Interpretation ID: aiam1134
Assistant to the President
Highway Aircraft Corporation
909 Fifth Avenue
Box 651
Sidney
NE 69162;
Dear Mr. Rhodes: This is in reply to your letter of April 24, 1973, to Mr. Schneide asking for an interpretation that the Fascination vehicle your company proposes to manufacture is 'an automobile.' You state that you 'are currently testing both a single wheel and a dual wheel arrangement in the front, and it is not clear yet which one will prevail.'; If the final configuration of the Fascination were that of four-wheeled vehicle it would be categorized as a 'passenger car' under the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Currently all three-wheeled vehicles are classified under our regulations as 'motorcycles.' Under a recent rule making proposal, a copy of which I enclose, the definition of a motorcycle with three wheels would be restricted to those lacking a full or partial enclosure for the driver, clearly excluding the Fascination. If the proposal is adopted, and you choose the three-wheel configuration for the Fascination, then the vehicle would probably be classified as a passenger car. It is possible that some adjustments would be made in the standards applied to three-wheeled or other lightweight vehicles, on petitions received from those interested.; Yours truly, Richard B. Dyson, Assistant Chief Counsel