Honda may be looking to take on the Hoveround in the competitive personal mobility segment. The company unveiled its E-Canopy three-wheeled scooter at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show. Honda envisions the all-electric trike primarily for personal use, though the large optional trunk may also make the vehicle ideal for small delivery businesses that may need to cover short distances. The large, plexiglass windscreen should help keep the driver fairly dry in light weather, though the lack of passenger seating may be a problem should the E-Canopy ever make it to production.

We can already see roving gangs of overweight Americans whirring their way to the local Golden Arches before prowling the aisles of their favorite box stores on their Honda Hoveround E-Canopy.

Honda E-Canopy is mobility minded trike originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Once upon a way back when, a few scant patent drawings of a Harley-Davidson leaning trike made their way to the web. Apparently, the company went so far as to produce a few prototypes under the codename Penster. The trikes were penned by none other than legendary custom car builder John Buttera, and despite the inherent awkwardness of the trike design, the Penster looks pretty good. For reasons that remain unclear, the design was never given the go-ahead for production. Instead, Harley buyers with a heart for three wheels wound up with the Tri-Glide.

Not surprisingly, the Penster makes use of a 45-degree air-cooled V-Twin for its propulsion, though details on exactly how the leaning mechanism works are still scant. These prototypes were hewn in 2006 and now reside in the Harley-Davidson museum. They stand out as an impressive piece of forward thinking from a company that holds steadfast to its traditions.

Harley-Davidson shows off Penster leaning trike prototypes originally appeared on Autoblog 5.0 on Thu, 04 Aug 2011 17:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When we think Reliant Robin, we reminisce of Jeremy Clarkson dedicating an entire segment on Top Gear to rolling one as many times as possible in under eight minutes. But while Clarkson made rolling the Robin look about as easy as drinking a glass of water, it turns out that actual owners of the three-wheeled Reliant are far less likely to wreck their rides.

The Mirror reports that only 11 out of 1,174 Reliant owners have submitted a claim to their insurance company. That’s just .9 percent of owners, which compares very favorably to the 7.3 percent average in the UK. Of course, this statistic doesn’t make the Robin the poster child for safe motoring. On the contrary, many Robin owners drive their motorized trikes with the utmost care because they can flip so readily. And many others treat their vehicle as a classic car, which is a good idea considering that there aren’t many left on the road. Similar findings were uncovered when the seven million insurance claims revealed that Italian exotics, Bentleys and Aston Martins were also very short on claims.

Hit the jump to watch Clarkson roll the Robin one more time. We can never get enough of this bit.

Continue reading Reliant Robin trike drivers safest on the road [w/video]

Reliant Robin trike drivers safest on the road [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 14 Jun 2011 09:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Some creations out there defy description, walking the thin line between absurdity and awesome toed by the likes of the Volkswagen Type II flatbed and the Tatra T87. This is one such machine. Branded “Triation” by its wayward creator, this ride seemingly mates all the hatefulness of the Chevrolet Celebrity with a propensity for rollovers typically enjoyed only by the Reliant Robin. You see, the Triation uses a Celebrity’s 2.5-liter four-cylinder to push itself down the road.

Why? You’d be better off spending your time pondering why there are no indigo skittles.

Along with three years of custom fabrication work, this project makes use of enough fiberglass to sustain the aftermarket body kit industry for posterity. The seller claims that the Triation has spent most of its life garaged since it needs a clutch. If the thought of fiberglass splinters and malaise-era reliability have you licking your chops, you’d better get on it. This machine is up to ,700 with the reserve not met and a few hours left on the auction.

eBay Find of the Day: Chevy Citation trike can’t decide which way to go originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 14 May 2011 12:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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