Some things were never meant to be invented. Like the baby cage – which I think we can all agree is a waste of a good cage. Another bad invention was the country of Belgium, or poison gas. All have been disastrous. On the other hand, though, some crazy inventions turn out to be great. And none was greater than the Dynasphere.
The Monowheel Car
Ever since the emergence of car transport, people have been asking the same question. Why so many wheels? Four wheels is too many. It’s for losers. The problem is though, if you have 2 wheels that’s a bike. And 3 wheels just looks dumb. As such, generations of innovators have dreamed of a single wheeled vehicle. Then in the 1930s, a respected engineer decided to actually build one.
He was John Archibald Purves, and for decades he had run a successful electricity company. But in 1930 something came over him. Inspired by a drawing he found in the sketches of Leonardo da Vinci, he moved to a small town and got to work on a car unlike any other.
The Dynasphere
The idea behind it was simple. The entire vehicle would be the wheel, rotating across the ground. At centre was an inner ring. Unlike the outer, this would not rotate, allowing the passenger to not be killed. Not killing the passenger was a pretty important detail, to be fair. In theory, this would require much less power to function than a standard car. All the while requiring less moving parts to potentially break. By 1932, several prototypes had been developed. It was given the name Dynasphere, and demonstrations attracted onlookers from across England.
What they saw was a surprisingly stable vehicle, even at high speed. Many called it the future of transport. Plans were made to create gigantic, multi-seater Dynaspheres. But there was one major problem. Turn or stop too quickly, and it would cause an imbalance. This in a giant sphere would have been less than optimal. Basically, it makes the passenger spin around the inside like they’re in a big tumble dryer.
This was ultimately the downfall of the concept. The bane of all monowheel cars. Thus, sadly, four wheel cars remain the norm. But the dream never died. Many continued to believe monowheel cars are the future of transport. Countless designs were drawn up, and many more prototypes created. So perhaps one day we can correct this historical injustice.