
N-Wheeled Cars - ivolimmen
http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/TRANSPORT/nwheelcar/nwheelcar.htm
======
dkoubsky
An interesting and related story: European newspaper couriers used 6 wheeled
Citroens to transport the paper across countries overnight at nearly 100 mph.

[1] [https://petrolicious.com/articles/vintage-friday-when-
overni...](https://petrolicious.com/articles/vintage-friday-when-overnight-
news-came-in-the-back-of-six-wheeled-100mph-citroen-cxs)

~~~
Svip
It's worth noting, that the Tissier modifications extended the hydropneumatic
suspension to the extra axis. So despite being a flatbed or newspaper truck,
they were still very comfortable.

I have seen a Tissier modification of a DS myself.

Edit: Found the picture I took back in 2014:
[https://i.imgur.com/jKTv3od.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/jKTv3od.jpg)

~~~
dsfyu404ed
I mean, duh. You have to have suspension on the extra axle (well you
technically don't but there would be some significant downsides to that
approach) and just duplicating whatever the OEM did is the obvious way to go
if practical. I'm not well versed in Citroen's hydraulic system of the era but
I bet it would be only slightly more complex than adding a tag axle on
airbags.

~~~
Svip
It is quite a complicated system, particularly because it was unique to
Citroën. Only a few one-offs from other manufactures used the suspension
system. So getting parts was not particularly easy.

Effectively, you ended up making them yourselves. You'll also need to ensure
that the pump could handle the extra axle, and that there was sufficient
hydraulic liquid to handle the now much larger hydraulic system. Remember the
hydraulics also controlled the braking and the steering. All in the same
system as the suspension.

There is good reason why a lot of heavy modifications of Citroëns of the era
simply did away with the original suspension, and replaced it with bog
standard suspension. It requires quite a bit of expertise to understand. It's
possible, as Tissier proved. And Jerry Hathaway, who modified a Citroën SM do
over 320 km/h, build a pickup out to carry it out of another SM.[0] I had the
good fortune of meeting him back in 2017, and his SM.[1]

[0] [https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2018/02/05/a-200-mph-
citroen-s...](https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2018/02/05/a-200-mph-citroen-sm-
drops-in-on-the-mullin-museum-for-a-limited-time/)

[1]
[http://granddetour.dk/blog/smworld.html](http://granddetour.dk/blog/smworld.html)

------
apacheCamel
This was odd, intriguing and just down right neat. I honestly started reading
and couldn't stop. It felt like every scroll would introduce me with a new way
to configure an N-Wheeled car that I would have never dreamed about.

~~~
markrages
The author is an expert in audio design. I read his website obsessively many
years ago.

I miss the old web of personalities and personal websites.

------
NikkiA
The Chrysler[0] voyager III is like someone watched the homer-mobile episode
of the Simpsons[1] and thought 'you know, that's a great idea!'

[0] Technically Plymouth apparently.

[1] I thought at first that maybe the voyager III came first, since it was
apparently considered the worst concept car ever, and the history behind the
voyager III seems to mirror some of the history alluded to in the episode, but
no, the simpsons were 1 year before plymouth, someone must seriously have
heard of that episode and not thought 'this is scarily foreshadowing, maybe we
should rethink'.

~~~
lawlessone
without checking the date it really looks like the late 80s early 90s'

~~~
mkl
It says 1989 right next to the name and the image.

------
user982
The further down the page you get, the more they look like a poorly trained
NN's idea of a car.

------
squarefoot
Totally out of context but might be of interest: Douglas Self, the site owner,
is also an EE who authored some good books about audio related electronics.

~~~
victorp13
EE? Electrical Engineer?

~~~
squarefoot
He's an Electronics Engineer. Not sure if the EE acronym is also used for
Electrical Engineers.

