Design
Designers Morph Bikes and Cars into Green Frankenvehicles
These human-powered jalopies invoke the fantastical vision of Buckminster Fuller.
One of the most striking vehicles in the ongoing North American International Auto Show is not a shiny-new Tesla or 3D-printed car but a boxy, thin-wheeled jalopy that looks like it delivered milk in the 1950s:
This celebration of 90-degree angles is the Cyclone, a concept vehicle from Michigan collective The Future People that runs solely on the power of two people pumping pedals. The contraption's inventors constructed it, hilariously, using boat-building techniques, allowing enough room in the spacious, mahogany-clad interior to stuff in cargo and another couple of passengers. "The Cyclone," they crow, "is an indispensable part of a complete sustainable luxury lifestyle."