Tanoshi in Japanese, means happiness, and it’s the essence of what this vehicle is all about, bringing joy and happiness to the riders. Tano-C is a reverse trike with the engine mounted in the back of the vehicle. Being a weekend only recreational vehicle it’s is pretty much bare bone, there is no ABS, power steering, air conditioning, etc. It is designed to create a completely different experience from sport cars and sport bikes.
According to Japanese legislation, Tano-C is categorized as a bike so driver and passenger have to wear helmets. This unique situation gave us a unique opportunity to design a very aggressive look by ditching the windshield and the doors and creating a complete open air cockpit.
We were inspired by Japanese Samurai culture, and their equipment, specially by the famous Samurai Swords and Armors.
We worked closely with our client to develop their new platform. Smaller engine enabled us to design a roomier cockpit and provide a better sitting position for the driver and passenger.
Better weight distribution led to better handling and made drifting much easier. Performance numbers were not as fast or savage as the outgoing model but the new trike was much more enjoyable to drive. This was how the sport trike always meant to be, Fun.
Suspended blade like spoilers provide down-force on the wheels and at the same time mount the LED head and tail lights. Two tone coloring was considered from the early stages of the design process, to emphasize on the dual characteristics of the vehicle, which is a blend of a sport car and a sport bike.