Ride along with us as we take Polaris’ reverse trike out for a dash down Angeles Crest Highway in the San Gabriel Mountains outside of Los Angeles. The folks from Polaris say that the impetus to create the Slingshot came from their desire to build a vehicle that could cause a “paradigm shift” in the automotive market. While that certainly has the air of PR hyperbole, it’s not unlike the motivating factors behind the Cam Am Spyder from a few years ago (which is also a reverse trike), and the Slingshot is arguably more successful at that mission.
Back in March we got wind of a motorcycle-meets-track-day-car project in the works from Polaris by way of a patent filing. Presented as something like a cross between a Morgan Three-Wheeler and a KTM X-Bow, details were pretty scarce at that point. But now Polaris has revealed the Slingshot in production form, along with the official specifications for this sporty crossbreed.
Is it a car or a motorcycle? These days, with vehicles like the Campagna V13R and the Morgan Threewheeler running around, it’s getting harder and hard to tell. What we can tell you is that this side-by-side trike by Polaris – a brand which is typically associated with ATVs and other off-road vehicles – has another name to add to that list in the form of the soon-to-be-announced Slingshot.