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Number 9 of the 10 prototype Tritan A2 Aerocars was sold without an engine today for $25,500 at a no-reserve auction  on the Bring A Trailer website. The purchaser was a collector based in Germany.

Here was the description of the vehicle:

Listing Details

• Chassis: 1T93PR300D1079009
• 1,600 Miles Shown
• Non-Running Project
• No Engine or Transmission
• White Fiberglass Bodywork
• Red & Blue Domino's Pizza Livery
• Blue & White Vinyl Seat
• Sliding Canopy Top
• NACA Ducts
• Covered Headlights
• Rear Spoiler
• AM Radio
• Private Party or Dealer: Dealer

THIS LISTING

Sold by AJL1988 to cadillac1930 for $25,500
December 13, 2023

This 1985 Tritan A2 is #9 of 10 examples built in December 1984 for use as delivery vehicles for Domino’s Pizza. It then spent time in a microcar collection in Michigan before it was purchased by the selling dealer in 2023. The fiberglass monocoque is finished in white with red and blue accents and features a sliding canopy top, NACA ducts, covered headlights, a rear spoiler, a blue and white vinyl seat, an AM radio, a wood instrument panel, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel. The car is not fitted with an engine or transmission. This Tritan A2 project is now offered at no reserve with a clean Michigan title.

Engineer Douglas J. Amick began developing aerodynamic three-wheeled vehicles in the 1960s and built the Tritan Aero 135 trike with a drag coefficient of 0.135. He incorporated Tritan Ventures, Inc. in 1984 and subsequently launched the A2. Domino’s Pizza purchased 10 examples and fitted them with pizza warmers in place of a rear seat before testing them in select markets as pizza delivery vehicles. The program was canceled in the mid-1980s, and Tritan Ventures closed its doors in 1988.

The fiberglass monocoque on this example is finished in white with a red and blue Domino’s Pizza livery. Styling incorporates nose-mounted turn signals, NACA ducts, covered headlights and taillights, a sliding canopy top, an “Amick Arch” rear spoiler, and a central brake light. The right side-view mirror is not fitted but is included in the sale. Chips and other imperfections in the finish can be seen in the gallery.

The 8″ front and 13″ rear wheels wear tires of an unknown age. The A2 features a hydrogas suspension with a leading link front and a rear trailing arm setup. Stopping power is provided by rear hydraulic drum brakes.

The sliding canopy opens to reveal a cockpit featuring a single seat trimmed in blue and white vinyl as well as tan carpets and an under-dash AM radio. Domino’s A2 examples were fitted with pizza warmers in place of a rear seat, but the warmers were removed before Domino’s dispersed the fleet. The dash pad is missing, and the carpets and canopy upholstery are torn. Corrosion on interior components can be seen in the gallery.

The leather-wrapped steering wheel features an A2-branded horn button, and it fronts a wood dash panel housing an 85-mph speedometer and gauges for fuel level and voltage. The five-digit odometer shows 1,600 miles.

The car was originally outfitted with a Savkel SP-440 single-rotor 440cc Wankel engine paired with a belt-driven automatic transmission, however, the powertrain was removed under previous ownership.

The Michigan title classifies the vehicle as a motorcycle.

Auction Results and Comments

Sold by AJL1988 to cadillac1930 for $25,500
December 13, 2023#bids: 44

A total of 159 Comments were posted during the auction. Seller (AJL1988) and the owner of Tritan A2#1 (Iqrman4 life) provide wonderful insightful information on the Tritan A2 Project. Some examples:

Iqrman4life (Owner of Tritan A2 #1)

I own the Tritan A2 Vin #001 that I have affectionately named “The Pizza Rocket”. The Tritan owners group is a passionate group and we are able to share resources to help each other out. Douglas Amick, the original aeronautical engineer Tritan A2 builder, is still around. Some parts are available (Savkel engines are difficult to come by), as the original plan was allegedly to build 20!

I drive mine to car shows in SoCal and it always puts a smile on spectator’s faces. @AJL1988 did a great job of recapping the history of how the A2 came to be. it’s truly a fascinating story and I love sharing it when I meet fellow enthusiasts.

#001 was the only Tritan A2 with its original 440cc Savkel rotary engine street registered until the previous owner of #005 (Mecum sale) swapped his original engine back in. Mine still has the original Comet CVT and I have taken it up to about 55 mph downhill with a gust of wind.

I’ve been approached about battery swapping mine, but I’ve preserved #001 and won’t tamper with it. As much as I’m not a fan of EVs, it could be an option for #009 or a small motorcycle engine could also be utilized. In order to fit the Predator motor in one of the other Tritans, the owner had to cut the rear black fiberglass shelf, which I don’t advise. There isn’t a lot of room in the rear tapered engine compartment, as these are rear engined and RWD, so you will have to measure twice and hopefully never cut.

If you google 1984 Tritan A2, you’ll find articles and videos from my ownership. I’ll make myself available as a resource during the auction and to the lucky new owner afterwards. I may even throw in a bid or two 😉

As I eluded to in an earlier comment, I have been in communication with Douglas Amick. Yes, THE Douglas Amick who designed and built these 10 incredible slices of pizza delivery history!

