This idea in short: A car with three or more wheels, all
arranged in a line from front to back.
You object: Steering will be horrible, since the middle
wheels will drag!
If the middle wheel(s) turn at the same time, in the same
direction, as the front wheel, but at a lesser angle, then
drag
won't happen.
You object: It will fall down!
If it has some retractable legs for when it's parked, it won't
fall down.
What about when the legs are up?
We have two systems to make the vehicle self balancing.
The first balancing system is used when the vehicle is
moving slowly, and is kept ready to act at high speeds in
case of loss of traction. By using a pair of spinning
gyroscopes mounted in motorized gimbals, and a smart
controller we can use gyroscopic precession to keep our
vehicle upright and stable.
The second balancing system is used whenever the vehicle
is moving fast enough. It works by steering all of the
vehicle's wheels leftwards or rightwards, which torques the
vehicle around the roll axis without changing the steering
angle.
This balance steering could mechanically added to the
driver's controls using differential or epicycle gears, or it
could use a steer-by-wire system.
Shape: Although not *really* required, I think it would be
cool if it were shaped like a cylinder with a rounded cone
at the front and pointed cone at the rear. And rocket fins,
so nobody thinks "wingless airplane."
Serviceability: If parking legs are strong enough to support
the entire vehicle's weight, then there should be no
problem changing tires, nor using the legs as support points
for a common two post automotive lift.
Storage: Cylinders give more interior volume, per unit of
structural material, than rectangles.
Aerodynamics: Most of the vehicle's drag will be on the tip
of the front cone, on the rear view mirrors, and the
leading tire. Every tire after the front one will be in the
slipstream of the one in front of it.
Looks: Who wouldn't want to drive a rocket car?
Towing: Tricky! If the feet of the parking legs had solid
plastic blocks on their bottoms, the vehicle could probably
be dragged up onto a flatbed tow truck. The blocks would
wear, but if towing isn't done often, it would not be that
big of a problem to replace them as needed. Alternatively,
some sort of temporary wheels just for towing could be
attached.