Domino’s Space-Age Pizza Delivery Vehicle Design From 1980s Swoops To Auction
Image via Mecum Auctions
Domino’s Pizza now delivers pies using electric Chevy Bolts. This year, it even sent out hot meals to festival-goers by hooking up an employee with a jetpack.
Nearly 40 years ago, however, Domino’s dreamed bigger. Perhaps higher, in the sense that it was grazing the stars. In the 1980s, founder Tom Monaghan ordered a small fleet of pointy, three-wheeled vehicles that resembled more like spaceships than transporters of tomato and cheese-topped dough.
Now, one of the 10 commissioned Tritan A2 “cars”—or motorcycles, if you want to be specific—is landing at a Las Vegas auction hosted by Mecum Auctions on November 10. Its expected price hasn’t been listed yet. For illustration, though, one of its counterparts went to a buyer for US$44,800 during a Bonhams event in 2019.
Image via Mecum Auctions
As for this unit, its owner, Chuck Sinnott, tells CNN that he purchased it from a Domino’s franchisee for around US$25,000 in 2021.
Designed by father and son James and Douglas Amick and constructed by the now-defunct Tritan Ventures, the Tritan A2 was envisioned as an economical delivery vehicle and had a warming oven built into its rear to ensure ’zas stayed warm by the time they reached customers’ doors.
Sporting an aerodynamic body and a wing at the back that functioned like a “sail,” the vehicle was powered by a 440cc Syvaro SP-440 rotary engine but could also run electrically.
The retrofuturistic prototype retains its Domino’s-branded livery, including red, white, and blue accents and the “Fast, Friendly, Free Delivery” tagline.
Image via Mecum Auctions
Domino’s removed the ovens from the three-wheelers, inadvertently creating space for a passenger in the back.
Although the Tritan A2 looks super fly with its aerodynamic silhouette, the fact of the matter is that even driving it on the ground will be a struggle. It’s too low for comfort and will be especially vulnerable to oncoming potholes. Its owner has only taken it on a few laps at local car shows to show it off. For longer distances, he’s had to drag it via a trailer.
[via Autoblog, The Washington Times, CNN, images via Mecum Auctions]
