Does the increase in gas prices and congestion have you been dreaming of trading in your SUV for a two-wheeler? A new generation of vehicles is coming into the market. The Magic Tricycle is a unique concept in the way that it drives on all three wheels for normal highway use, but can rotate around a longitudinal axis running from the front to the rear right wheel with the left wheel elevated into the air so the vehicle can be ridden as a motorcycle in more congested areas. To facilitate this, the seats rotate to keep the occupants sitting upright and the airborne wheel opens up blades which work like a helicopter tail propeller to aid stability.
The Magic Tricycle was the winning design in the Car Design News held contest in association with SABIC Innovative plastics and Autodesk. The winning student designer was Iranian born, Seyyed Javad Ghaffarian. He told Car Design News about his process and said, “One of the biggest challenges in this concept was designing it in such a way to be beautiful, attractive and harmonic in both its two shapes.”
http://www.cardesignnews.com/site/contests/gallery/view_submission/store497/item113958/
For a another perspective, have a listen to KCRW’s own Frances Anderton podcast DnA:
http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/de/de080617one-seaters_two-whee