Douglas stated that Tritan Ventures originally planned on building 20 of these Tritan A2s until their engine supplier went bankrupt after only delivering 10 Savkel engines. The supplier kept their 20 full priced deposits and without proper funding and assistance from Domino’s, this program was destined to fail.

In an effort to save the program, they tested the industrial Honda GX-360 water cooled 4 cylinder engine that was used for high-end generators. The engine ran smooth in their prototype (I believe #002) and correspondence to purchase additional motors reached the top of the Honda corporate hierarchy. Honda Japan’s attorneys demanded that they remove the GX-360 motor from the Tritan and return it to them ASAP, as only Honda would be able to install their engines.

The last ditch effort was with the installation of the Bombardier Prototype Rotax-484cc, 4-cycle OHC fan-cooled, parallel twin-cylinders, w/cast iron sleeves into Tritan #002. This was Douglas’ favorite motor of the three, but the program was sadly canceled before more could be purchased and installed.

While it’s disappointing that only 10 of the 20 Tritan A2s were built, that means that there are spare NOS parts available to keep the remaining vehicles on the road. As I mentioned before, we are a helpful and friendly Tritan A2 owner’s group. I was able to get a new e-brake handle (it’s a Renault part haha) for #001 this year and an extra set of taillight lenses as well.

In honor of this auction, I took #001 for a 50 mile + drive today and she didn’t miss a beat or a curious onlooker’s camera. While not the fastest vehicle on the road, I kept up with traffic and even hit a 54 mph top speed driving downhill with a tailwind!

I topped off my gas tank and registered approximately 30 mpg as well. I plan to put another 50 miles on #001 tomorrow since she’s getting detailed and glamour shots taken.

I’m happy to share my Tritan A2 experiences and stories, as I’ve truly enjoyed my ownership experience throughout the years. I know the next owner will be equally excited to win #009. We are a small, but helpful group of owners with access to some spare NOS parts.

I own #001, my friend in Central CA owns #002 with the Bombardier prototype Rotax 484cc engine (non-running), #003 – Unconfirmed, #004 – Unconfirmed, #005 – Recently sold at Mecum Las Vegas to a collector in NY for $35,200 including fees, #006 – Sold in rougher shape than this one and exported to France, #007 – Repainted, unoriginal seat, and fitted with a Predator engine (running), #008 – Unconfirmed, #009 – This one, and #010 – Sold for $44,800 (non-running) via Bonhams in 2019.

1 of the missing Tritan A2s is in a Japanese Museum and has been painted all white. It’s either #003, #004, or #008. I’ve emailed them in the past, but haven’t received a response yet.

As far as I know, only 3 are running (#001, #005, and #007) and #001 and #005 are the only ones running and driving with their original Savkel rotary engines.

In December 2018 I made a deal with the Ohio Facebook seller of #005, but he sold it to a Domino’s franchisee instead. The original Savkel was not installed, the front windshield was cracked (you’ll see the lower section painted black) and the seats were unoriginal, etc.

That Indiana Domino’s Franchisee sold it in 2020 to another friend in CA who lives near the owner of #002. After his purchase of #005, new windshields were made, a similar front seat was installed, and the original Savkel engine was reinstalled (among other restoration items).

I have additional incredible information directly from Douglas Amick, the Tritan A2 builder and founder of Tritan Ventures, which I’ll post later.

You’re right about the headlights — They illuminate the mirrors quite nicely at night!

Speaking of the mirrors, the Tritan A2 is part Ferrari, as they share the same Vitaloni Californian mirrors as the Ferrari 208/308.

Tritan A2 #007 has a Harbor Freight Predator motor adapted to a Comet clutch. The top of the rear panel had to be cut to accommodate it though, which I wouldn’t recommend for #009 since it’s original.

#002 has a Bombardier engine that Tritan Ventures was testing as an alternative to the Savkel; however, it’s not running yet.

Small changes were made after my #001 was built, including enclosing the front turn signals, painting the front NACA ducts black, enlarging/rounding the RH side rear NACA duct, and incorporating the 3rd brake light into an enlarged rear vent.

There was a metal pizza warming box on the black shelf behind the front seat, which folds forward for access. Domino’s removed the warmers from all of the Tritan A2s before donating them. I keep a vintage pizza delivery bag back there, but have transported a tall friend while he sat in the backseat area.

Length: 164″; Width: 69″; Height: 53″ (You actually sit very low in the cockpit, approximately as low as a Ford GT); Wheelbase: 85″.

It’s very stable for a 3 wheeler due to the 22% F / 78% Rear weight bias and low center of gravity.

The 0.15 coefficient of drag is still mind blowing even to this day and about half of what most productions ICE cars are currently. The Tritan A2 was born out of the 70’s oil and gas crisis and even the original tires were chosen for their low rolling resistance.

I have since replaced the rear 13″ tires on mine with Kumhos and the front 8″ trailer tire with one rated up to a whopping 81 mph! You know, JUST IN CASE of an emergency pizza delivery.

