Commutamatic IV

microfurthur

The Lambro three-wheeler

Last updated October 22, 2006

This is the story of microfurthur the TriHy.
Katie E., a former student of mine, came up with "TriHy" while we were out having coffee the other day (in June '05) and figuring out how we were going to keep people moving while sparing the Earth some CO2. ("Amory Lovins is *The Man!*")

microfurthur came up as a name when I was telling my daughter a bedtime story that included The Merry Pranksters and their schoolbus, Further. Note that the famous schoolbus bore the name "Further" and "Furthur".  The latter was the choice when the vehicle made it's way to Mexico to visit a fugitive Neal Cassady... this seems to be the special spelling that has stuck.

TriHy - before we got working

It started when friend Jay H. had a Lambro 550 left over... he bought this one for its engine. With the engine removed (even before that) it was a little rough, but it made a great candidate for an electric. In the autumn of 2003, one of my students and I began to build battery racks and a motor and transmission mounts for it. In the autumn of 2004, another student and  continued working on it.
Will M.

Will M. (left) and I, autumn 2003. The "MWM" painted on the vehicle is for Max-Will Motors, our putative car company.

Brian W.

Brian W. (driving) and me, December, 2004, making the first test drive. Auspiciously, Will (then a freshman in college) was on hand for this historic event. Brian went off to M.I.T. in the fall of 2005.

Then, this spring, as school gave way to the relative freedom of summer, I got really cranking. Here's the story, in installments.

I just remembered that I used to own the Lambro Jay H. is restoring, and now I own the Lambro he used to own. See, odd vehicles have to move around a little to find not just a good home, but exactly the right home. We are only caretakers for these time travelers, after all. Plus, symmetry. Always symmetry.

A suite of shots from Microcar and Minicar Day 2005.
microfurthur in front of the MoT at Larz Andreson Park The nice people at the Museum of Transportation in Brookline gave me an electron pipe (also known as an extension cord) to a couple of kW-h worth of charge so that I could give rides at the show.
microfurthur at the Minicar and Microcar Classic, July 2005 Here's the whole rig at Gould's Microcar and Minicar Classic, in July of 2005.
trailering in to the M&M Classic I trailered the whole rig from the outer 'burbs to the inner for the Microcar Class.
trailering in to the M&M Classic I threw the plywood body together when the forecast called for rain for Microcar Day. The seat is from a Dodge minivan.... it has cup holders that pull out as a drawer. That's right: cup holders.
Through the door you can see the control "deck," with all the realys, the audio amp, charger port, etc. trailering in to the M&M Classic; the control deck
trailering in to the M&M Classic; the toolbox, back seat, and speakers Under the back seat are the second pair of speakers and my toolbox.
The paintjob by my wife and daughter. So excellent! microfurthur in front of the carriage house, Larz Anderson Park


 
 What's next? ALUMINUM! I am going to make the back of the three-wheeler and the trailer *both* look like the old teardrop trailers popular in the 30s and 40s. Kinda like these...

sketch of a terdrop trailer someone building a teardrop trailer a BMW Isetta with a teardrop trailer

Showing at the 4th Annual AltWheels Festival outside of Boston, September 2006.

side view Teardrop from the side. 

right rear quarter view Teardrop, rear right quarter view.

two drivers Two drivers.

I've been linked to by John B. at "Tiny Tears" Teardrop Trailers, a great resource for teardrop trailer builders and buffs, 10/2006.


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