I'm sure some of the bicycle geeks know about these, but I'd never seen them before yesterday. At our Village Memorial day parade there was this cool three wheel two seat side by side recumbant bike. I snapped a pic and ran into the parade for a quick chat. He said it was a PPV or People Powered Vehicle launched in the gas crisis of the early 70's. Wiki tells me they were built locally here in SE Michigan. supposedly they are back in production by International Surrey Company as the Impello but non of the links seem to work. Looks like old ones come up from time to time for $100 - $1,000. If I could find a good body locally for $100 I'd grab it. Too heavy to be much real use, but for fun, possibly with an electric assist hub it would be awesome.
This is the one I saw.
mtn
MegaDork
5/30/17 10:25 a.m.
Looks cool, but I think you have a lot of work to do before you can ride one. It looks like he is wearing a hat, and a beard. So go find a hat and ditch the razor.
note the NASA sticker on the windscreen
I think this PPV looks like more fun. (Random, just how my brain works when I hear something)
My parents bought one of them new, I suppose that was in about 1976. It was the same green and white color combination as the one you saw (they came in other colors like yellow and red.) My mother had this idea she'd get my dad out in it for some exercise but they only used it a few times. On the other hand, I drove the heck out of the thing. It was great fun - with two people in it, they were really pretty easy to pedal. They had three speeds, with a stick shift in between the seats. One big design fail was there was only a single brake on the front wheel, so you had to anticipate your stops. Of course, the inherent design of a three wheel vehicle meant they could tip over on turns, especially if you didn't have a passenger for equal ballast side-to-side - I remember one night a buddy and I took the PPV out for a ride after having a few beers and I rolled the thing on a hard corner. 
I think one of my nephews still has the thing, stashed in a shed someplace.
In reply to mtn:
I am plenty qualified already then
slefain
PowerDork
5/30/17 12:01 p.m.
Adrian_Thompson wrote:
Too heavy to be much real use, but for fun, possibly with an electric assist hub it would be awesome.
I really really REALLY want to build a cyclecar using electric bike hub powered wheels.
Don't have a PPV but do have two tadpole recumbent trikes. They have two wheels for steering, one in the back for power. Not total racers, fairly upright seating. More work on hills, even with 24 speeds. But really fast going down. Can get them up on two wheels going around a corner but really have to try and no where near tipping over. We love them, had problems with numb hands ( and other unmentionable areas) riding regular bikes. However we NEVER ride them on the street. Strictly bike path vehicles, but that is the only riding we do anymore. What you were looking at might be fun for a few minutes, but slow and a lot of work.
porschenut wrote:
What you were looking at might be fun for a few minutes, but slow and a lot of work.
As I mentioned earlier I have first hand experience with the PPV. They weren't all that hard to drive, and could go pretty fast as long as you had two passengers. Maybe not up to the standard of a modern recumbent but they were alright for 1970s technology. Comparing the two is kind of missing the point...it's like saying a vintage car you drive for fun isn't as good as your modern daily driver.
I like them the other way.
I've always wanted to build an off roader with four wheels, independent suspension with lots of articulation and 4wd. I have the build all sketched out in my mind. I just lack the tools and a place to ride it.
jere
HalfDork
6/1/17 8:13 p.m.
Been slightly obsessing about the tadpole variety this last two weeks.
50mph e-trike
$25 diy tadpole
jere wrote:
50mph e-trike
Well berkeley...add that to the list of things I didn't know I needed! 
Holy berkeleying 30 minute deep rabbit hole, that link...
I saw that on Monday as well Adrian. I was on the other side of Beverly Rd down a few blocks.
My best friends parents had one of those when we were kids. I still remember his Dad rolling through the neighbor hood in it. Hadn't seen one since then.
jere wrote:
Been slightly obsessing about the tadpole variety this last two weeks.
50mph e-trike
I just wasted far too many minutes searching for used tadpole trikes.
I built this tadpole trike almost ten years ago for under 100$.
<img src="
" />
I was made from a used bike I bought at a yard sale, two NT wheels with better bearings, a cheapo mountain bike disk brake kit and the seat was made from the fabric of a broken sunshade.
I really enjoy it on flat cycle paths. Any grade is a pain. But I never feel the wind and your wrists and butt don't get tired.
