Cars without wheels, but over 500 km/h fast
05/30/2011
Dr. Andrew Kucher had big things in mind when he presented the Levacar Mach 1 to the public at the Ford Rutunda, the exhibition hall in Dearborn, in 1959.
Instead of wheels, the Levacar was to glide on a cushion of compressed air and reach top speeds with compressed air propulsion. Kucher had already been working on this principle for over thirty years. Although the model on display only managed 25 km/h, he was already working on a six- to eight-seater hovercraft that would reach 300 km/h , and his vision already included interurban connecting vehicles that could travel at speeds of up to 800 km/h. The experimental vehicle on display required 15 hp to take off and a further 1.5 hp to travel at 25 km/h.
Obviously, the later attempts were less successful and the conditions outside the Ford premises were less influenceable, because we are still waiting for these neat little post-transport vehicles today.
