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 Designer Alex Tremulis maintained over his decades-long career that
streamlining and aerodynamics provided the solutions to many a problem
faced by automotive designers and engineers. It wasn't until after Ford
gave him the boot, however, that he could focus on applying his
then-radical ideas to a practical project, a streamlined motorcycle that
would end up setting the world's land speed record for two-wheelers at
more than 240 MPH.
More than 40 years later, that same bike, the Gyronaut X-1, remains
in the hands of the man who drove it to that record and is undergoing a
full restoration, with plans to return it to Bonneville, the place where
it was conceived and proved.
The story of the Gyronaut project begins in one place - Detroit - but with three men pursuing two different goals. Tremulis, who had worked at Ford as a designer in various roles since 1952,
had hit upon the ultimate idea in streamlining: To reduce a vehicle's
front surface area, it needed two wheels instead of four. A two-wheeled
automobile would need a gyroscope to remain stable and upright, he
reasoned, so he began the resulting Gyron concept car to test out those
ideas. While the Gyron would be built as a show car, introduced in 1961,
it would use a pair of outrigger wheels rather than a gyroscope to
remain upright and its development process would create plenty of
friction between Tremulis and his superiors, ultimately leading to his
separation from Ford in February 1963.
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