The Ford Gyron was a futuristic two-wheeled

gyrocar A gyrocar is a two-wheeled automobile. The difference between a bicycle or motorcycle and a gyrocar is that in a bike, dynamic balance is provided by the rider, and in some cases by the geometry and mass distribution of the bike itself, and the g ...

first shown to the world in 1961 at the

Detroit Motor Show The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), also known as the Detroit Auto Show as of 2022 and prior to NAIAS, is an annual auto show held in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., at Huntington Place. The show was held in January from 1989 to 2019. I ...

as a

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...

Syd Mead Sydney Jay Mead (July 18, 1933 – December 30, 2019) was an American industrial designer and neo-futurist concept artist, widely known for his designs for science-fiction films such as ''Blade Runner'', '' Aliens'' and ''Tron''. Mead has bee ...

. One wheel was at the front and the other at the rear like a

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

and the car was stabilized by

gyroscopes A gyroscope (from Ancient Greek γῦρος ''gŷros'', "round" and σκοπέω ''skopéō'', "to look") is a device used for measuring or maintaining orientation and angular velocity. It is a spinning wheel or disc in which the axis of rotat ...

. The two occupants of the vehicle were seated side by side and, when the vehicle was stationary, two small legs appeared from the sides to support it. The vehicle was created for research and marketing purposes, with no intention to put it into production.

Alex Tremulis Alexander Sarantos Tremulis (January 23, 1914 – December 29, 1991) was a Greek-American industrial designer in the North American automotive industry. Tremulis held automotive design positions at Cord Automobile, Duesenberg, General Motors, Tuck ...

was the designer and the gyroscopic systems were based on

Louis Brennan Louis Brennan (28 January 1852 – 17 January 1932) was an Irish-Australian mechanical engineer and inventor. Biography Brennan was born in Castlebar, Ireland, and moved to Melbourne, Australia in 1861 with his parents. He started his caree ...

's theories. The

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

of Detroit gave credit for the Gyron to Louis Brennan. Alex Tremulis had started his career with the US Air Force and worked in 1948 at the

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene County, Ohio, Greene and Montgomery County, Ohio, Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patte ...

on the concept of

Military flying saucers A circular wing is a disc-shaped wing having the outer planform of a circle. If the aircraft has no fuselage or tail the disc-shaped craft is sometimes described as a ''flying saucer''. If the entire disc rotates it is called a ''disc wing''. Disc ...

. He then became the chief designer for the ill-fated

Tucker Tucker may refer to: Places United States * Tucker, Arkansas * Tucker, Georgia * Tucker, Mississippi * Tucker, Missouri * Tucker, Utah, ghost town * Tucker County, West Virginia Outer space * Tucker (crater), a small lunar impact crater in the s ...

automobile before joining Ford, and was also involved with the Tuscan gyroscopic motorcycles and the Gyronaught XU1 gyroscopic car. The original fiberglass concept was destroyed in the 1962 Ford Rotunda fire. Only the studio model remains today, it was sold at an auction in December 2012 for $40,000.

External links

Photograph of the Ford Gyron
at seriouswheels.com
Ford Gyron Concept Car
at oldconceptcars.com Gyron Experimental and prototype gyroscopic vehicles Two-wheeled motor vehicles {{Classicpow-auto-stub