B-Rant

- submitted by . on 11/23/2009

  

Great Predictions Gone Wrong: The Dynosphere...Making Cars Obsolete

It was 1932 and there was great excitement around the unveiling of the Dynosphere -- a single massive wheel that could (it was promised) seat 2 people comfortably and drive reliably and more efficiently than any 4-wheeled car along the soon to be burgeoning roadways of America.

Popular Science famously (for 1932) heralded the Dynosphere on its cover -- touting its potential to launch the future wave of transportation. Others agreed, suggesting it could replace the car and, it seems, every other silly imperfect transport invention that preceded it.  But it wasn't to be.

Though the Dynosphere was -- and is -- a seriously cool invention and mode of transport, basically it just didn't work (at least well enough) -- in terms of its scalability, efficiency, power generation and (minor problem) its inability to not topple over consistently at higher speeds. Plus (another minor problem) it was hard to steer -- reportedly running over a spectator at one of its primary public trials -- and, for good measure, not that easy to see out of for the driver.

But it is/was one hell of a nifty transport vehicle. Here's a fun vid of its initial launch -- part PSA, part tout, part early car commercial. (The vid may go beyond the seconds indicated on the video counter -- post-40 seconds you can watch the Dynosphere in all its wobbly but still impressive action.)

For those interested, here's some more entertaining stuff on the Dynosphere -- not comprehensive (more random), but with some links to additional info if you're curious...

The Popular Science cover, 1932, heralding the Dynosphere:

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Given its massive size, some questioned how the Dynosphere could be more efficient than a car both from a power/speed and stability perspective. Turns out they were right.

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(source)

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Despite the 2-passenger seat Dynosphere's emerging limitations, its inventor, J.H. Purves, was undaunted. He created a deluxe 5-passenger version that promised to do everything the 2-seater did but with vastly more comfort, luxury, size, power.  It never got beyond its test model, illustrated here:

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Of course the Dynosphere is part of a long line of monowheel vehicles that preceded and followed it. The earliest versions tend to be variations on the self-pedaling-propelling bicycle. Others included motorcycle-like prototypes. There was even a monowheel tank designed for special warfare -- it failed miserably. For more on monowheels and on the Dynosphere generally, check out these sources: Museum of Retro Technology; Modern Mechanix; Monowheels; Monowheel-Wikipedia.

Meanwhile just a few more images...

Early bicycle monowheel variations:

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The monowheel tank:

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The monowheel-motorcycle:

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