Marshall Brain's Blog

3d model of the Dymaxion car

From the article:

For those that haven't heard of it, the Dymaxion Car was a teardrop-shaped (least air resistance), 3-wheeled, rear-wheel (single) steering, 20 foot long, Aluminum bodied auto, designed by Buckminster Fuller in 1933 to achieve maximum output and service with minimum material input. It was about 6 feet tall (kinda like a big van), seated the driver and 10 passengers, weighed less than 1000 lbs., went 120 miles/hr on a 90 horsepower engine, and got between 30-50 miles to the gallon of gas. Fuller referred to it as the "Dymaxion Car", "Dymaxion Vehicle", and "Omni-Medium Transport" since it was ultimately intended to go by land, water, or sky. Only three were ever built.

It is 20 feet long but weighs less than 1,000 pounds... That is amazing when you consider that the Mini Cooper weighs 2,500 pounds and, at 8 feet long, is one of the smallest cars on the road. The 30 to 50 MPG rating is also interesting for a vehicle that big. A modern engine in a hybrid configuration could double that, or more.

As hard to believe as it is, the car really did exist:

• You can find short movies of the Dymaxion car in action here and here.
  
  
• The car can be seen in the National Automobile Museum and there are photos of the display here.
  
  
• There is a full chronology of the car here.
  
  
• A site dedicated to the car is available here.

There was also a Dymaxion house, made of aluminum, and you can find an excellent site dedicated to it here. Short movies of it are available here. It weighed only 3,000 pounds.