Waching daily Nov 3 2017

● From the invention of the wheel to interplanetary spacecraft, we've tried just about every

method of getting from A to B. However, did we always get it right?

And were some designs better left on the drawing board?

Here are the fifteen dumbest vehicles ever.

15 - , Reliant Robin ● British viewers will recognise this three-wheeled

terror from Only Fools and Horses, while others may know the Reliant Robin from Mr Bean.

First produced in 1973, the car looks incredibly unstable, which is perhaps why it only sold

well in the UK.

The reason for removing a wheel, it seems, is because drivers only needed a motorcycle

licence to drive one.

You also need a strong stomach, in my opinion.

14 - ,USS Massachusetts ● In 1890, the US Navy requested 35 battleships

for the nation's defence.

Congress compromised and agreed to make three ships, covered in as much weaponry as possible.

The result was the USS Massachusetts BB2, whose guns weighed over 500 tonnes, and if

they all pointed in the same direction, half the boat would sink.

It was decommissioned shortly after being built, and suffering a number of accidents.

It now lies at the bottom of the sea in Florida.

13 - , Hummer H2 ● The perfect car for an insecure man with

something to prove, the Hummer H2 is a flashy sports utility truck with one of the worst

fuel efficiency ratings ever.

Getting as little as 9 miles to the gallon, you'd be better off burning dollar bills

as fuel.

The H2 drove nothing like the Humvy off-road vehicles, had tiny windows and very low ceilings.

After seven years on the market, this gas guzzler's sales had dropped to just 600

annually.

12 - , Chinese Straddling Bus ● In 2010, designers in Beijing revealed

the design of a bus that could drive over traffic, with raised sides that allowed cars

to pass underneath like a tunnel.

Despite numerous concerns, including how freaked out drivers would be if a huge bus drove over

them, the Chinese city of Qinhuangdao [/ching-hwang-dao/] installed tracks for the bus, hopeful for

further investment.

But the government declared the project a scam in 2017 and it now lies rusting in a

warehouse.

11 - , The Delorean ● Everyone recognises the iconic Delorean

DMC-12 from the Back To The Future movie franchise, but production of the Delorean company's

only model had started four years before the first film came out.

The cars were expensive, at over $60,000 in today's money, and the gimmicky wing doors

solved a problem that never existed, and possibly put a dent in many garage ceilings.

The company went bankrupt after only a couple years of production.

10 - , The Christmas Bullet ● Dr William Whitney Christmas had no experience

in designing, building or flying aircraft, yet he managed to convince investors, namely

his brothers, to finance the project of building an aeroplane to kidnap the German Kaiser in

World War One.

The wooden plane produced as a result lacked struts that supported its wings, allowing

them to flap like a bird's.

The test flight in 1919 crashed and killed the pilot, but Christmas kept marketing it,

conducting a second fatal test months later.

9 - , Chevrolet SSR ● Would you like a pickup truck, a convertible

sports car, and a retro 50s classic car?

What about all rolled into one?

In 2004 Chevy made no one's dream come true by releasing the SSR, one of the ugliest automobiles

ever to cruise America's roads.

The Chevy SSR shook dramatically when the top was down, and looked even more ridiculous

with the top up.

20,000 of these monstrosities were sold until production ceased in 2006.

8 - , The Sinclair C5 ● In 1985, successful British computer company

Sinclair decided to try their hand in the electric car market, making the Sinclair C5,

which even looked like a computer.

The handlebars were under the knees of the rider, the battery lasted less than 20 miles,

the motor was prone to overheating and the riders were unprotected from rain or other

vehicles' exhaust fumes.

Journalists at the launch of the C5 quickly discovered all of these flaws and the vehicle

was a colossal failure.

7 - , Hydrogen Airships ● The 1920s and 30s was the heyday for airships.

Companies such as the German Zeppelin flew all over the world in giant, gas-filled balloons.

Many of these dirigible balloons used helium, which is relatively stable, but a large proportion

were filled with the lighter hydrogen, an explosively flammable gas.

Most famous of these was the Hindenburg, which exploded in 1937, killing its passengers and

putting an end to the airship era.

6 - , Fliz Bike ● Riding a bicycle is a fast and easy alterative

to walking.

So it does seem strange that a German team of designers would make a bike which is powered

by walking or running.

The rider is suspended from a harness that hangs of an arch-shaped frame, and pushes

the bike by running with their dangling legs, like a baby in a bouncer.

The Fliz bike is for cyclists who don't think they look dorky enough yet.

5 - , Caponi CA 60 ● From the shores of lake Maggiore [/ma-JOr-rey/]

in Italy in 1921, engineers from the Caproni aviation company watched as their prototype

transatlantic passenger aircraft crashed into the water.

The ridiculous construction featured nine wings, eight engines and a train-sized carriage

for 100 travellers.

The head of the Caproni company arrived to see the gigantic wreckage fall apart as it

was towed to shore.

Further work on the CA 60 was suspended and the company went back to normal-sized planes.

4 - , The Bob Semple Tank ● During World War Two, New Zealand feared

invasion from the Japanese and lacked the support to defend themselves.

So Bob Semple, minister for public works, set about designing a way to convert the country's

farming tractors into armoured fighting machines.

The result was a top-heavy, corrugated metal sheet absurdity that had no cannon, but rather

six machine guns.

It was four metres tall, weighed 25 tonnes and travelled at 5 miles per hour.

Luckily New Zealand was never invaded.

3 - , Ford Pinto ● A sleek and stylish appearance, advanced

steering, compact design, the Ford Pinto sold well after its introduction in 1970.

However, a genius designer had positioned the fuel tank close to the flimsy rear bumper,

meaning that a slight knock from behind, and your new car was likely to go up in a ball

of flames.

The Ford company knew about the danger from early on, but they deemed the cost of recall

and repair too high to be worth saving a few lives.

2 - , Horsey Horseless ● At the turn of the 20th Century, the roads

were changing.

Horses were losing their jobs as noisy automobiles were taking over.

In order to ease the transition, and to stop frightening the horses, Michigan inventor

Uriah Smith designed a car with a fake horse's head.

Smith hoped that real horses would be less spooked by a familiar face, and this might

sound like a good idea, except that the head also doubled as a fuel tank, which is a terrifying

prospect.

1 - , HZ1 Aerocycle ● The American army in the 1950s obviously

decided that the helicopter was far too safe, so they developed a one-man personal chopper

where the pilot stood on a tiny platform above the rotating blades.

The vehicle was intended to be operated by an untrained soldier after only 20 minutes

of instruction, but testing determined not only that this was unlikely, but also that

the flying machine had a habit of smashing into rocks, breaking the rotors and crashing.