Goal For The Green

Great things happen when visionaries
direct their talent and passion towards the design of an automobile.
Inventor Buckminster Fuller did so in the 1930s, and the result was
the creative, unique Dymaxion Car. It first appeared at the Chicago
World’s Fair in 1933, and bravely defied the conventions of the day.

Today, only one Dymaxion Car remains,
which can be found at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada.
Though you won’t find this rare machine among the ranks of

classics cars for sale, it still transfixes classic automotive enthusiasts.
Staff at the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, which uses the slogan
“Unique cars from A to Z,” have been so transfixed that they’ve
spent the past eight years creating an exact replica of the Dymaxion
Car. On Tuesday, they announced that the recreation was complete, and
will be displayed from Thursday, February 26th.

“The Dymaxion just makes sense for us
to have at the (Lane Motor Museum),” said Jeff Lane, director of
the Lane Motor Museum. “The design is well ahead of its time and
its looks definitely fit the uniquely different philosophy we build
our collection around.”

It’s no wonder that the restorers and
technicians found the Dymaxion Car fascinating enough to recreate.
The car had the distinct, aerodynamic shape of a raindrop, a shape
that contrasted with the boxy shape of most cars of the time. It also
featured a cantilevered chassis that supported two fixed wheels at
the front and one steerable wheel at the back. The back wheel
operated like a boat tiller.

The car’s V8 engine was mounted at the
back, but the Dymaxion had front wheel drive. It was designed so that
it could perform a U-turn on a dime. It carried up to 11 people,
could achieve 30 miles per gallon, and could reach a top speed of 90
miles per hour. It must have been a very strange, supremely unique
experience to behold and operate such a car.

Odd or not, the Dymaxion Car was
supremely efficient. In today’s age of fuel efficiency and resource
preservation, the Dymaxion is an ideal model to look to. One might
even say that the design was well ahead of its time.

The Dymaxion Car will make its maiden
voyage from Nashville to northern Florida for the Amelia Island
Concours d’Elegance on March 15th.