Ever since its invention , the car ’s been a work in progress . Whether we ’re talking radical shifts from burning to electric engines , or simple addition and removal of fins , pillager and other aesthetical feature , self-propelled engineers ca n’t seem to leave well enough alone . And we ’re golden that ’s the case , because if not for innovation and the testing of Modern idea , we would n’t even be back at the gymnastic horse - and - kooky days — there ’d be no buggies , either .
One of America ’s great minds of modern design was the innovative designer , engineer and all - around big thinkerBuckminster Fuller . Whether we ’re talking geodesic dome , energy - efficient homesor evenflying cities , replete — or just " Bucky , " as he was known — had a lot of heavy estimation from the 1930s to the ' 50s . Learn more about Fuller ’s ideas in this episode of ourStuff to Blow Your Mindpodcast :
Fuller apply his advancing cerebration to the motorcar , make something called the dymaxion car . The name combined the words dynamic , maximal and latent hostility . The tri - wheeled , canvas - topped vehicle took inspiration from the aeromechanics of airplanes and blimps , and wasdesigned to be tiptop - efficient — able-bodied to transport up to 11 passengers at up to 90 air mile per hr ( 145 klick per hr ) , and could go 30 miles ( 48 km ) per gallon of gasoline . In the video above , Wall Street Journal editorialist Dan Neiltakes a replica of the 1933 Dymaxion No . 1 created by and housed at Nashville’sLane Motor Museum — " This is the romanticism of air travel brought to the background , " he says — for a spin .
So how does it drive ?
Thanks to the front - wheel parkway and roomy interior , " it ’s very marine , " Neil enjoin in the video recording . " The cultivator feel is very marked . " That ’s not needfully a compliment , as Neil articulate the car feels unsafe even at downhearted speeds , adding that drive the " route Graf Zeppelin , " prompt him of nothing so much as " cab a tail - dragging plane down a country road . "
We ’re not potential to see the dymaxion gondola on the route any metre soon , but it ’s cool to imagine that almost 100 yr ago , automobileengineers were open to experimenting with dissimilar design in what was still a nascent diligence .
