Weirdly Awesome: The Crazy Story Of The Marmon Herrington Rhino And It's Famed Inventor

Elie Aghnides is a man who you do not know but you interact with one of his inventions every day of your life, the faucet aerator. The brilliant Green inventor created that product, made millions of dollars, and used it to create a vehicle he had been dreaming about for years on end.
Elie Aghnides and the Marmon Herrington company would team up wot create the Rhino, a go anywhere, amphibious machine that would be pitched to the military as a better replacement for tank track vehicles. The machine worked as advertised but because of a few reasons, its looks being one of them, it flopped.
Aghnides was the man who wanted to literally reinvent the wheel and he kind of succeeded. Here's his story.

[@farmerbill6855]

Haha, Eugene is one of my friend's father in law. He lives a couple miles from me. Yes, he still has that thing. You can see it at the Tipton, Indiana Antique Machinery Show. He hauls it there every summer.

[@charleswidmore5458]

that is one of the coolest things ever! I hope you got to take a ride in it!

[@voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang885]

The original inventor should have teamed with Buckminster Fuller - the Rhino has tensegrity force.

[@markthemaniac3350]

Hello, I'm currently in the process of writing an article on the Rhino on Tank Encyclopedia. I'm trying to research the recent history of the thing. Are you able to help?

[@strykerentllc]

Brian, this one was definitely a polar opposite of your previous presentation. Not going to lie, it produced more than a few chuckles as a result of the diction some of the writers used in articles, such as 'huge balls'. Thanks for doing the research and putting this one together. Cheers!

[@brianlohnes3079]

Thanks for checking it out!

[@mrben6573]

Damn I was not expecting the Rhino to still exist. Super cool.

[@saturnfivehynrgrc581]

I learned something today. Thank you Brian.

[@brianlohnes3079]

Glad to help!!!

[@joshgreen2164]

I love that you are covering stuff like this!!

[@brianlohnes3079]

Thanks for digging it!!!!

[@joshgreen2164]

@@brianlohnes3079 the voice of drag racing talking about a strange tractor. Totally made my day.

[@georgedennison3338]

​@@brianlohnes3079 Saw a vid snippet w/ your voice sounding Nat'l Geographic documentary serious about Sick Week '24. Been trying to find the full vid w/ no success. What'd ya plant your voice over & where can I find it? Thanks... Great job, BTW, that weird critter has been in the recesses of my mind since the underground lair obsessed Brit, Colin Furze, introduced YT to it. Thanks. Hey, was the Shootout @ BMP earth shattering, or not? GeoD

[@raykaufman7156]

Another great look at something most of us never knew existed. Keep em coming!

[@brianlohnes3079]

Will do!

[@bobroberts2371]

The Rhino looks like something out of the movie 20 000 leagues under the sea

[@brianlohnes3079]

It 100% does!!!

[@jerryhoogeveen]

This channel just keeps getting better! Great stuff

[@brianlohnes3079]

Thank you!!

[@edminas3159]

Brian this story was amazing. I am huge drag racing fan and every one of your videos has been fantastic. That said you knocked it out of the park on your research and presentation on this topic. Seems there will be no limit of great videos beyond drag racing. Thank you from the bottom of my heart

[@brianlohnes3079]

I love all kinds of stuff, thanks for being into it!

[@georgeadams8230]

What an interesting story, the man was a genius. Thanks for posting.

[@brianlohnes3079]

He was something else!

[@garymartin9806]

I don’t know where you come up with this stuff but I LOVE IT.

[@brianlohnes3079]

Soooo much weird fun stuff to explore! Glad you dig it!

[@davidpawson7393]

He got Recardi Bacardi'ed. Imagine my hangover.

[@brianlohnes3079]

Hahahhha

[@rayleehylton8427]

That one is up there on the weird o meter. Thanks Brian !!

[@brianlohnes3079]

It sure is!!!

[@chrisrudik1035]

I loved this video!!! big fan Brian!

[@brianlohnes3079]

Appreciate the encouragement Chris!!

[@mikecurtis2585]

Wow amazing story. That was a strange looking vehicle.

[@brianlohnes3079]

Sure was!!

[@ronniet71]

That my friend, was a magnificent story.

[@DJKinney]

That was simply awesome.

[@davidbarnsley8486]

Great to see the rhino is still going 👍👍

[@jarm7726]

Strange but cool 😎

[@brianlohnes3079]

Thanks for watching!

[@writerconsidered]

Fascinating story, thank you for bringing it to us.

[@the4x4pig]

Cool history lesson. Thank you.

[@jonvanwilgen3103]

Love all your crazy stories!!!

[@brianlohnes3079]

Glad you like them!!!!

[@DeluxeR71]

So FUN!!! you make amazing videos, Brian👍

[@brianlohnes3079]

Glad you like them!!!