I showed #001 at the Little Car Show in 2019 and won Veteran’s Choice! Being that it’s a veteran sponsored car show, it was like winning the People’s Choice award. There’s a video of me claiming my trophy on YouTube.

Here is the article:

https://www.hagerty.com/media/events/5-little-cars-you-didnt-know-existed/

AJL1988 (The Seller)

’m sure there are many of you who have never even heard of the Tritan A2 or perhaps never knew Domino’s Pizza was experimenting with these as delivery cars so let’s start with some history.

Part I, School is in Session: As I understand the background of these cars from my involved research and speaking with individuals that actually own these cars; in the 1960’s the father-son due of aeronautical engineer James Amick and his son Doug developed a 3-wheeled aerodynamic vehicle with a large arch at the rear, which they dubbed the “Amick Arch”.

They revealed the prototype in 1969 calling it the “Windmobile”. The Arch design provided the prototype with a very low drag co-efficient that enabled the vehicle to be very fuel efficient while using an inexpensive low horsepower engine.

Through the 1970’s the Amick’s continued further development of the car and in the late 1970’s they revealed the Aero 135, or A-135 for short. It featured an updated design and a single cylinder 360cc 14hp Tecumseh engine from a garden tractor and had a price of $6,000. In 1982 Car and Driver magazine actually tested it, check out that 0-60mph time of 63.2 seconds! Here’s a link to their write-up:

Part II, Ready for Flight: They continued to tweak the A-135 ultimately revealing the A2 in 1984 now with a single cylinder 440cc rotary engine producing 30hp that was supplied by Israeli based Savkel Ltd. dba Syvaro. It was developed with the assistance of the wind tunnel at the University of Michigan in which it achieved a drag co-efficient of just 0.15! It was claimed (likely mathematically) to have a top speed of 95mph and achieve 80mpg.

It is speculated, not confirmed by me or anyone that I’ve spoken too, that during this time the Amick’s were seeking to put the A2 into mass production and seeing as a fellow Ann Arbor, MI based company across town, Domino’s Pizza, was looking for ways to continue to deliver on their “30 minutes or it’s free” pizza delivery campaign, approached Domino’s Pizza owner Tom Monaghan about the idea of using the A2 as their dedicated delivery car.

Intrigued by the concept, Domino’s agreed to order 10 cars at $15,000 a piece as a trial run proof of concept with 180 more orders to follow to roll out to select locations around the country. The trial run ultimately was short lived, and Domino’s elected not to purchase any additional vehicles. The 10 cars had their pizza heaters removed and were donated to museums.

Part III The Future: I enjoy researching about a particular car I have coming up for sale and in doing my due diligence before bringing this A2 to market, I spoke with several people regarding these cars.

I came to understand that this particular car, chassis #9, is 1 of 3 that were thought to be lost to time having been off the radar, to those that keep track of these cars, for over 30 years. I acquired the car from a private long-term collector of unique, quirky, and oddball cars largely as it is presented today.

It is missing its original engine and when I acquired it the rear wheels were locked up and we had to move it around on wheel dollies. The rear suspension is a hydrogas set up and is in-op, so it sits pretty low to the ground but clears.

We have since unlocked the wheels and all 3 wheels roll; however, the front suspension shock has met its shelf life and due to the geometry, the front tire is canted. It still rolls, but using a dolly skate on the front wheel makes it much easier to move around.

These are essentially snowmobile setups with a small displacement engine and a CVT drivetrain and I’ve come to understand a Predator engine has been successfully installed in one of these. Additionally, it could be converted to EV like some of you have mentioned.

With only 8 of the 10 known to exist, sales comps are surprisingly recent with Bonhams selling chassis #10 for $45k in 2019 and Mecum selling chassis #5 for $35k a few weeks ago. I’m offering this one at NR as a hell of a cool project for the next owner to decide what to do with!

Would be great to see this one repowered and repurposed as it has just 1,624 miles showing on the odometer. Or perhaps this is an ideal landmark for a Domino’s Pizza franchisee out there looking for a store attraction? Maybe the Domino’s HQ folks are watching? This would be great history to bring back to Ann Arbor and I’m only 20 miles down the road!

Enjoy the auction folks and I look forward to all the

Here are some other goodies that accompany the sale:

• An original manual for the Syvaro SP-440 rotary engine complete with performance spec, schematics, and blueprints.
• An original test evaluation of the Syvaro SP-440 by Richard Ess with technical and performance specs.
• And a finally, a comprehensive test report of the vehicle conducted by military contractor Wedtech.

You can see the reverse gear switch in Photo 92. It’s the small pushbutton to the right of the gas pedal (both gas and brake pedals are on the right side of the cockpit). You would press it with your foot or you can reach down and push it with your finger in order to engage reverse.

To the right of it is a circular aluminum flap that you can open to allow airflow into the cockpit via the NACA duct. #009 has a radio mounted under the dash and what looks like a speaker, which mine does not have.

Interestingly, the A2 was short for Aerocar 2, however, there is an easter egg in the name A2.

A2 is also the acronym local Ann Arbor residents use in referring to Ann Arbor, hence A2, which is home to both Tritan Industries and Domino’s Pizza.