The

streamlined Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow. They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady. Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the framework of ...

Dymaxion car was designed by American inventor

Buckminster Fuller Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing mo ...

during the Great Depression and featured prominently at Chicago's 1933/1934

World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

. Fuller built three experimental prototypes with naval architect Starling Burgess – using donated money as well as a family inheritance – to explore not an automobile per se, but the 'ground-taxiing phase' of a vehicle that might one day be designed to fly, land and drive – an "Omni-Medium Transport". Fuller associated the word ''

Dymaxion Dymaxion is a term coined by architect and inventor Buckminster Fuller and associated with much of his work—prominently his Dymaxion house and Dymaxion car. Dymaxion, a portmanteau of the words ''dynamic'', ''maximum'', and ''tension''; ...

'' with much of his work, a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsfuel efficiency and top speed, and its

platform Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...

featured a lightweight hinged chassis, rear-mounted

V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and u ...

front-wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitu ...

(a rare ''RF'' layout), and three wheels. With steering via its third wheel at the rear (capable of 90°

steering Steering is a system of components, linkages, and other parts that allows a driver to control the direction of the vehicle. Introduction The most conventional steering arrangement allows a driver to turn the front wheels of a vehicle using ...

lock), the vehicle could steer itself in a tight circle, often causing a sensation. Fuller noted severe limitations in its handling, especially at high speed or in high wind, due to its rear-wheel steering (highly unsuitable for anything but low speeds) and the limited understanding of the effects of

lift Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobil ...

and

turbulence In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to a laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption between ...

on automobile bodies in that era – allowing only trained staff to drive the car and saying it "was an invention that could not be made available to the general public without considerable improvements." Shortly after its launch, a prototype crashed and killed the Dymaxion's driver. Despite courting publicity and the interest of auto manufacturers, Fuller used his inheritance to finish the second and third prototypes, selling all three, dissolving ''Dymaxion Corporation'' and reiterating that the Dymaxion was never intended as a commercial venture. One of the three original prototypes survives, and two semi-faithful replicas have recently been constructed. The Dymaxion was included in the 2009 book ''Fifty Cars That Changed The World'' and was the subject of the 2012 documentary '' The Last Dymaxion''. In 2008, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' said Fuller "saw the Dymaxion, as he saw much of the world, as a kind of provisional prototype, a mere sketch, of the glorious, eventual future."

History

Fuller would ultimately go on to fully develop his ''Comprehensive Anticipatory Design Science'', his theory of using all technology on behalf of all people as soon as possible, but by this point it was "his job, Fuller decided, to identify a problem, develop a way to solve it, and wait – perhaps as long as twenty-five years – for public awareness to catch up. In 1930, Fuller had purchased an architectural magazine, ''T-Square'', which he ultimately renamed ''Shelter.'' Fuller edited the magazine anonymously for two years, and in 1928 published sketches of his land-air-water vehicle, called a ''4D Transport''. ''4D'' stood for Four Dimensional, a term used in physics and mathematics, referring to length, width, depth and time. Regarding the 4D transport, author Lloyd S. Sieden, wrote in his 2000 book ''Bucky Fuller's Universe'': To his daughter, Allegra, he described the Dymaxion as: Fuller was offered $5,000 ^{(2015: $91,000)} from wealthy former stock trader and socialite Philip (variously reported as ''Phillip'') Pearson and his wife Temple Pearson (niece of

Isadora Duncan Angela Isadora Duncan (May 26, 1877 or May 27, 1878 – September 14, 1927) was an American dancer and choreographer, who was a pioneer of modern contemporary dance, who performed to great acclaim throughout Europe and the US. Born and raised in ...

) of Philadelphia. Pearson was a stock broker and had presciently sold

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a large quantity of stock before the Great Depression, becoming instantly wealthy. Pearson had known of Fuller's studies, had more wealth than he needed, and felt he could put Fuller and others to work in a way that would also do something to alleviate unemployment. Fuller initially refused his benefactor, concerned about potential profit motives and short-sightedness. Fuller devised a contract, famously adding a so-called "ice cream soda clause" where Fuller could freely buy only ice cream sodas with all the donated money, should he so choose. On March 4, 1933 – as President Roosevelt instituted a banking moratorium, Fuller formed ''Dymaxion Corporation'', set up a workshop in the former

dynamometer A dynamometer or "dyno" for short, is a device for simultaneously measuring the torque and rotational speed ( RPM) of an engine, motor or other rotating prime mover so that its instantaneous power may be calculated, and usually displayed by ...

building of the defunct Locomobile Company at Tongue Point, on the west side of the harbor in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and hired naval architect Starling Burgess and a team of 27 workmen, including former

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

mechanics. 1000 workmen had applied for the 27 jobs. The first of three prototypes was completed in three months – on Fuller's 38th birthday, July 12, 1933. On October 18, 1933, Fuller filed a patent, which was granted in 1937. *''Dymaxion Corporation'' location: ) *Note:

Blueprints A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing or engineering drawing using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets. Introduced by Sir John Herschel in 1842, the process allowed rapid and accurate production of an unlimited numb ...

of the Dymaxion carried the name of the company as the ''4D Company,''
Signage on the Tongue Pointe, former Locomobile building read ''4D Dymaxion.''