------
todd8
Here’s a YouTube Top Gear review of the three wheeled Renault Robin,
[https://youtu.be/QQh56geU0X8](https://youtu.be/QQh56geU0X8). It’s quite
funny.

~~~
tim333
Bit from Fools and Horses also
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W7Mrt7Xl54&feature=youtu.be...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W7Mrt7Xl54&feature=youtu.be&t=3)

------
insulanus
"You may be wondering why twelve wheels are required to support the rear of
the car; it's because that's where the swimming pool is."

Oh man :)

------
Shivetya
Very interesting, as a motorcycle rider I am familiar with both two and three
wheeled machines. Having two in the front for a three wheeler is much more
stable and Can-Am produced by BRP in Canada is an example that is more more
like a motorcycle while the Slingshot produced by Polaris is more like a car.
The distinction I use is seating position and how you steer them. Both are a
hoot to drive but I give the nod to the Can-Am for utility

There have been some one wheel motorcycles and even two wheeled motorcycles
have been computerized to be self driving and self balancing, Honda made one
that is stable even while not moving

Still my favorite eight, or is that twelve, wheeled vehicle is the Landmaster
[1] which was produced for the movie Damnation Alley in the seventies.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landmaster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landmaster)

------
kristianp
There's a Single Wheeled transport[1] in Iain Bank's "Against a Dark
Background". [2], called a Monowheel. An impressive vehicle.

[1]
[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/73/IainMBa...](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/73/IainMBanksAgainstaDarkBackg.jpg/220px-
IainMBanksAgainstaDarkBackg.jpg)

[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_a_Dark_Background](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_a_Dark_Background)

~~~
mirimir
He also had a huge uni-wheel in _Surface Detail_. Huge as in something like 50
meters diameter. With articulated rooms, like a rolling Ferris wheel.

------
d--b
What about this guy:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=87&v=rvA7hDh_vhY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=87&v=rvA7hDh_vhY)

------
carapace
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dymaxion_car](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dymaxion_car)

Bucky Fuller's Dymaxion car had three wheels.

------
forinti
I have this feeling that three-wheelers with the lone wheel at the back must
be more stable. The ones with the lone wheel at the front and to the side are
utterly bizzare.

~~~
mveety
In my experience with my two three wheeled go-karts, having the single wheel
at the back is much more stable. I’ve never worked out exactly why that’s the
case though.

~~~
Zigurd
It's because almost all vehicles can decelerate much faster than they can
accelerate. Add to that that they may be decelerating into a corner and you
can see how having a lone wheel in front is going to cause a lot more tipping
over than having it in back.

~~~
jessaustin
The old-style three-wheelers (that they haven't been allowed to sell for
decades) didn't have a differential in the back, so you _had_ to tip them to
the outside in order to turn sharply. Yes this was dangerous.

~~~
dsfyu404ed
You didn't have to tip them. You just needed to get them to break traction on
the inside wheel. You can do that without leaving the ground though leaving
the ground is a pretty guaranteed way to accomplish that goal.

------
antpls
You know Internet was needed when some mad people started to build 24-wheeled
cars without anyone knowing about it

------
Zanni
Since practicality doesn't seem to be a deal-breaker here, I'm wondering why
no zero-wheel cars?
[https://moller.com/moller_skycar200.html](https://moller.com/moller_skycar200.html)

~~~
paxys
Mainly because that's a plane

~~~
tempodox
Or a hovercraft.

------
zepearl
Let's not forget the Formula 1:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrrell_P34](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrrell_P34)

That was a cool car... :)

~~~
habi
It's on the list, towards the bottom of the 6-wheel section.

------
anonytrary
I'd imagine that 24-wheel limo needing a special track just to get from A to
B. That thing probably can't make a right or left turn on a typical two-lane
road.

~~~
meddlepal
From what I've read it was just a gimmick. It could drive but only technically
enough to qualify for the Guinness record.

The "interior" was plywood with some quickly slapped down faux-leather bench
seating. The only part that is real is the main driver's cab.

Here's a video of it in its current state:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijWq1VxcUrw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijWq1VxcUrw)

------
Haga
This is what the old inet was about, obsession over freaky things. Not people,
not self, not money, not attention.. just obsession with that one topic.

------
klyrs
Why do I want to attempt a 24-wheel donut all of the sudden?

~~~
quickthrower2
I was trying to visualise that going around a typical British suburban
roundabout.

------
mhh__
Williams also built a six wheeler (The FW08B)

------
RickJWagner
Some of the 6-wheelers are pretty handsome.