[@barneypierce6811]

Another great video. Thank You

[@ronw59]

Thank you for this most unusual & very interesting story, Brian. Something, & someone, I'd never heard of before, but you rooted it all out making it entertainingly educational. Thanks once again.

[@brianlohnes3079]

Glad you enjoyed it!!!!

[@martymorse2]

Great research on this story, Brian. Your work is the highlight of my week.

[@brianlohnes3079]

Wow, thank you!!!!!

[@leonasmith6180]

Thanks, that was very ontresting, with just a hint of humor, nicely done. Leona

[@LuciFeric137]

Looks like a spice harvester from "Dune"

[@brianlohnes3079]

It does!!

[@IowaBudgetRCBashers]

Another great video Brian

[@motardktm640]

Another great episode, Kudos

[@brianlohnes3079]

Thank you!

[@billlamb1937]

Very interesting. Thanks!

[@jonhelmer8591]

I have never heard any of this before. Fascinating.

[@nhra7110]

fascinating story!

[@mattwilliams3456]

Wonderful. Don’t forget Marmon Harrington also built some frankly awful tanks as well. The Rhino makes me think of a Dymaxion that someone parked near Chernobyl and made angry.

[@brianlohnes3079]

Their tank is so bad it’s shameful to even bring up.

[@vehdynam]

I don't know where you fond this stuff , but it is fascinating and informative. Well done as always. Many thanks.

[@bradinch1563]

that was fun, glad someone saved it, thanks

[@JeffBilkins]

Colin Furze tried to make something like this once, it was one his few builds that didn't work out.

[@brianlohnes3079]

Saw that! Wild

[@gafrers]

Great variety and same Quality 👌👌

[@brianlohnes3079]

Thanks a lot!!!!

[@donovancooper3365]

I look forward to every damn video!

[@Kiyoone]

this is very interesting. thanks

[@truckladders4104]

Great video Brian, Thanks for researching and sharing this. As you know and often highlight drag racing is and has been the stage for some of the most ingenious devices and the great minds that create them. It is really cool that you recognize this and make people aware of the great problem solving machines. Thanks from inventors everywhere!

[@brianlohnes3079]

I love working vehicles so there will be plenty of that come!!

[@NewRiverRoots]

Really good!

[@brianlohnes3079]

Glad you think so!!!!

[@mgbchuck6527]

pretty freakin' cool Brian!

[@brianlohnes3079]

Thanks for checking it out!

[@timdaines6747]

Maybe the coolest video posted to KZbin….ever.

[@brianlohnes3079]

Wow! Thanks for checking it out!!

[@charleswidmore5458]

that is one of the coolest things ever! I want to take a ride in it!

[@user-it7lf7kk8m]

Nice to see it survived

[@P_RO_]

Great ideas happen, with many actually working quite well. But then you have to make it and sell it in quantity which often presents even larger problems. Here we have an ATV which if it had been marketed as such might have seen better success.An interesting concept indeed!

[@brianlohnes3079]

Great call!

[@emoryogglethorp8180]

Am I the only one that wants to see Ginger Billy build one of these things? LOL

[@goratgo1970]

The Rhino design could surely be re-attempted using modern methods and materials. Rubber fused wheels, triple the power, etc. Nicely done video!

[@etmccaus]

I knew of Marmon-Herrington, but never heard of this thing...fascinating.

[@bobroberts2371]

Time 1056 " 110 HP Ford likely flat head " I remember reading in a British based classic car magazine that there was a military version of this engine and that a stash of these was found in France circa 2000.

[@brianlohnes3079]

Correct! Halibrand snagged them and sold them. They were still packed in cosmoline!

[@hobbyhermit66]

Looks like an outdoorsman's dream.

[@brianlohnes3079]

Hahaha

[@user-kb8nk2fe1h]

Woke to this! Awesome❤

[@brianlohnes3079]

Thanks for watching it!!

[@buffaloj0e]

Wow!! What a story, splendid.

[@brianlohnes3079]

Glad you enjoyed it!!!

[@charlesharper7292]

Nice! Talk about steampunk transportation.

[@expfcwintergreenv2.02]

Amazed this technology wasn’t used on D-Day

[@craigengelman1369]

please keep doing videos because you are the Walter Cronkite of today !

[@iancamarillo]

Wow, great story and video. So reinforce the wheels with 22nd century materials?

[@Airsally]

Where do find this stuff. So awesome you have found pics and flim of it in action. Love your vids.

[@brianlohnes3079]

Glad you like them!!!!

[@Hsmark73]

Brian, from knowing you at Bangshift to KZbin I’m not surprised to see this post. Some would assume your content to be all Drag race but this was interesting, keep up the good work

[@brianlohnes3079]

Thank you!

[@williamM-18]

Looks like something straight out of Jerry Anderson...Thunderbirds!

