Harley-Davidson shows off Penster leaning trike prototypes

Zach Bowman — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 17:28:00 EST

Filed under: Concept Cars, Etc., Motorcycle

Once upon a way back when, a few scant patent drawings of a Harley-Davidson leaning trike made their way to the web. Apparently, the company went so far as to produce a few prototypes under the codename Penster. The trikes were penned by none other than legendary custom car builder John Buttera, and despite the inherent awkwardness of the trike design, the Penster looks pretty good. For reasons that remain unclear, the design was never given the go-ahead for production. Instead, Harley buyers with a heart for three wheels wound up with the Tri-Glide.

Not surprisingly, the Penster makes use of a 45-degree air-cooled V-Twin for its propulsion, though details on exactly how the leaning mechanism works are still scant. These prototypes were hewn in 2006 and now reside in the Harley-Davidson museum. They stand out as an impressive piece of forward thinking from a company that holds steadfast to its traditions.

Harley-Davidson shows off Penster leaning trike prototypes originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 04 Aug 2011 17:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Street Rod and Funny Car builder John Buttera succumbs to cancer

Merritt Johnson — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 14:26:00 EST

Filed under: Etc.

Sadly, just a few days after the passing of Boyd Coddington, the world has lost another veteran hot rod builder. Former Coddington colleague, John Buttera, lost his battle with brain cancer on March 2nd. He was 67. 'Lil John Buttera was one of the pioneers of the Southern California performance scene. He initially moved to the West Coast from Wisconsin in order to work with Mickey Thompson on his famed Land Speed Record streamliner. Buttera then moved onto producing legendary dragsters and Funny Cars out of his own chassis shop in Cerritos, California. He even entered his own creation into the 1987 Indianapolis 500, which qualified eighth and earned him the Clint Brawner Mechanical Excellence Award.

Our sincere condolences go out to his friends and family.

[Source: Inside Line]

Street Rod and Funny Car builder John Buttera succumbs to cancer originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 04 Mar 2008 14:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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