Design

Because he was aiming for what Fuller called ''Omni Medium Transport,'' a vehicle that could go anywhere, the Dymaxion would ultimately have "wheels for ground travel and jet stilts for instant takeoff and flight." Jet stilts were Fuller's placeholder idea for a future technology that could provide compact, concentrated lift – twenty years before the commercial availability of jets. Estimating that designing a land–sea–air vehicle was then financially and technically out of reach, Fuller focused on the most dangerous and challenging mode of such vehicle: landing and taxiing on hard ground. Fuller favored front-wheel drive, studying the way a wheelbarrow could more effectively pull its load rather than pitch forward when pushing a load. He began studies of the relationships between vehicles (cars, trucks – and also birds and fish) with the media in which they operated ( fluid dynamics) – as well as steering mechanisms in nature, especially the rear "single fin" steering of birds and fish. Burgess, inventor of the first delta-wing aircraft, was invaluable to the project – but skeptical the vehicle would ever fly. Fuller theorized that getting a long, aerodynamic 'plane' fuselage – which was also inclined to have trailing, rear steering – to land safely and not immediately turn into the wind, would be a major challenge. The vehicle would inherently exhibit something he called "ground-loopiness," and chose to focus his energy there. Although it was never intended as such, Fuller anticipated the public would instinctively call such a vehicle an ''automobile'', and when licensing to drive the vehicle on Connecticut roads, acquiesced and applied for an automobile registration. Fuller had worked with sculptor

Isamu Noguchi was an American artist and landscape architect whose artistic career spanned six decades, from the 1920s onward. Known for his sculpture and public artworks, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions, and severa ...

to create plaster

wind tunnel Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...

models of the Dymaxion to help determine its teardrop shape. Authors of a 2011 detailed

computational fluid dynamics Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required to simulate ...

(CFD) analysis at

Coventry University , mottoeng = By Art and Industry , established = , type = Public , endowment = £28 million (2015) , budget = £787.5 million , chancellor = Margaret Casely-Hayford , vice_chancellor = John Latham , students = () , undergr ...

of the Dymaxion bodywork noted the form's "similarity in shape to a

humpback whale The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The hu ...

" and concluded "the Dymaxion car looks close to a drag optimum style and serves as a useful reference for low drag forms."

Prototypes One, Two and Three

*''Prototype One'', at long, was built on a hinged two-frame chassis constructed of lightweight chromoly steel with aircraft-type dished

lightening holes Lightening holes are holes in structural components of machines and buildings used by a variety of engineering disciplines to make structures lighter. The edges of the hole may be flanged to increase the rigidity and strength of the component. ...

– and powered by a

Ford V8 Ford engines are those used in Ford Motor Company vehicles and in aftermarket, sports and kit applications. Different engine ranges are used in various global markets. 3 cylinder A series of Ford DOHC 12-valve inline-three engines with Twin Ind ...

engine producing in a

rear-engine, front-wheel-drive layout A rear-engine, front-wheel-drive layout is one in which the engine is between or behind the rear wheels, and drives the front wheels via a driveshaft, the complete reverse of a conventional front-engine, rear-wheel-drive vehicle layout. The earl ...

. The front axle was a re-purposed and inverted (the flipped axle must be inverted to prevent the pinion gears from running the wrong way) rear axle from a contemporary Ford roadster. Tires were provided by Goodyear. The suspension used

leaf spring A leaf spring is a simple form of spring commonly used for the suspension in wheeled vehicles. Originally called a ''laminated'' or ''carriage spring'', and sometimes referred to as a semi-elliptical spring, elliptical spring, or cart spring, it ...

s "turned sideways" (transverse leaf springs) and bodywork featured sheet aluminum over an ash wood frame, with a roof partially constructed of snap-on painted canvas. Original blueprints indicate seating for four, including the driver. Fuller said he had achieved fuel economy of 36 mpg (7.8l/100 km) and to have reached a speed of . *''Prototypes Two'' and ''Three'' featured developmental improvements including a lighter three-frame chassis central periscope providing rearward vision, larger side windows, recessed headlights and a roof-mounted stabilizer with rear-facing exhaust outlet. :''Videos:'' In contemporary videos (see

External links An internal link is a type of hyperlink on a web page to another page or resource, such as an image or document, on the same website or domain. Hyperlinks are considered either "external" or "internal" depending on their target or destination ...

