STREET SEEN: SNYDER ST 600 C

Have you ever seen a Snyder ST 600 C ? Being in the automotive business means that we at Napleton.news have seen some pretty strange and even unattractive vehicles from time to time. This Snyder is the latest. Some, through the years, have had a certain bit of appeal. Cars like the original Acura NSX, which the chairman of Honda fired up in a hotel ballroom in Chicago, smoking the place out, and in the process making photography of the car impossible.

The Vector W8 was another that comes to mind. The owner of the company chose to forego a ballroom for his reveal. Instead, he rolled it out of the trailer just as an asphyxiated group of journalists and showgoers hurriedly escaped the smoked out ballroom from the Acura reveal. Yes, we’ve almost seen it all.  

THREE-WHEELING ON A SNYDER ST 600 C

But we never expected to see a three-wheeled, uh, sedan? As imported to the United States, it was known as the Snyder ST 600 C (for car?). It was powered by a 600 cubic centimeter gasoline engine that drove its rear wheels. Manufactured by Dezhou Fulu Vehicle Industry Co., Ltd., the company is located in Dezhou City Shandong Province, China.

Snyder Technologies and Snyder computer systems imported the vehicle from China from 1999 to 2013, under the name of Wildfire Motors Corporation. These three-wheel vehicles were classified as motorcycles by the US Department of Transportation. In 2013, the EPA withdrew its approval of over 70,000 gas-powered on- and off-road motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles because the agency believed it received incomplete or falsified certification information.

Although very few are seen on the road here in the US, the Chinese version is still used extensively in China as a taxicab. The latest versions featured faux wood trim, AM/FM/CD/MP3 audio system, and seating for three. Special care must be exercised while round turn as it was very susceptible to roll-overs due to its tri-wheel arrangement.

BUILD A BETTER MOUSETRAP…

In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.” Judging by how the firm is now out of business, they must have gone back to the drawing board.