Three-wheeler

Many three-wheelers which exist in the form of motorcycle-based machines are often called trikes and often have the front single wheel and mechanics similar to that of a motorcycle and the rear axle similar to that of a car. Often such vehicles are owner-constructed using a portion of a rear-engine, rear-drive Volkswagen Beetle in combination with a motorcycle front end. Other trikes include All-terrain vehicles that are specially constructed for off-road use.

Three-wheelers can have either one wheel at the back and two at the front (2F1R), (for example: Morgan Motor Company) or one wheel at the front and two at the back (1F2R) (such as the Reliant Robin). Due to better safety when braking, an increasingly popular form is the front-steering "tadpole" or "reverse trike" sometimes with front drive but usually with rear drive. A variant on the 'one at the front' layout was the Scott Sociable, which resembled a four-wheeler with a front wheel missing.[1]

Three-wheelers, including some cyclecars, bubble cars and microcars, are built for economic and legal reasons: in the UK for tax advantages, or in the US to take advantage of lower safety regulations, being classed as motorcycles. As a result of their light construction and potential better streamlining, three-wheeled cars are usually less expensive to operate.

Some inexpensive three-wheelers have been designed specifically to improve mobility for disabled people.[2]

Three-wheeler transport vehicles known as auto rickshaws are a common means of public transportation in many countries in the world, and are an essential form of urban transport in many developing countries such as India and the Philippines.

Early automotive pioneer Karl Benz developed a number of three-wheeled models.[3] One of these, the Benz Patent Motorwagen,[4] is regarded as the first purpose-built automobile. It was made in 1885.

In 1896, John Henry Knight showed a tri-car at The Great Exhibition.[3]

In 1897, Edward Butler made the Butler Petrol Cycle, another three-wheeled car.

A Conti 6 hp Tri-car competed in (but did not complete) a 1907 Peking to Paris race sponsored by a French newspaper, Le Matin.[5]

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  1885 Benz Patent Motorwagen
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  Goliath pickup truck at a meeting for vintage cars in the 1990s
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  Davis D-2 Divan, at the National Automotive and Truck Museum, Auburn, Indiana, United States
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  Davis 494, at the National Automotive and Truck Museum, Auburn, Indiana, USA
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  Velorex was a manufacturing cooperative in Solnice, Czechoslovakia, formed in 1936 to satisfy demand for small, inexpensive city cars.
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  Mazda T2000 truck 1957–1974, length 6.08 m, width 1.84 m, max speed 100 km/h
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  An early Daihatsu Midget, which would serve as the basis for auto rickshaws that proliferate across South and Southeast Asia
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  Reliant Robin 3-wheeler car.
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  2016 Pembleton Supersports

Tripendo recumbent tricycle, a tilting three-wheeler

Vandenbrink Carver

To improve stability some three-wheelers are designed to tilt while cornering like a motorcyclist would do. The tilt may be controlled manually, mechanically or by computer.

A tilting three-wheeler's body or wheels, or both, tilt in the direction of the turn. Such vehicles can corner safely even with a narrow track.

Some tilting three-wheelers could be considered to be forms of feet forward motorcycles or cabin motorcycles or both.

Cugnot's fardier à vapeur, as preserved at the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris, France

The world's first full-size self-propelled land vehicle was a three-wheeler. French Army Captain Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot's 1770 fardier à vapeur (steam dray), a steam tricycle with a top speed of around 3 km/h (2 mph), was intended for hauling artillery.[13]

Another of the earliest preserved examples is the Long steam tricycle, built by George A. Long around 1880 and patented in 1883,[14][15] now on display at the Smithsonian Institution.

The Whike is a recumbent tricycle with a sail, made in the Netherlands.

Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha all-terrain vehicles

Due to the incidence of injuries and deaths related to their use, a 10-year ban, entirely voluntary for manufacturers, was placed on the sale of new three-wheeled all-terrain vehicles in the United States in January 1988. More injuries were sustained by riders by not applying a proper riding technique, and lack of wearing proper safety gear such as helmets and riding boots. In a search conducted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, it was determined that "no inherent flaw was found in the three wheel design".

Bond Bug at Silverstone

In the U.S, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration defines and regulates three-wheeled vehicles as motorcycles.[16] However, in 2015 a bill was introduced in Congress that would prevent some three wheeled vehicles from being classified as motorcycles in the United States, instead creating a new classification for "autocycles".[17][18]

Driver's license and registration requirements vary on a state-by-state basis. Some states require drivers of three wheeled vehicles to have a motorcycle license and register the vehicle as a motorcycle. Some states, including Virginia, Kansas, and Indiana, classify some three wheeled vehicles as autocycles. Virginia defines an autocycle as "a three-wheeled motor vehicle that has a steering wheel and seating that does not require the operator to straddle or sit astride and is manufactured to comply with federal safety requirements for motorcycles."[19] Indiana defines it as "a three (3) wheeled motor vehicle in which the operator and passenger ride in a completely or partially enclosed seating area that is equipped with:(1) a rollcage or roll hoops; (2) safety belts for each occupant; and (3) antilock brakes;and is designed to be controlled with a steering wheel and pedals."[20] In other jurisdictions, such as British Columbia, Canada, and Connecticut, a three-wheeled vehicle with an enclosed passenger compartment or partially enclosed seat is considered an automobile.

• Complete A-Z list of three-wheelers since 1940