, below), Fuller is seen driving the vehicle at high speed. In another Fuller showing off his speeding ticket, demonstrating its ability to turn "on itself", easily parallel parking in a space only six inches longer than the car, remarking that he averaged over 22 mpg (up to 30 mpg), and commenting on its stability, with a center of gravity both low and ahead of the midpoint of its wheelbase.

Later prototype history

*''Prototype One'' was badly damaged in the noted car crash at the time of the 1933 Chicago

Century of Progress A Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. The fair, registered under the Bureau International des Expositi ...

fair. The car was repaired and sold to the director of the automotive division of the U.S. Bureau of Standards (BoS), only to be subsequently destroyed in a fire at the Washington D.C. garage of the BoS. 1934 Dymaxion (1418436123)

*''Prototype Two'' survives in the Harrah Collection of the

National Automobile Museum The National Automobile Museum is a museum in Reno, Nevada. Most of the vehicles displayed are from the collection of William F. Harrah. The museum opened on November 5, 1989. History William F. Harrah collected approximately 1,450 automobiles, ...

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

. Prototype Two was initially purchased by Alfred Williams, manager of the

Gulf Refining Company Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies. Prior to its merger ...

and driven cross country in a nationwide advertising promotion of aircraft fuel. In a contemporary video (see

, below), Fuller notes that good friend

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...

asked that the Dymaxion be her official car for the celebration of her receiving the National Gold Medal from ''National Geographic''. Dymaxion Prototype Two was driven to Washington and garnered considerable publicity. *''Prototype Three'' changed hands many times but was lost, presumed scrapped, in the 1950s. Once owned by

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appear ...

, it was estimated to have been driven 300,000 miles. In 1934, Noguchi drove a completed Dymaxion on an extended road trip through

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

with

Clare Boothe Luce Clare Boothe Luce ( Ann Clare Boothe; March 10, 1903 – October 9, 1987) was an American writer, politician, U.S. ambassador, and public conservative figure. A versatile author, she is best known for her 1936 hit play '' The Women'', which ha ...

and

Dorothy Hale Dorothy Hale (January 11, 1905 – October 21, 1938) was an American socialite and aspiring actress who died from jumping off a building in New York City. Her husband's death, followed by several unsuccessful relationships, had left her fin ...

, stopping to see

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes — for the novel ''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and ''The Skin of Our Teeth'' — a ...

Hamden, Connecticut Hamden is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town's nickname is "The Land of the Sleeping Giant". The population was 61,169 at the 2020 census. History The peaceful tribe of Quinnipiacs were the first residents of the ...

, before driving to

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

for the out-of-town opening of

Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny West neighborhood and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris ...

's and

Virgil Thomson Virgil Thomson (November 25, 1896 – September 30, 1989) was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music. He has been described as a modernist, a neoromantic, a neoclassic ...

's ''

Four Saints in Three Acts ''Four Saints in Three Acts'' is an opera composed in 1928 by Virgil Thomson, setting a libretto written in 1927 by Gertrude Stein. It contains about 20 saints and is in at least four acts. It was groundbreaking in form, content, and for its all-b ...

''. One of the prototypes was driven extensively in a campaign to raise funds in support of the Allies in WW II.

Handling limitations

Fuller and Burgess realized early that the Dymaxion concept would present considerable challenges. As anticipated, and in line with the purpose of the exploration, maneuvering in high winds proved problematic, with the vehicle having a strong tendency to turn into the wind. Steering difficulty and lift at the rear of the vehicle were also observed. Fuller realized the Dymaxion "was an invention that could not be made available to the general public without considerable improvements," and instituted a program of constant refinement and improvement to the platform. Because of its limitations, Fuller and Burgess limited driving to a list of trained drivers and restricted use in high winds or inclement weather.

Speed record

Soon after launching ''Prototype One'', Fuller was invited to exhibit the Dymaxion at a

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

race track, beating the track record by 50% and drawing attention because it did not slide or

drift Drift or Drifts may refer to: Geography * Drift or ford (crossing) of a river * Drift, Kentucky, unincorporated community in the United States * In Cornwall, England: ** Drift, Cornwall, village ** Drift Reservoir, associated with the village ...

across the track like the other race cars.

