In 1981, Philips Arthur Barnes patented this horse-powered car in UK. In essence it is a horse, tethered to a treadmill, inside a vehicle body on wheels. To get moving you simply turn on the treadmill and wait for the “engine” to start trotting. The inventor actually accomplished putting cart before the horse. Unlike traditional horse-drawn vehicles, the horse rides inside, behind the driver, protected by an all-weather canopy. Further, the horse has no control of the direction and speed of the vehicle and it can be controlled by the driver.
In 2009, Abdolhadi Mirhejazi, an Iranian engineer, actually build this car. He marketed it under the name “Naturmobil”, as the car had zero emissions, if you discount all the horse farts.
Mirhejazi built the car for the purpose of advertising and tourism. He wanted to make money via outdoor advertisments. Not a bad idea for novelty advertsiment!
Multiple horses may be used to power bigger cars and carry more passengers.
Source: Autoblog; TheGuardian
