green machine

The Green Machine was kind of an other-worldly Big Wheel. It was mostly green and black and looked liked a cross between a cricket and a Transformer. Longer than the more-popular (or perhaps just "more-sold") Big Wheel, the Green Machine had the appearance of a chopper or a souped up hot-rod. If the two were sitting side by side and you asked any six-year-old which one could go faster, there would be no hesitation: the Green Machine just looked faster.

Although the Big Wheel and the Green Machine were both front wheel drive, it was the latter's rear wheel that turned — much like a forklift. Being physically longer, the Green Machine had a larger turning radius than the Big Wheel — this may explain their lack of use as Zambonis at ice rinks — making it more difficult (than with a Big Wheel) to do spin-outs.

The Green Machine was also steered differently; the rear wheel was turned by the means of two levers a'la BattleZone. This "different" control mechanism may have limited the number of it's sales — indeed I only knew one or two kids with them.

green lightning = G = Green's Theorem

green machine n.

A computer or peripheral device that has been designed and built to military specifications for field equipment (that is, to withstand mechanical shock, extremes of temperature and humidity, and so forth). Comes from the olive-drab `uniform' paint used for military equipment.

--The Jargon File version 4.3.1, ed. ESR, autonoded by rescdsk.