New 3-wheeled vehicle 'like riding motorcycle'

Slingshots green-lighted for HOV lane

HOUSTON – You have likely have seen the three-wheeled vehicles around town, but you have probably wondered, “What in the world is it?”

Then, perhaps, you pulled out your phone and took pictures. The state of Texas calls them auto cycles.

Mancuso Powersports took KPRC Channel 2 News for a ride in an three-wheeler called a Slingshot made by Polaris. 

With a 173 horsepower engine, the Slingshot could quickly top more than 130 mph. Retailers said buyers can skip all of the traffic because the Slingshot was green-lighted for the HOV lane.

"You feel like a rock star," David Hunt, of Mancuso Powersports, said. "Everyone wants to know what it is. Everyone wants to take pictures, take video. It's actually really cool."

Riders said it’s hard not to smile when you are in an auto cycle. People look at you like you just landed in a spaceship from another planet.

"They usually say, ‘Well, how much is it?’ and I'm like, 'It's like $21,900, and they go up from there,'" Hunt said.
Hunt said drivers do not need a motorcycle license to drive it.

"They can get the cool factor, be in the wind," Daniel Alford, of Mancuso Powersports, said. "It's like riding a motorcycle, but not have to take all of the classes."

It is an adventure somewhere between your car with four wheels and a motorcycle with two wheels.