The Gyro-X: the car that stood up on two wheels.
A sleek red two-seater with one wheel at the front, one at the back, and a heavy spinning flywheel inside to hold it upright. It was meant to change motoring. Only one was built, it lost its gyroscope over the years, and it was rebuilt by 2017. Every fact here is linked to its source.
The short version
The Gyro-X is a two-wheeled, gyroscopically stabilised prototype car, built in 1967. Lane Motor Museum It was the idea of the car stylist Alex Tremulis and the gyroscope expert Thomas Summers. Lane Motor Museum
The pitch: two wheels instead of four meant a smaller, lighter car that could use a smaller engine, a slim body that cut wind resistance, and half as many tyres to drag along the road. Lane Motor Museum
It was promoted as reaching 125 mph on an 80 hp Mini Cooper S engine, and as swooping through 40-degree banked turns without tipping. Lane Motor Museum
Octane’s verdict, in 2026: in reality, the prototype could do none of these things. Octane, 2026
Gyro Transport Systems, Inc. went under around 1970, and the Gyro-X never went into production. Lane Motor Museum
The Houston collector Mark Brinker sold it to the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville in December 2011. Lane Motor Museum The restored car made its debut at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on 20 August 2017, 50 years after it was created. Agency Impianti
Explore the story
The storyTwo dreamers, a gyroscope and a show car.
How it workedWhy turning a flywheel makes a car lean.
Lost and foundThree wheels, no gyro, then a rebuild.
Myths vs factsDid it really do 125 mph?
Tile pictures are credited on their pages and on the credits page.