Concept car of the month - 1961 Ford Gyron

|THE DEN|

In 1961, Ford Motor Company unveiled the Gyron concept automobile. The two-wheeled car was supposed to be kept upright by a gyroscope, but the technology was too pricey for a display car.

Instead, the fiberglass Gyron employed outrigger wheels to maintain balance while being propelled at 5 mph by an electric motor. In the 1962 Ford Rotunda fire, the Gyron was completely destroyed.

Alex Tremulis, the vehicle's creator – whose primary interest was aerodynamics – believed his design for a two-wheeled gyroscopically balanced car would be the pinnacle of automotive aerodynamics. "To put it another way, Tremulis intended the Gyron to be a true breakthrough that would affect all future automobile design."

The two-wheel drive Gyron was never intended to be a production car, but rather a research project. The passengers are seated side by side, and gyroscopes keep the vehicle upright while traveling.

Dayton's cabin had a center-mounted dial that controlled both speed and direction, potentially allowing either of the two occupants to drive the car. Electric motors propelled the full- size fiberglass concept car to a top speed of mere 5 MPH. So you can’t expect to send it around the corner but this was a car made to the future potential of Ford.

Even though the Gyron never reached the phase of production it definitely left an impact on the car community and we hope to see more such innovation by Ford. Bringing this beauty back might be too much to ask but we’d love to see something like this on the road in the future!