[DD]

A round bubble car with the driving seat in the middle and passengers around the outside. The driving wheel and engine are in the centre. There are 3 or possibly 4 wheels on the perifery which pivot like on a shopping trolly. There is no reverse only forwards but the car can go in any direction (360 degrees manoeverability) because of the unique centre driving wheel which is in fact a large ball. The drivers seat moves around the ball to point the car in different directions. It is the ultimate smart car.

Think of the benefits: Parking is great simply poing the car at the curb and drive straight in. No more 3 point turns, 360 degree visibility and many more.

Reward: the first prototype

[Steve]

Just wondering if the driver is buffered by his passengers whether or not it'll advance responsible driving.

[Rishi]

A prototype of such a car was made years back as a student project at one of the design schools in the US. It was a transparent bubble (at least the top three quarters or so was). It had a true four wheel drive in the sense that each wheel was driven by a separate electric motor. It could move in any direction and even spin on its own axis. Parking was indeed a snap. The thing just moved side ways to the curb.

Unfortunately, it just remained a protoype.

Rishi