Tritan A2 Aerocar 1985

[Famine]

A little-known and short-lived brand, Tritan Ventures Inc was founded by Douglas and James Amick in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1984, made precisely 11 cars, and then vanished without a trace. The father and son duo was seemingly obsessed with aerodynamic efficiency, and the A2 was by far its biggest success and most famous vehicle.

James Amick was an aeronautical engineer, and in the 1960s created the "Windmobile" - apparently originally designed as an iceboat for his teenage son Douglas, but eventually having wheels fitted. This three-wheeled spaceship, with its high "Amick Arch", was designed to literally sail and could achieve forward speeds up to five times faster than an incident crosswind. It also had two steering wheels, with one steering the front wheel and the other changing the orientation of the entire body, independent of the direction of travel, to make better use of the wind. The trike set a land sailing record at almost 51mph at Roach Dry Lake, Nevada, in 1974.

Developed into the Tecumseh Products DJ-1 Windmobile, the car now sported two 1.5hp electric motors - one for each wheel, and for when the wind wasn't blowing - and was clocked at 60mph at Bonneville.

The car caught the eye of an engineering team in Hawaii, who came up with the idea of covering the Arch with solar panels. Preceded by the Tritan (as the company was now called) A4 Solitair, the car morphed into the John Paul Mitchell Systems "Mana La" ("Power of the Sun).

Created by philanthropists John Paul DeJoria and Paul Mitchell and designed by Douglas Amick - but not officially an Amick vehicle - it was entered into the first World Solar Challenge in 1987. Despite early promise and relatively impressive pace, it retired on the first day of the 3,000km drive from Darwin to Adelaide with battery issues. This car is now in the Petersen Museum.

Meanwhile the Amicks had been developing the original DJ-1 into something a bit more car-like, debuting the Tritan A-135 (or Tritan Aero 135) in the mid-1970s. The only design from the stable not to feature the Arch, the A-135 featured a drag coefficient of 0.135 (yes, hence the name) and a now familiar-looking canopy - though side-opening in this version.

Now powered by a rear-mounted lawnmower engine, good for 14hp, the A-135 could reach the heady heights of 66mph, while still seeing some benefits from crosswinds; the Amicks reckoned that a strong enough crosswind (but not enough to tip it over, as happened to the DJ-1) could entirely negate drag from forward motion.

The design reached its final form in 1984, with the A2. This saw the full Amick Arch return, a redesigned, forward-sliding canopy, and a far less agricultural engine in the shape of a Wankel-esque rotary from Israeli firm Syvaro: a 440cc single-rotor with 30hp on tap.

And, as you can see, corporate sponsorship. Somehow, Domino's - also an Ann Arbor concern - caught wind of the A2 and, deciding that it would make for a brilliant pizza delivery vehicle for some reason, placed an order for ten of them, making the A2 the only Amick vehicle to not be a one-off.

That, of course, meant making the A2 fully road legal and you can probably spot the light pods (very DeltaWing) and door mirrors. As a three-wheeler, drivers needed a motorbike licence to drive the A2, and the rear seat (yes, it had one) was removed in order that a Domino's pizza heater could be installed to get your pie to you, hot, in 30 minutes or less.

Sadly, despite plans to introduce the A2 nationwide, Domino's didn't progress beyond the original ten vehicles. It's not wholly clear why, as the car was capable enough - performance wasn't stellar, at 17s to 60mph and a top speed of 95mph - and with the 0.150 Cd it was plenty fuel efficient. That said, at a reported $15,000 a time and the previous A-135's sketchy engineering (panned by Car & Driver in 1982 as "An Answer to a Question That Nobody's Asking") courtesy of a laser-focus on efficiency at all costs, it's not too hard to imagine why.

Only seven of the original ten still exist, with reportedly only a handful of them still in roadworthy condition. Car #10 sold at auction in 2019 for $44,800, though subsequent sales haven't been quite so robust - $25,500 for #9 (with no engine) in December 2023, and $32,000 for an unknown vehicle (probably #5; #6 was available in 2019 in a worse state) in November 2023. Car #7, with a 670cc V-Twin engine (but no rear lights, so not road legal) is actually up for auction at BAT now...

Just imagine it with a 13B-swap in Gran Turismo

Then recall that it has no front brakes at all.