Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion restoration

[botsapper]

Crosthwaite and Gardiner is restoring the only surviving Fuller's Dymaxion No. 2. It'll only be a partial non-running resto but they are re-creating the Dymaxion No. 3 into a fully running model. They are also soliciting everyone's help in identifying & sourcing parts for the resto & re-creation projects.
It'd be great if they utilize the Dymaxion's aero-bodyform on a safer modern chassis to realize the full potential of Bucky Fuller's ideas. Modern safety (crash) standards may be impossible to be re-engineered but a better driving dynamics could be applied instead of its original inherent suspension dangers.


Hemmings Auto Blogs » Blog Archive » Dymaxion No. 2 restoration underway; your help needed

[SVOboy]

Pretty neat stuff, interested in seeing the final product

[botsapper]

Optimized aerodynamic form & tricycle configuration. I wonder which one will be on the road sooner.

[aerohead]

Harrahs (sp?) Auto Museum,in Reno Nevada has a Dymaxion Car with full exterior restoration.The windows are silvered over to obscure the interior which as of 1998 was not restored.---------- If the mechanicals are similar,would the museum not participate in viewings and data gathering?

[rykoala]

I've seen the Dymaxion here in Reno and its a cool looking car. Its still just silvered out windows, and is in the restoration shop IIRC.

[sregord]

Today I took my granddaughter to the National Automobile Museum here in Reno...and found the fully restored DYMAXION on display.

[freebeard]

Cool. It wasn't there on display when I was there. They did have the Airmobile.

Originally Posted by OP

It'd be great if they utilize the Dymaxion's aero-bodyform on a safer modern chassis to realize the full potential of Bucky Fuller's ideas. ... instead of its original inherent suspension dangers.

Yes and no.

Three wheel drive and three wheel steering could do a lot. But the aerodynamics are imperfect. The original concept model had an 'air keel' that didin't make it to the prototypes.


www.dailyicon.net/2009/02/dymaxion-car-model-by-buckminster-fuller-isamu-noguchi/

It's similar to the central jet on four wheel cars with a notch in the air dam. Compare to a modern velomobile.

The excessive front overhang (or something) resulted in a weather-vaning effect, where it wanted to yaw into a crosswind.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Three wheel drive and three wheel steering

Might not be the easiest of the tasks, but someone managed to adapt 3-wheel steering to one of those Indian Bajaj trikes some years ago...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_jAxrMlN88

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqqSpcBaC8E