The H-M-Vehicles Free-Way (H-M meaning high mileage) was a three-wheel

microcar Microcar is a term often used for the smallest size of cars, with three or four wheels and often an engine smaller than . Specific types of microcars include bubble cars, cycle cars, invacar, quadricycles and voiturettes. Microcars are ofte ...

manufactured in

Burnsville, Minnesota Burnsville ( ) is a city south of downtown Minneapolis in Dakota County, Minnesota. The city is situated on a bluff overlooking the south bank of the Minnesota River, upstream from its confluence with the Mississippi River. Burnsville and nea ...

, from 1979 to 1982. These small

commuter Commuting is periodically recurring travel between a place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regular o ...

cars had a single seat and were powered by a

gasoline Gasoline ( North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When for ...

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...

or a 4 hp

electric motor An electric motor is a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a electromagnetic coil, wire winding to gene ...

. A diesel engine was offered, but none were ordered with it. The 12 HP version was guaranteed to get when driven at a steady . The 12 HP version averaged , and the larger 16 hp averaged to . The standard fuel tank had a capacity of while a tank was optional. The engine was mounted behind the driver and was coupled to a

snowmobile A snowmobile, also known as a snowmachine (chiefly Alaskan), motor sled (chiefly Canadian), motor sledge, skimobile, snow scooter, or simply a sled is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. Their engines normally ...

-style CVT belt drive transmission. Final drive to the rear wheel was by chain. The gasoline-powered Free-Way did not have a reverse gear in its transmission. An electrically powered reverse drive was offered as an option, but was never made available. Yellow HM Vehicles FreeWay

The Free-Way had a welded tubular steel frame, with a secondary perimeter frame at bumper height to protect the driver from impacts. Suspension was fully independent, with two wheels in front and a single wheel in the rear. The fully enclosed two-piece

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

body was approximately thick and had the color molded into the material and was available in high-visibility red, yellow, or orange. The lower body included a full undertray to reduce the drag coefficient of the vehicle. The Free-Way had a single headlight and per federal standards were intended to be licensed as a

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

, but in some states they were titled as cars. About 700 Free-Ways were sold before the company closed in June 1982.

References

External links

groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/freewayhmv/info
nbsp;— HM Vehicles Free-Way Yahoo! discussion group
Free-Way Reunion, Autos & Parts For Sale
* {{YouTube , id=k2IRJsZu1xQ , title=The HM-Vehicles Freeway is the Lawn Mower Powered Three-Wheeler of Your Dreams (published 2019-09-26) Microcars Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Burnsville, Minnesota Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Minnesota Three-wheeled motor vehicles Cars introduced in 1979 Cars discontinued in 1982

See also

References

External links