Francesca, The Little Green Car:
Originally
inspired by a book about the Morgan 3-wheelers, Francesca was intended to
be a prototype three wheeled car, but was so successful that essentially nothing
has been changed since she hit the road in July 1993. Now, more than 70,000
miles later she is still going strong.
I
had not recalled ever seeing a three-wheeled car in person, and in fact, my
first response to the appearance of the Morgans was "weird, but cool".
Once I started looking around for more information about three wheelers, I
became fully enthusiastic about constructing my own car that would combine
the open-air thrill of motorcycling with the relative safety and comfort of
sitting in a seat with a seat belt, and the ability to haul things like a
refrigerator dolly or portable welder when necessary.
Please
click on the thumbnails to the left to see some photos from the construction
process. Francesca took about three weeks to build, and most of that time
was spent trying to extend (and understand) the Japanese wiring of the motorcycle.
Did you know there are wiring connections buried in a Japanese motorcycle
main wiring harness that are merely twisted together and taped? Seemed kind
of cheesy to me, but there they were... Many
of the other three wheel designs for cars that I have seen have copied the
Morgan idea of an air cooled motor out front, with a long drive shaft, etc...
I chose to avoid that route simply because I wanted to get out on the road
and have fun driving as soon as possible. So basically, all we have here is
a custom built "car" being pushed by an essentially intact unmodified
Japanese motorcycle. I have had no trouble whatsoever with the finished product,
so I believe that my reasoning has been proven sound. If it ain't broke, don't
re-engineer it, I always say.
So, you want your own 3-wheeler...
I would be pleased to design and/or construct a hyper-cool three wheeled vehicle
for you. We
can start with just about any type of bike or scooter, but for the sake of
simplicity, I would prefer to stick with the water-cooled, mid-engine concept
as demonstrated here. I
can also construct a complete vehicle from scratch, using just about any type
of water cooled engine burning gasoline; or diesel engines powered by biodiesel
or straight vegetable oil.
All ideas will be considered, however, so please give me a call, or send e-mail with your dreams... I can make it happen.
Links to related sites: Here are some links to other sites related to my work and life: http://tomtroszak.com http://industrialpreservation.com http://customhammer.com http://forgingdesign.com http://threewheelcar.com http://satellitephotogallery.com
Thomas A. Troszak 47 Panola St. Asheville, NC 28801 USA Home Telephone: 828.713.7828 (please leave message with your phone number, and I will call you back anywhere in the world) Cell: 828.713.7828 (Denise Mills, she always knows where I am, and you can leave a message here as well) Fax: 828.251.1112 I am taking a short break from using e-mail due to spam, please forgive the inconvenience.All photos and text Copyright 1978-2003 Thomas A. Troszak All rights reserved.