Crashes

A highly publicized crash in ''Prototype One'' on October 27, 1933, occurred "virtually at the entrance to the Chicago

World's Fair." The Dymaxion rolled over during the crash, killing its driver, a Gulf employee named Francis T. Turner, and seriously injuring its passengers: aviation pioneer (and noted spy) William Sempill and Charles Dollfuss, curator of France's first air museum. The cause of the crash is disputed. A

coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into Manner of death, the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

's inquest did not ascribe fault for the accident, stating that it involved a collision with a car driven by a shoe salesman named Meyer Roth (Fuller erroneously identified Roth as a highly placed Chicago Parks commissioner). When Fuller learned that another car was involved, he placed the blame for the incident entirely on Roth. Eyewitnesses, however, stated that Roth's vehicle struck the Dymaxion only after it had begun to roll over. Fuller, who was not present at the accident, provided his version of events in a book he wrote in collaboration with Robert Marks on the Dymaxion; this account was repeated in Lloyd Steven Sieden's book on Fuller. They stated that the two vehicles were traveling at 70 mph, with Turner trying to evade the politician's car. The inquest showed, they argued, that the design of the Dymaxion was not a factor in the crash. The politician's car, they further claimed, was quickly and illegally removed from the scene of the crash before reporters arrived. Turner was wearing a seatbelt but was killed when the canvas-covered roof framing collapsed. Dollfuss was not wearing a seatbelt, was ejected and landed nearby on his feet. Sempill was severely injured and took months to recover before he could testify at the subsequent inquest. The Dymaxion itself had rolled over and was badly damaged but was subsequently repaired by Fuller and Burgess. In the press, no mention was made that the Dymaxion had been involved in a two-car crash. Instead, the cause of the crash was attributed to the car's unconventional configuration: headlines in New York and Chicago read, "Freak car rolls over – killing famous driver – injuring international passengers". Fuller himself would later crash ''Prototype Two'', with his only surviving daughter, Allegra (Allegra Fuller Snyder) aboard.

Auto industry

Fuller received interest from

Walter Chrysler Walter Percy Chrysler (April 2, 1875 – August 18, 1940) was an American industrial pioneer in the automotive industry, American automotive industry executive and the founder and namesake of American Chrysler Corporation. Early life Chrysler wa ...

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that mi ...

, and Henry Kaiser as well as companies including

Packard Packard or Packard Motor Car Company was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana in 1958. One of the "Thr ...

Studebaker Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers M ...

and

Curtiss-Wright The Curtiss-Wright Corporation is a manufacturer and services provider headquartered in Davidson, North Carolina, with factories and operations in and outside the United States. Created in 1929 from the consolidation of Curtiss, Wright, and v ...

. Chrysler said Fuller had "produced exactly the car

e had E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plur ...

always wanted to produce", when his company had set out to design a highly advanced, aerodynamic car, the

Airflow Airflow, or air flow, is the movement of air. The primary cause of airflow is the existence of air. Air behaves in a fluid manner, meaning particles naturally flow from areas of higher pressure to those where the pressure is lower. Atmospheric ...

, which Walter Chrysler ultimately found inferior. Chrysler commissioned Fuller to study the development of the Airflow, finding Fuller had used one quarter the money and a third the time to make his prototype. At various points, it appeared several manufacturers were interested in marketing the Dymaxion. Walter Chrysler was interested – though he advised Fuller that such an advanced design would meet considerable resistance and would make every used car on the road obsolete, threatening the wholesale dealer distribution and finance network. In his 1988 book ''The Age of Heretics'', author Art Kleiner said bankers had threatened to recall their loans, feeling the car would destroy sales for second-hand cars and for vehicles already in the distribution channels.

Replicas

Hemmings Motor News ''Hemmings Motor News'' (HMN) is a monthly magazine catering to traders and collectors of antique, classic, and exotic sports cars. It is the largest and oldest publication of its type in the United States, with sales of 215,000 copies per mont ...

cites two "faithful or semi-faithful" replicas: *''The Foster Dymaxion Replica'' was built in October 2010, by architect and student of

Sir Norman Foster ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

. Foster's team conducted extensive research to replicate its interior, which had completely deteriorated on the only surviving prototype and had not been well documented. Foster was able to borrow Prototype Two under the condition he would also restore its interior. Prototype Two was shipped to the U.K. in order for the work to be carried out before returning to the

. *''The Lane Dymaxion Replica'' was commissioned by the

Lane Motor Museum Lane Motor Museum is located in Nashville, Tennessee and features a collection of mostly European automobiles. The museum is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, founded by Jeff and Susan Lane, his father having founded the family's automotive ex ...

in Nashville, Tennessee, and built by craftsmen in Pennsylvania (chassis) and the Czech Republic (bodywork). After driving the Lane replica in 2015, automotive journalists Jamie Kitman and Dan Neil described it as having very poor stability and vehicle control.

References

External links

* *, excerpt from the Robert Snyder film, ''The World of Buckminster Fuller'', 1971 *, with

as passenger *
The Dymaxion Car – The Futuristic Vehicle That Remains in the Future

CFD Analysis of Dymaxion Car
{{Buckminster Fuller Buckminster Fuller Concept cars Three-wheeled motor vehicles Rear-engined, front-wheel-drive vehicles