The People Powered Vehicle, or PPV, was a two-person pedal-powered car introduced in the United States during the oil crisis of the early 1970s. Manufactured by EVI of Sterling Heights, Michigan, it sold for less than $400. Although it offered luggage space and was marketed as a fun and practical vehicle, it offered limited weather protection and was not fast enough to substitute for a car. The PPV may be considered the forerunner of the modern velomobile. This tricycle was manufactured with a three-speed, floor shift, open type transmission with a single-wheel drive. Either the driver or the passenger could pedal independently or as a team. Reverse was accomplished by reaching outside and turning one of the rear wheels by hand. At one time, a rear-hinged, surrey top was available. Most were manufactured with a forest green bottom and a white hood. Red or yellow bottoms with white tops were also offered. Sometimes bicycle accessories were added, e.g. squeeze bulb horn and a rear view mirror. An upgraded version of this vehicle is currently (2011) being offered by the International Surrey Company Ltd. under the trade name Impello.
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A PPV at a Human-Powered Vehicle rally
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A restored PPV
Famous quotes containing the words people and/or vehicle:
“The mind can make
Substance, and people planets of its own
With beings brighter than have been, and give
A breath to forms which can outlive all flesh.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“If you would learn to write, ‘t is in the street you must learn it. Both for the vehicle and for the aims of fine arts you must frequent the public square. The people, and not the college, is the writer’s home.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)