On Sat, 27 Nov 2010 15:38:30 +1100, Jordan wrote:

On 11/27/2010 6:24 AM, Tim Wescott wrote:

Every time I see one of those I start totting up the manufacturing cost
of a differential vs. two undriven wheels in front, and I wonder _why_
they went and made the damn things that way.

I think the Reliant started as a commercial type vehicle, so load
carrying capacity dictated an axle and two wheels at the rear. The
Messerschmidt 3-wheeler on the other hand, grew out of an invalid car -
transport for post-WW2 German injured servicemen. Both were built to a
low price initially, so losing a wheel made sense then.
Apart from handling problems, having 3 tracks makes avoiding potholes
etc difficult. Like Morgan did, a move to 4 wheels and only 2 tracks is
the right way, but driven within their limitations, 3 wheelers look like
fun.


Back in the 1950's both Diahatsu and Mazda built three wheel pickups
for the Japanese market. Extremely common, in fact I doubt whether I
ever saw a 4 wheel pickup size truck during the 10 years I spent
there.

Cheers,

John B.