SOLVED: Djetset #160 - Francesca, The Little Green Car by Thomas A. Troszak

[Djetset]

Three wheels on this vehicle; one point on offer for the answer.

[Djetset]

Get your motor running Experts...

[Djetset]

Pros...

[Paul Jaray]

Any front view available?

[Djetset]

I can't find a front view with any bodywork, but here is a picture of the chassis if this helps.

[guido66]

It looks an afwul lot like this one

[Djetset]

I agree, it does look similar, but not quite the same!  Do you know the name of this creation?

[guido66]

No, only that is built by someone named Harlow 

[Djetset]

Ah, the three-wheeler in my puzzle was not made by a (Mr) Harlow!

[Djetset]

The Black Hole cometh!

[Djetset]

The Black Hole cometh, but the car doesn't go-eth...

[Oguerrerob]

I'm not sure if it's the same but it does look similar. Cyclecar built by Mr Soldé of Prunay-sous-Ablis BMW R51 front end of a 4cv Renault

[jotage21]

Trimax?

[Djetset]

Sorry, but neiither a Trimax, nor that rather splendid machine by Mr Solde.  Thanks for reviving this puzzle though which is now celebrating its second birthday!

[Otto Puzzell]

It's called "Francesca, The Little Green Car". It was built by Thomas  A. Troszak of Asheville, North Carolina.,

The builder says:

"Originally inspired by a book about the Morgan 3-wheelers, Francesca was intended to be a prototype three wheeled car, but was so successful that essentially nothing has been changed since she hit the road in July 1993. Now, more than 70,000 miles later she is still going strong.

I had not recalled ever seeing a three-wheeled car in person, and in fact, my first response to the appearance of the Morgans was "weird, but cool". Once I started looking around for more information about three wheelers, I became fully enthusiastic about constructing my own car that would combine the open-air thrill of motorcycling with the relative safety and comfort of sitting in a seat with a seat belt, and the ability to haul things like a refrigerator dolly or portable welder when necessary.

Francesca took about three weeks to build, and most of that time was spent trying to extend (and understand) the Japanese wiring of the motorcycle. Did you know there are wiring connections buried in a Japanese motorcycle main wiring harness that are merely twisted together and taped? Seemed kind of cheesy to me, but there they were...

Many of the other three wheel designs for cars that I have seen have copied the Morgan idea of an air cooled motor out front, with a long drive shaft, etc... I chose to avoid that route simply because I wanted to get out on the road and have fun driving as soon as possible. So basically, all we have here is a custom built "car" being pushed by an essentially intact unmodified Japanese motorcycle. I have had no trouble whatsoever with the finished product, so I believe that my reasoning has been proven sound. If it ain't broke, don't re-engineer it, I always say."

[Otto Puzzell]

Hey, Djetset, over here! 

[Djetset]

Sorry for the slow reply Otto, but been off-line for a while.  As this car has been here for so long, I can not immediately lay my hands on the correct information at the moment, so I will keep this locked to you until I find my file.  Watch this space...

[Otto Puzzell]

PM sent with source info

[Djetset]

Well done Otto, after 2.5 years this one has finally been solved.  As it's been here so long, I will award you two points for cracking it. 

[Otto Puzzell]

Yay! 

Thank you for your generosity .

[Otto Puzzell]

Note: this puzzle was solved using Google's "Search by Image" feature:

http://www.google.com/insidesearch/searchbyimage.html

I believe I have scored 30-40 points using this tool. I know other AutoPuzzles members have been using this search tool, as well. As solving puzzles in this manner is not in the spirit of AutoPuzzles, I have deleted 100 points from my total, and have banned myself from answering any other puzzles for a period of one month.

I will let the other AutoPuzzles members how have used this tool wrestles with their own consciences.