Three Wheelers

There are those who believe that a proper motor car should possess four wheels, four seats and a reassuring degree of stability. Then there are the magnificent eccentrics who decided that one wheel was clearly an unnecessary extravagance and that the future of motoring would be considerably more interesting if the whole contraption balanced on three. Thus emerged the three-wheeler, one of automotive history’s most peculiar and endearing inventions, occupying that fascinating territory somewhere between a motorcycle, a motor car and an engineering experiment that escaped from the workshop.

In Three Wheelers (2003), Malcolm Bobbitt explores the wonderfully eccentric world of three-wheeled motoring, celebrating the machines, manufacturers and ingenious designs that challenged the conventional assumption that an automobile required a wheel at each corner. Published by Veloce Publishing, this illustrated volume offers an entertaining journey through a distinctly unconventional chapter of motoring history.

From the sporting Morgan three-wheelers, with their exposed engines and magnificent vintage character, to the more practical creations of Reliant and other manufacturers, these unusual machines demonstrated that mechanical ingenuity could occasionally compensate for the apparent absence of a perfectly useful wheel.

The Morgan three-wheeler became a sporting legend, offering exhilarating performance, minimal weather protection and an opportunity for enthusiastic drivers to experience the road with an intimacy rarely encouraged by modern vehicle manufacturers. Its distinctive appearance suggested that somebody had attached an aircraft engine to a bathtub and subsequently discovered that the result was tremendous fun.

Meanwhile, the humble Reliant became a familiar feature of British roads, providing economical transport and an enduring source of national amusement. Despite its practical virtues, the three-wheeled Reliant acquired a reputation for instability that comedians and television programmes were only too delighted to exploit. Owners, meanwhile, generally preferred to conduct their journeys with all three wheels in contact with the road.

Bobbitt’s exploration of three-wheeled vehicles celebrates the remarkable variety of designs and ideas that emerged from this unusual branch of automotive engineering. Some were intended as inexpensive transport, others as sporting machinery, while a few seemed primarily designed to demonstrate that their inventors possessed considerably more imagination than concern for convention.

There is something particularly British about the three-wheeler: a triumph of resourcefulness, eccentricity and the determination to produce an entirely individual solution to a problem that most other manufacturers had already solved with four wheels.

Condition: As New. This copy is in exceptional condition, presenting as new despite its 2003 publication date. Unlike certain elderly three-wheelers, it requires no mechanical restoration, replacement body panels or careful consideration of its centre of gravity before being enjoyed.

Published by Veloce Publishing in 2003. ISBN: 9781903706817.

Offered by Crappy Old Books, where we celebrate unusual vehicles, questionable engineering conventions and the considerable financial advantages of collecting books about eccentric machinery rather than attempting to maintain the machinery itself.

A splendid addition to any collection of classic motoring literature, British automotive history or unusual vehicle design. Particularly recommended for enthusiasts who appreciate that four wheels may be conventional, but three are quite sufficient to provide decades of entertainment, mechanical ingenuity and occasional public bewilderment.

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