3 wheels more fun than 4?

January 20, 2008

Well since we’re on the subject of vehicles, I have to comment on something most basic: how many wheels are right? 2 wheels can be tippy and require balance, but 4 wheels seems to require special balancing and differentials to keep axles from snapping off. Which brings us to the 3 wheeler. As a budding designer and engineer, I was wowed with the GM Lean Machine- and thought that surely this would be the future: a vehicle that lets you sit back like a car but lean into turns like a motorcycle.

The specs were quite impressive, including 80 MPG. I remember turns that could be handled at more than 1 g of force.

The idea has had some kind of staying power, since BMW seemed to copy it directly with their low emissions CLEVER car:

The turning mechanism looks identical:

Then there is the lovely Sparrow by Myers Motors - an all-electric 3 wheeler that might be the non-performance runt of the family, but is the one that made it to production.

They eventually bankrupted, but I see that you can get one at Hammacher Schlemmer now for $25k.

Stumble it!

Tags: , 3 wheelers, BMW, cars, electric vehicles, GM, Hammacher Schlemmer, low emissions vehicles, Myers Motors, transportation