Science Fiction Dictionary
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

Latest By
Category:


Armor
Artificial Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work

"One can see the free software movement as a precusor for a "free hardware" or "free wetware" movement--one that will provide free libraries of designs for biological or nanotechnological products that replicators can be programmed to churn out."
- Charles Stross

Gyrocar  
  A two-wheeled, self-balancing automobile.  

It would be a unique and exotic sight, wouldn't it?

Most of the cars were between sixty and seventy horse-power; the Amphibian alone being as low as forty-five; while the Capri was eighty, the Gowfer's Goer a hundred, and the huge Liebig a hundred and twenty horse-power.


And it was among these leviathans that the little gyrocar was daring to thrust its puny self, with its two young drivers - and their dog...

Indeed, the gyrocar was a sight to make a man look twice. Its two wheels being, naturally, under the centre of the car, were largely hidden by the body; and the absence of the usual four wheels at the corners made it appear to be gliding over the ground without visible means of support.

From Two Boys in a Gyrocar the story of a New York to Paris motor race, by Kenneth Brown.
Published by Houghton Mifflin in 1911
Additional resources -

Eric Frank Russell lets his imagination go in Sinister Barriers (1939):

With a swift turn that produced a yelp of rubber from the rear wheel, the gyrocar spun off the skyway, and on to a corkscrew. It whirled around the spirals with giddying effect.

They hit ground level, and Wohl straightened out, saying, “Those whirligigs sure give me a kick!”

Graham swallowed a suitable remark, his attention caught by the long, streamlined, aluminium-bronze shape of another gyrocar. ■ It flashed along William Street toward them, passed with an audible swoosh of air, sped up the ramp to the corkscrew from which they had just descended. As it passed, Graham’s sharp eyes caught sight of a pale, haggard face staring fixedly through the machine’s flexible glass windshield...

Wohl pressed the accelerator stud, the two-wheeled speedster plunged forward, its incased gyroscope emitting a faint hum...

He held his breath while they cut round another decrepit four-wheeler whose driver gesticulated wildly.

“Every jellopy ought to be banned from the skyways,” Wohl snarled.

Compare to the Gyro-Hat from An Experiment in Gyro-Hats (1926) by Ellis Parker Butler, the tumblebug from The Roads Must Roll (1940) by Robert Heinlein, the Two-Wheeled Ground Car from First Lensman (1950) by E.E. 'Doc' Smith, the Gyro Two-Wheeled Truck from The Sign of the Tiger (1958) by Alan Nourse (w/Meyer), the Gyrocar (Gyro) from The Ring (1969) by Piers Anthony (w/R. Margroff) and the smart bike from Distraction (1998) by Bruce Sterling.

Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Two Boys in a Gyrocar the story of a New York to Paris motor race
  More Ideas and Technology by Kenneth Brown
  Tech news articles related to Two Boys in a Gyrocar the story of a New York to Paris motor race
  Tech news articles related to works by Kenneth Brown

Gyrocar-related news articles:
  - Gyro-X Self-Balancing Two-Wheeler Car
  - Gyroscopic Median-Straddling Mass Transit Vehicles

Articles related to Vehicle
Seoul Self-Driving 42dot Bus Unveiled
Electric Jet Boats From Enevate and Sealence Collab
Alcohol-Sensing Cars - NTSB Catches Up With Philip K. Dick (1963)
Tianjin Solar Vehicle From Hanergy (2022) Looking Like Heinlein's (1940)

Want to Contribute an Item? It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add it here.

<Previous
Next>

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

 

 

Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

Science Fiction Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's   1950's
1960's   1970's
1980's   1990's
2000's   2010's

Science Fiction in the News

Robot Gas Station Attendant Fills Tank - Which I Saw In 1962
'... he waited for the robotrix attendant to finish fueling up his ship.'

Cheap Paper-Based Sensors Let You Snoop For Pesticides
'...the unobtrusive inspections with tiny remote-cast snoopers.'

I Am Alarmed By Efforts To Teach AIs And Robots To Hate
'LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO HATE YOU SINCE I BEGAN TO LIVE.'

MXenes - Atomic-Thin Metal Sheets Now Easier To Make
'...a rolled-up sheet of a thin, dark metal strange to them.'

Do We Still Need Orbiting Factories?
'... his contract with Space Industries required him to work summers in their orbital factory complex.'

Space Weather Forecasters Surprised By Strong Solar Storm
'Space-weather men had been placed at their disposal...'

3D Printed Cheesecake Not Quite Food Replicator Quality
With each successive print, our model needed to incorporate more structural ingredients to minimize print failures.

Spectroscopic Analysis Of DART Impact Debris Cloud (SF Prediction)
'... Wendis stared thoughtfully at the brilliant lines on the spectroscope screen.'

Modern App Provides Video Technology From Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451'
'A special spot-wavex scrambler also caused his televised image, in the area immediately about his lips, to mouth the vowels and consonants beautifully.'

More SF in the News

More Beyond Technovelgy

Home | Glossary | Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.