- 1899 Horsey Horseless
This bizarre vehicle was intended to soothe the nerves of horses that shared the road with automobiles. From the crackpot mind of inventor Uriah Smith of Battle Creek, Michigan, came a buggy with a wooden horse head attached to the front. Hoping that this would cause the buggy to resemble a horse drawn carriage. Smith even recommended that the horse head be hollow and full of fuel, because that wouldn’t be dangerous or anything right? “The live horse would be thinking of another horse,” said Smith,”and before he could discover his error and see that he had been fooled, the strange carriage would be passed.” History isn’t 100% clear on whether or not the Horsey Horseless was ever built or if it was just a pipe dream from a nut job, either way it’s a terrible idea.
- 1911 Overland OctoAuto
Designer Milton Reeves rejected the general consensus that automobiles only needed four wheels, feeling that six or eight wheels was a better idea. Under the auspice that more wheels would equate to a smoother ride, Reeves began modifying a 1910 Overland. Welding in some parts, adding two more axles and four more guncart-style wheels, Reeves gave birth to the OctoAuto. He displayed the Frankenstein monster of a car proudly at the Indianapolis 500. The OctoAuto measured over 20ft long. Zero orders for this hideous vehicle were made, but Reeves didn’t let that stop him. The following year he tried again with the Sextauto, which was a six wheel, single axle design. As evidenced by the lack of six wheels on normal cars today, the Sextauto was also a flop.
- 1913 Scripps-Booth Bi-Autogo
The Scripps-Booth Bi-Autogo was a massive 3,200 lb motorcycle with training wheels, a V8 engine, and copper tubing everywhere. This crazy idea is the brainchild of James Scripps-Booth, an heir of the Scripps publishing fortune and a self taught auto engineer. The two-wheeled Bi-Autogo carried the weight of the vehicle on 37-in wooden wheels. When going slow, the driver could lower smaller wheels on outriggers to stabilize the vehicle, preventing it from tipping over. Even for 1913 this was a bizarre vehicle. One good thing that came out of the creation of the Bi-Autogo is the V8 engine. This was the first vehicle to come out of Detroit with a V8 engine in it, making it at least somewhere
- 1920 Briggs and Stratton Flyer
By time 1920 rolled around we had started to get the hang of building automobiles. Rolls-Royce, Cadillac, and Voisin were all producing luxurious automobiles and pushing forward with technological advancements. On the other end of the spectrum was the Briggs and Stratton Flyer. Compared to other automobiles you could hardly call the Flyer a car, it was pretty much a motorized bench with bicycle tires on it. No body, no suspension, no windshield, and no style, this vehicle was an attempt to make a very cheap automobile. The Flyer was powered by a tiny 2 horsepower engine driving a traction wheel, similar to a boat with an outboard motor. No actual power went to the Flyers axles.
- 1933 Fuller Dymaxion
Designed by R. Buckminster Fuller, the Fuller Dymaxion was initially conceived as a flying machine. The plan was to install jet engines and inflatable wings, so you could drive it like a car and then inflate the wings and fly away when you want a plane. The wings never became a part of the production model, and without them the Dymaxion looked like a goofy pill rolling down the road. The Dymaxion was a three-wheel vehicle, with a levered A-arm carrying the rear wheel, which swiveled like the tail of an airplane. The first model had a terrible wobble from the rear wheel, the next two built were bigger and heavier, while the third model had a stabilizer fin on the roof. A fatal accident involving the Dymaxion ( due to unknown causes) killed the vehicles chances of public acceptance.