Row, row, row your car.

August 23, 2006 3:05 AM

HumanCar (note: 6.7mb WMV) row, row, row your car... but it's telling that they show it going downhill, but not up. And will you need 3 friends whenever you need to run to the store? More videos, and information here.
posted by crunchland (12 comments total)

I can't see grandma getting in to one of these things. It looks like it might be fun to play with, though.
posted by crunchland at 3:06 AM on August 23, 2006

What would be really cool is some kind of human powered motorcycle. That would be just awesome.
posted by [expletive deleted] at 3:38 AM on August 23, 2006

[expletive deleted]: they're starting to come up with these now, but I think if they let you keep your hands and arms fixed and focussed on steering and let you use an action a bit more like running it could work a lot better.
posted by edd at 3:49 AM on August 23, 2006

I think I liked this product better when it was called the handcar.

The bike in edd's link would be better suited to a track course, as it'd be hard to anticipate close range obstructions at higher speeds. One can also imagine the reactions of passerby as they saw one of those...perpetual motion machines glide past.
posted by Smart Dalek at 4:44 AM on August 23, 2006

These have been around forever.
posted by HuronBob at 5:13 AM on August 23, 2006

The video has them going downhill a lot. Let's see them do a steady hors categorie. For now I'll stick with my bigwheel.
posted by yeti at 5:30 AM on August 23, 2006

Does one person steer, or is it a democracy of direction with all the passengers?
posted by Balisong at 6:31 AM on August 23, 2006

These just look heavy. Plus, you have to have three friends to use it. Riiiight.
posted by craniac at 7:12 AM on August 23, 2006

No. Just no. For a variety of reasons.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 7:39 AM on August 23, 2006

Oh man, that Bryce3D shit in the video is hillarious. What compelled them to include that? And the plans for elevated tracks to run these things on? Honestly. This would be a joke if it wasn't so pathetic.

The car itself, however, could be a neat little toy, and there might be a niche market for these things, but thinking that these are somehow a serious transportation solution is delusional.

Let's take a bicycle, make it heavier, more complicated, with a radically inefficient drive mechanism, and then make it impossible to use alone. Wow, what a concept. Where's fixedgear to lay the smackdown on these fools?
posted by [expletive deleted] at 8:10 AM on August 23, 2006

I know the person behind Humancar or, at least the son of the engineer, and he is as odd as the Humancar itself.
posted by bz at 2:55 PM on August 23, 2006

Operates more like an Irish Mail than a handcar.
posted by Carbolic at 3:09 PM on August 23, 2006