Dymaxion

"Driving the Dymaxion is a revelation," says this lifelong sci-fi fan and Fuller's perfect disciple.

Norman Foster's back-to-front car Jonathan Glancey 2010

Deprived of wings, the Dymaxion was a three-wheel, ground-bound zeppelin . . .

Note to Detroit . . . Walter Jon Williams 2008

Deprived of wings, the Dymaxion was a three-wheel, ground-bound zeppelin . . .

Archive 2008-12-01 Walter Jon Williams 2008

In 1929 he displayed his 4D house at Marshall Fields, where the word "Dymaxion" was invented.

unknown title 2009

Fuller, born in 1895, is best known for his geodesic domes, but his ultimate hope was that the three-wheeled Dymaxion? which looked like a VW camper van crossed with a pinball flipper? would fly, allowing Americans to leave the highway vertically and touch down at lightweight aluminium homes, scattered wherever they fancied by a fleet of Zeppelins.

Norman Foster's back-to-front car Jonathan Glancey 2010

"The Dymaxion had the same engine and transmission as the Ford Sedan of the time," says Foster, who worked with Fuller, his design hero, from 1971 until his death 12 years later.

Norman Foster's back-to-front car Jonathan Glancey 2010

[H/t Dymaxion World] posted by Dr. Dawg at 1: 43 PM

Archive 2009-08-01 2009

In the 1930s, the great US inventor secured the first $1,000 he needed to build a giant futuristic car, called the Dymaxion.

Norman Foster's back-to-front car Jonathan Glancey 2010

I watched Foster's Dymaxion No 4 being made in East Sussex, at racing car restorers Crosthwaite & Gardiner.

Norman Foster's back-to-front car Jonathan Glancey 2010

The Dymaxion was meant to be phase one of a social revolution, fuelled by the latest technology, but only three were ever built.

Norman Foster's back-to-front car Jonathan Glancey 2010