Post Sale Update: sold for $850 after one bid on eBay in Aguanga, California.
In February of 1980, Mechanix Illustrated magazine featured the design for an electric commuter kit three-wheeler that the consumer was supposed to put together him or herself. Supposedly 30k plans were sold…but who knows how many were actually built. One of them was used in the movie Total Recall – though it was converted to four wheels for that and frankly when you think of “three things” in Total Recall, you sure as hell don’t think of a car.
You can actually still buy a Trimuter, though it’s a new “HP3” plan that also includes a copy of the original plans. The original design was capable of either utilizing an electric motor with ten 6V batteries or a 16 hp Briggs & Stratton gas-powered twin.
This example (VIN: CA387490) is currently engine-less, though it was last run with a Honda CB360 motor. It will need some work but I still felt like I had to share it because of how odd and rare it is. The seller states that it was in a Netflix show called Rust to Riches. Find this Trimuter for sale in Aguanga, California with an unmet opening bid of $850 here on eBay.