in a cross wind, even after a stabilizer tail was added.
Fuller had intended the Dymaxion to be a car / airplane cross and he hoped that the future would bring the power plants capable of this. For now it looked like half an airplane. It sat 11 people, could go 120 MPH, and could turn completely around in its own radius. It was, however, over 20 feet long. These specifications surpass any of the specifications for modern mini vans.
2 comments:
I have read that the problem with the Dymaxion car's stability was a politically sensitive accident involving a drunk driver. Due to the low center of gravity, my understanding is that the Dymaxion car was quite stable.
CJ Fearnley
Executive Director
Synergetics Collaborative
Thats interesting, because what I've been able to find, and this is far from a technical blog, was that the one accident was quite public and had little to do with the cars design. And your right, it was politicised. None the less, the 3 wheel design made it incredibly nimble. However it seems many 3 wheel style vehicles, like the early ATV's, took some practice to get comfortable with. I have not been able to find too much about actual road tests and how it ran with a full complement of passengers.
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