The Driving Spaceship: Dymaxion

Buckminister Fuller was a very imaginative man, thinking of many different eccentric creations during his career. One of the craziest of the inventions included in the Dymaxion Chronofile (a personal diary that detailed most all of his inventions quite in detail) was the Dymaxion car.

The Dymaxion was designed as a way to do more with less. The name comes from a mixture of the words dynamic, maximum, and tension, which describes what his plans were with the car. Produced in Bridgeport Connecticut by Fuller's company The Dymaxion Corporation, only three prototypes ever made it out of the factory doors.

When Fuller initially had the idea for the car, he used some of his inheritance funds, and he partnered with Philip Pearson, who invested $5,000 in 1933 (about $100,000 in today's cash.) Legend has it that before Bucky signed the contract, he edited it to contain a clause that he could buy ice cream sodas with the money whenever he saw fit.

As for a location for the factory for his new Dymaxion Corporation, Fuller chose the abandoned Locomobile factory in Tongue Point, Bridge Port, Connecticut. The factory had been out of use ever since the company closed its doors in 1929.

Next came the hiring of employees. Since this was in the midst of the Great Depression, the 27 open spots for jobs were sought after by over 1000 people, including multiple Rolls Royce mechanics. Just three months into the production run, the first prototype was completed. Soon after, the next two prototypes were completed.

Prototype 1

Prototype was spanned 20 feet long, and was powered by a Ford V8 engine mounted in the rear. The 8-cylinder made 85 horsepower to the front wheels, and steering was controlled by the rear wheel. The first prototype seated 4 including the driver, and Buckminister claimed to have reached a whopping 128mph, and 36 miles per gallon. The frame was constructed wood, with an aluminum sheet metal body with canvas roofing.

Prototype 1 was involved in a heavy crash in 1933 at the Chicago Century of Progress fair, where the driver was killed. As the story goes, the Chicago South Park Comissioner was staring at the giant of a car that was sitting in front of his eyes, got too close to the Dymaxion, and WHAM! After being hit at 70mph, the car rolled over, killing driver Francis Turner, and injuring the other occupants: William Sempill (a spy and aviation expert) and Charles Dollfuss (Air Minister of France.) The Dymaxion was hastily removed from the scene of the accident before anyone arrived to assist.

After the crash, the Dymaxion was eventually repaired and sold off to the director of the automotive division of U.S. standards, where it was burned to a crisp during a freak accident while being refueled.

Prototype 2

Prototype 2 had a lighter chassis than Prototype 1. In addition, it featured a periscope that faced towards to rear so the operator could see what was happening behind the land whale of a car. Larger side windows were added to the vehicle, as well as a stabilizer that resides on the roof.

Prototype 2 is the only surviving vehicle of the three prototypes, and currently resides in the National Automobile Museum in Nevada. But, let's take a step back. The original owner was Alfred Williams, a high ranking employee at Gulf Refining Company, who had the idea to use it as an advertising vehicle to drive sales for aircraft fuel. Video exists of Buckminister stating that Amelia Earhart wanted it to be used as her official car for receiving the National Gold Medal, a prestigious award from National Geographic. Prototype 2 was missing in action until in 1968, when some Arizona State engineering students came across the car while visiting a farm. The farmer soon agreed to sell the car for $3,000, as he had bought it for just $1 a couple of years beforehand.

Prototype 3

Very little is known about Prototype 3 other than that it was driven, and a lot. Supposedly, when it disappeared and scrapped in the mid 1950s, it had 300,000 miles or more.

With the rarity of the Dymaxion being so high, and only one in existence, people would try to make their own Dymaxions, which they did. The Lane Motor Museum down in Tennessee has their own replica, and the Foster Dymaxion Replica, built by Norman Foster, a student of Buck's, is a fantastic replica as well.

Automotive Interest

Walter Chrysler himself said that Fuller had designed and created a car that he himself had been wanting to make for a while, and that the Chrysler Airflow was tremendously inferior the Bucky's new design.

I'm sure your curious as to what this beast looks like when it's driving, and I was able to dig up some videos on Youtube, one of which I have embedded here. Enjoy!