America’s most celebrated archtect, Frank Lloyd Wright, was also a car enthusiast. And he had his own ideas about automotive design, too.

It might not be accuate to describe Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) as a mere car enthusiast. According to at least one of his students, the master architect was “obsessed with cars,” as much as he was with Japanese prints and building design. He reportedly owned some 86 vehicles, including a fleet of Crosley Hotshots for Taliesin, his Wisconsin estate; two Cord L-29s, one of which now lives at the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum; and a 1940 Lincoln Continental (above) that he personally customized with a landau roof.

So it’s hardly surprising that a designer with a passion for automobiles, and one who was also known for his strong, often iconoclastic personal convictions, would have some theories about automotive design. In one of his dozens of books, The Living City, published in 1958, he laid out one of his car designs, and it is original to say the least. Reportedly, he took some inspiration from the familar farm tractor.

As Wright’s rendering (above) shows, the vehicle was propelled and primarily supported by two enormous wheels six feet in diameter and seven feet apart—Wright called them “Great Wheels.” To support the ends of the chassis there was a spherical rubber tire at the front and a single wheel in the rear, which also provided the steering. In its wheel locations the vehicle could be termed a a rhomboid vehicle, featuring an X-chassis or diamond configuration. (See our feature on another rhomboid vehicle, the Pininfarina X, here.)

The engine and drivetrain were mounted behind the single seat, where the driver was positioned in the center for optimum vision. And just to get it out of the way we will note, as so many have, that the car’s overall presentation does resemble a part of the male anatomy, and we’ll leave it at that.

In 1960, not long after Wright’s death, the automotive writer and historian Ralph Stein wrote a critique of the machine for This Week magazine, a Sunday newspaper supplement. Stein was a prolific and accomplished writer on the automotive scene whose most well-known books include The Great Cars and The Treasury of the Automobile. Many enthusiasts received their introduction to vintage and classic cars through Stein.

In his piece for This Week, Stein noted that the large drive wheels and X-layout had advantages, but some drawbacks—including high-siding on steep driveways. But he had nothing good to say about the rear-wheel steering, which is not practical at road speeds. In conclusion, Stein wrote, “There is much that is great in Mr. Wright’s design. Don’t laugh at it.” As the magazine’s cartoon editor, the author also drew the illustration for his story, which we include above and below.