We have made fantastic progress in transportation over the last century. Much of that can be attributed to the perseverance of the innovators that powered on in the face of failure. Yet, it wasn’t always smooth sailing. Some of the failures in transport innovation are tragic, some are strange, and others are just funny.
CARS
The design was considered ugly (many thought the front grill looked like a vagina), and the car was priced far too high.
The DeLorean, with its exotic gull-wing doors, was one of the most spectacular innovation failures in history.
“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” Henry Ford.
OTHER TRANSPORTATIONS
Larry Page's Kittyhawk air taxi failed after 12 years due to technical issues, no viable business model.
Grass skiing were originally developed as a new way for alpine skiers to train during summer.
The futuristic Honda PC800 was a misunderstood motorcycle. Perhaps this was because it was a motorcycle built for non-motorcycle riders.
Built out of birch wood, it weighed in at over 400,000 pounds and cost some $22 million dollars. In today’s money that would be over $250,000,000.00 per plane!
The Vasa was dangerously top heavy and unstable, but she was impatiently ordered out to sea.
This is not a wheelchair. This is an extraordinary machine that will liberate millions of people.
The C5 was a commercial flop. It had poor battery life, lack of weather- proofing and was frustratingly slow.
The expectations for the Segway were huge: »Segway will be to the car, what the car was to horse and cart.«,
