1961 Ford Gyron - AllCarIndex

The Gyron, a delta-shaped vehicle envisioning two running wheels instead of the usual four, will make its public debut tomorrow (April 1) at the International Automobile Show in New York.

Ford Motor Company advanced stylists, who developed the car, believe that its unique shape, together with the two-wheel concept, might lend itself in the future to the use of a gyroscope lor stabilization.

George W. Walker, Ford vice president and director of styling, describes the car as "an outstanding example of the visioneering that is the heart of progressive automotive styling."

The combination of a delta shape and gyroscopic stabilization, he adds, would "sever another link between automobiles and the carriages that preceded them.

"Despite the fact that tremendous changes and improvements in car styling and design have taken place during this century," Walker says, "one aspect of the automobile has been largely unchanged:    it has remained basically a rectangular

object with a wheel at each corner. In offering the prospect of adequate stability without being restricted to this four-wheel approach, the Gyron exposes countless possibilities to the imagination of the industry."

The Gyron is 209 inches long, 44.85 inches high, 86 Inches wide and has a road clearance of 6.5 inches.

Although the car is not operable in its present form, Ford stylists have been assured that a gyroscope no larger than two feet in diameter would be sufficient to stabilize the vehicle on its two wheels set in tandem. Two small outrigger wheels toward the rear and on each side of the car are retractable.

They could be lowered automatically to balance the vehicle when the gyro was Inactive or until it had gained enough momentum to provide stability.

The stylists believe the presence of a gyro would enable the car to be banked into turns. The two-wheels-in-tandem concept, they feel, could tend to equalize suspension forces, offer a lower coefficient of drag and reduce underbody interference.

Potentially high aerodynamic efficiency is suggested in the Gyron exterior, which offers an extremely low silhouette centering around a plastic canopy covering the passenger compartment. The shape and silhouette. Walker notes, also suggest "the possible use of new power sources, such as fuel cells."

The car accommodates two people in contoured seats, which support not only the head and back but the upper part of the legs as well. A projectile-shaped console separates the seats and houses controls for the canopy, air conditioning, the gyro and adjustable foot bars that extend at right angles from the console.

Elimination of the steering wheel is made possible through the use of a steering dial with separate rings for automatic speed and steering control.

This dial, combined with Individual accelerator and brake pads on each foot bar, permits steering from either seat.

The growing influence of "machines that think like humans" is apparent in the console in the ten-button panel that supposedly would control a built-in computer. Such a system, Ford advanced stylists speculate, might enable a motorist of the future to "program" a Journey on a non-stop expressway.

The motorist, they say, might be able to press one button to Indicate the distance between any two points, another to indicate starting time, a third to Indicate speed, and a fourth to estimate his time of arrival.

Both time of arrival and speed would be shown in the Gyron on a viewing screen in the front of the passenger compartment. The greater portion of the screen would serve as a "snooperscope" which, thanks to infra-red rays, might picture clearly the road conditions ahead, either at night or during the day, and regardless of fog or other Inclement weather.

Communication between individuals Inside the Gyron and others outside the car might be effected by means of a cordless telephone with a numbered pushbutton dial set into the earpiece, and a mouthpiece at the other end. The instrument is mounted on a vertical panel at the rear of the console.

"We don't presume to offer solutions to all of the problems that would have to be solved before a car of this kind could be built in any appreciable numbers," Walker says, "its present cost alone makes it impractical for production, either now or in the foreseeable future. However, we feel that our experimentation with this shape permits us a certain license to speculate on the innovations that such a shape might lead to."