Photo: Three-wheeled cars (wikimedia.org) Author: Konstantin Shirokun
People don't always even consider three-wheeled cars to be cars, but they don't take offense at this – they obediently perform their transport tasks. Which can be surprisingly diverse.
Read about the pros and cons of cars without one wheel in the RBC-Ukraine article.
It is wrong to think that engineers came up with the idea of reducing the number of wheels in order to save money – it turns out that there are many other factors for this, including, oddly enough, social ones.
Why is the wheel missing?
From a technical point of view, the absence of a wheel does not greatly affect the cost of the car, especially if a pair of wheels were left as driving ones. Other significant reasons are related to legislation. For example, there are countries where three wheels become the basis for classifying a vehicle as a heavy motorcycle. And therefore the owner can get by with a motorcycle driver's license. Moreover, in several countries, the advantage of three-wheeled vehicles was the tax upon purchase – significantly lower than for four-wheeled transport. In the UK, this fee has always been half as much as for a similar-capacity four-wheeled vehicle.
But so that you don’t think that all three-wheelers are somehow inferior, we will show you several typical models as an example, which rest on the road through three points.
Velorex Oskar: the economy option
Yes, this simple car was created with the aim of reducing the cost as much as possible. However, its main savings are not in the small number of wheels. Instead of a metal or at least wooden body, the Oskar has a spatial frame welded from tubes, which was covered with a leatherette shell. The rear part of the Jawa motorcycle is responsible for the drive – an engine (250 – 350 cc), a gearbox, a chain drive and a rear wheel with a pendulum. With the most powerful engine, the car reaches 85 km / h. The vehicle was produced in 1954 – 1971 in Czechoslovakia, and it was positioned primarily as social transport for people with disabilities. In addition, it was an official vehicle for minor government employees, postmen, agronomists, doctors in rural areas.
Morgan 3-Wheeler
At first, in the 1910s, the British also wanted to save money. But soon this comfortable alternative to a motorcycle became the winner of numerous races and suddenly became a kind of fun machine for entertainment. Before the Second World War, a whole cult formed around the 3-Wheeler, which the manufacturer skillfully maintains to this day. In the 1960s, there was a break in the production of the model, but assembly resumed in 2012 and continued until 2021. In fact, it was a new design, although there was not much to change: a modern, but also V-shaped engine (1.8 l and 115 hp) is still located in front of the front steering axle, and its torque is transmitted to the only rear wheel (by the way, a car wheel). As a result, this impressive projectile reaches 100 km / h in 4.6 s. It is significant that you could only buy a 3-Wheeler after standing in line for about six months, and after their production was curtailed, the prices for used models increased significantly. In fact, these days Morgan also produces a three-wheeled model, the Super 3, which is more like a classic roadster, only without one wheel.
Mazda T-1500
For Europeans, this is a complete exotic, but in many Eastern countries, such transport is a normal thing. In fact, it is a truck with few wheels and a low road tax. The essence of the Mazda T-1500 is easier to understand if you put it next to a van like the Ford Transit or Volkswagen Transporter – all three will be the same size. The T-1500 is the most common version, but in general there were configurations with a 2.0-liter engine (81 hp), and with an even larger cargo platform, on which you can put 1.5 – 2.0 tons. Mazda stopped producing three-wheeled T-series trucks only in 1974, but they are still found in the Asian outback.
Reliant Robin
Again the British, and again the desire to indulge poor buyers. In order to bring the comfort of a formal motorized carriage as close as possible to regular four-wheeled vehicles, the Reliant company created a car that was practically a car, but without one front wheel. Owners were happy with this for several generations of the model, because instead of an extra wheel they had big tax breaks and a simplified category in the driver's license. For example, the Robin model had a 0.85-liter engine (50 hp), developed 137 km/h, which was acceptable for the 1970s, and reached 100 km/h in 16.1 seconds. The engine was in the front, the drive wheels were in the rear. The only front wheel was also placed under the too-long hood. In addition to England, the car was produced in Greece and India – right up until 2001.
Short
Who said that a car must necessarily have four wheels? Three-wheeled cars are now successfully used and produced in several countries – these include the super-popular tuk-tuk taxis, and the latest version of the 3-Wheeler from Morgan, and in China, three-wheeled taxis are running on the basis of the Chery QQ, which is also well-known here. And still, three-wheelers are considered exotic and primarily a matter for extravagant people. But nothing can be done about it – the automotive world, like the world of people, largely lives in captivity of stereotypes.
Materials from Autocar and Motor were used in preparing this article .
Let us recall that RBC-Ukraine recently reported on the types of all-wheel drive available on pickups and SUVs.