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With the paperwork being signed and done within 30 minutes or less, Howard Kroplick is now the proud and happy owner of the 1984 Tritan Aero2 Domino's pizza delivery vehicle.

No, it's not April Fool's! The Tritan is currently being shipped to its new home at the Waterfront garage in Roslyn to sit next to stable mates like Tucker #1044 and Chrysler's Chrysler.

The builder, Douglas Amick, was an aeronautical engineer and used a similar three-wheeled layout and Amick Arch that he and his father, James Amick, conceived for their wind powered "Windmobile" in 1969. By utilizing key learnings from the Windmobile project, their next iteration was the Tritan Aero 135 (seen here). This three-wheeled vehicle was powered by a 14 horsepower Tecumseh garden tractor engine with the goal of providing efficient commuter transportation for two. "Car & Driver Magazine" reviewed and panned it in 1982, calling it, "An Answer to a Question That Nobody's Asking".

Image courtesy of Tritan Ventures, Inc.

Some wording and facts courtesy of Rob Lewis, owner of Tritan A2 #001

Fast forward to 1984 and Amick was able to get his new design concept, the Tritan A2, in front of executives at the nearby Domino's Pizza headquarters. A product of the oil and gas crisis, the Tritan A2's aerodynamics were honed in the University of Michigan's low speed wind tunnel, leading to a slippery 0.15 coefficient of drag. Powered by a rear mounted 30 horsepower 440 cc air cooled rotary engine made by Syvaro, the Tritan A2 is said to be able to reach speeds of 95 mph.

The 0 – 62 mph sprint took 17 seconds, a pace best described as geological in its speed, but the good news was that the A2 offered 80 mpg thanks to its remarkably well-designed aerodynamic body with that coefficient of drag of just 0.15.

To put that into meaningful context, lower numbers mean less drag – a baseball in flight has a drag coefficient of 0.30, a Ferrari Testarossa comes in at 0.36, and a Toyota Prius beats them both with a 0.27.

With its forward sliding cockpit, large rear wing for stability, and tight, 24 foot turning radius, it would be the envy of every pizza delivery driver across the nation.

While the A2 was eye-catching, the Domino's Tritan project did not succeed. With a combination of poor visibility, safety and the need for a motorcycle license the program was doomed. They just didn’t make for a good pizza delivery vehicle.

This is an early press image of the Domino’s pizza oven in place behind the driver’s seat. It could handle multiple stacked boxed pizzas, so that the driver could deliver to multiple locations on the same trip. Image courtesy of Tritan Ventures, Inc.

When the 10 built cars were sold off by Domino's in 1985, the pizza warming ovens were removed.

News Links- Updated: November 23, 2023

CNBC- October 20, 2023 A rare spaceship-shaped Domino’s delivery vehicle is going up for auction—the last one sold for nearly $45,000

CNN- October 18, 2023   This 1980s Domino’s delivery car looks like a spaceship, and you can buy it

Silodrome.com-  October 13, 2023 A Rare Rotary-Powered 1985 Tritan A2 Aerocar Is For Sale

Autoblog-October 18, 2023 It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a ... rotary-powered Domino's pizza delivery vehicle! And it's up for auction

Autoevolution-October 14, 2023 Meet the Tritan A2 Aerocar, an Aerocraft-Inspired Three-Wheeler That Used To Deliver Pizza

Carscoops- October 27, 2023 The Coolest Pizza Delivery Vehicle Looks Like A Rocket But Was Really Bad At Its Job

FranchiseWire- October 20, 2023 Rare Domino’s Delivery Car Could Be Yours

The Autoplan- July 5, 2023  This Rotary-Powered Domino’s Test-Trike Almost Became The Future Of Pizza Delivery

Fast Facts – The Tritan A2 Aerocar

-The Tritan A2 Aerocar is the best-known of the small number of vehicles developed by Tritan Ventures, Inc. of Ann Arbor, Michigan. The company was founded in 1984 by aeronautical engineer Douglas J. Amick, who had been experimenting with fuel-efficient, trike-based vehicles since at least 1969.

-Amick’s father James L. Amick had started off this fascination with unusual trikes, he had built his son an ice boat with one forward ski and two at the rear in a trike configuration. These were later replaced with wheels and the vehicle was called the “Windmobile” – they claimed it could travel at up to five times the speed of the cross wind thanks to its adjustable airfoil.

-Tritan Ventures unveiled the Tritan A2 Aerocar in 1984, the design was seized upon by Domino’s Pizza who ordered 10 of them for their Ann Arbor, Michigan operations and finished them in Domino’s Pizza livery and a pizza oven in the rear.

-The initial plan was to buy 180 examples of the A2 Aerocar and use them at Domino’s locations across the country, this never came to fruition however, and ultimately just 10 were made, with just seven said to be surviving today.

440cc SP-440 Rotary Engine
30bhp at 5,500rpm
Automatic V-belt Transmission
Leading Link Front with Trailing Arm Rear Suspension
Rear Drum Brakes

*One of just 10 known to be produced for Dominos
*Exceptionally aerodynamic bodywork
*The perfect pizza pie portage

Look for more to come on this unique addition to the Waterfront when the car arrives in the next week...Stay tuned!

Videos- Updated-November 23, 2023

Tritan A2 #005 passing the Mecum block on November 10, 2023