slate.com/technology: The Dramatic Failure of Buckminster Fuller’s “Car of the Future”
And how he covered for his mistakes.
An interesting retelling. Lots of hanky-panky between Starling Burgess and Bucky's sugar-momma.
Quote:
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In October, Fuller filed a patent that treated the vehicle’s three wheels as optional. A pair of rear wheels would have fixed a “bug” in which the back tire became stuck in slippery ruts, but Fuller was reluctant to revise the design, especially when the future of the company itself seemed unclear. Burgess was acting erratically, with pain from an ulcer and an old operation forcing him to take daily shots of morphine. After consulting a psychiatrist, Fuller tried to put him into a sanitarium, but Burgess fled with Biddle to Reno, Nevada.
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IIRC the four-wheel variant was drafted by Starling Burgess' draftswoman. Anyone recall her name? DuckDuckGo certainly don't.