[@justinyoung109]

Hey its that thing from colin Furze's video! (he built his own version of the Rhino on his channel) Great story about something that is both cool looking and frankly was ahead of its time

[@brianlohnes3079]

His effort was all time

[@Kevin-red2002]

Really enjoyed this story, Brian, but all your videos are great. They are well researched and written, and exceptionally well read. (Though I suspect the comment about the pronunciation of Elie's name is closer to correct). You have a really great narrator's voice. Thanks for your work!

[@brianlohnes3079]

I need to brush up on my proper Greek! Thank you for watching!!!

[@bricology]

Fantastic video! What a great story! I have to wonder why the Rhino was only steered by the 2 rear hemispheres, and not also through differential speeds of the 2 front hemispheres.

[@timrayburn2461]

thanks

[@brianlohnes3079]

Welcome!!

[@jorgefernandez9310]

This is such a cool invention. It has uses nowadays even for water rescues and such. Shame it didn't go further.

[@deanpaidas8089]

I think his last name name is pronounced Agh-need-ees. BTW I thoroughly enjoy your channel especially anything to do with drag racing

[@michaelfarmer537]

He with the biggest balls, tends to be king of the hill. 😂

[@brianlohnes3079]

Hahahaha

[@adreabrooks11]

Somebody ought to start producing these things again! I'm certain that the sorts of folks who buy SHERPs would be all over this as an ATV option.

[@turbopokey]

So you viewers don’t have to investigate, the inventor also invented the faucet aerator that puts all the bubbles in your kitchen sink tap water. I’m sure pretty much all kitchen faucets have one so that’s what the narrator meant by “he invented something everyone uses”.

[@MrPlusses]

Wow. That reminds me of a story our grandmother would tell us as kids eating grapefruit gor breakfast. My great, great, great uncle had an idea while cutting a grapefruit in half. He went on and on about it for years so my grandmother said. Never succeeded after years of tinkering. Doomed. His idea used actual grapefuits as wheels. Bought hundreds of acres of grapefruit. Lived very well despite his obsession.

[@gregelliott8405]

what a cool vehicle ....it could have been so useful and still could be...make 4 wheel drive with 4 big wheels and Articulate in the middle like a modern four-wheel drive tractor the thing would be unstoppable going through swamps and deserts oil exploration could have used it Arctic explorers on and on

[@brianlohnes3079]

I think you are on the money with that. Using like a hydraulic drive or something familiar

[@bobroberts2371]

Time 023 Istanbul was Constantinople Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople Been a long time gone, Constantinople Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night

[@brianlohnes3079]

Haha - that’s the lyric!

[@WAYUPDUDE1382]

BRIAN RULES!

[@brianlohnes3079]

Haha - two medals!

[@fredmonroe6042]

I will so build one if I win the lottery.

[@Legotruck82]

I think Colin Furze had an attempt of making one of these out of a small dumper on his YT. I don't think it succeeded...

[@brianlohnes3079]

That guy rules

[@Sincitytowingandtransport]

I didn’t see that one coming lol .but enjoyed it just as much as some fuel burning monstrosity

[@brianlohnes3079]

Haha thank you for watching it!

[@christskingdomiscoming5964]

Looks like a 1970s kids toy version of a sci-fi moon rover.

[@brianlohnes3079]

It does!!

[@voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang885]

Hi Brian - fascinating bit about the aluminum wheels - I.G. Farben had a "panopoly" on patents that suppressed international production as well as monopolized Germany's production - as I am reading a book that was suppressed after it's first printing - exposing this as the true cause of WWII. Germany's Master Plan: The Story of Industrial Offensive" by Joseph Borkin and Charles A. Welsh (1943). So I.G. Farben realized aluminum production that they controlled could also be a substitute for copper. Farben had hundreds of cartels - so they controlled magnesium needed to make aluminum, etc.

[@davidkimmel4216]

I have seen on at an antique tractor show in Tipton IN years ago early 80’s

[@DaveEtchells]

Aghnides and the Rhino immediately made me think of Dean Kamen and the Segway. Remember the hype about the Segway? Kamen thought it would completely revolutionize personal transport, but it it had all the impact of a limp noodle 😕

[@brianlohnes3079]

I do remember that!

[@raykaufman7156]

Brian did you pull down the Nassau video?

[@brianlohnes3079]

A claim was made against it and YT has removed it. Tough as I spent a lot of time on it.

[@GreenAppelPie]

The aerator was a mega success. Hemispherical wheels weren’t, though I’m surprised these didn’t inspired big balloony tires, though have been successful

[@The67wheelman]

Wonder if you made the wheels out of lots of hoops of steel so it was like a steel sponge shaped like it is. Would be able to soak up the damage and keep going. Wouldn’t float but there’s always trade offs and might make a good demining vehicle

[@Mi.Mainecoon]

Omg is he related to Pee-wee Herman! Cool vehicle though!

[@The55nomad]

This reminded me of a Chrysler Corporation television commercial from Viet Nam era 1960s of an all terrain that utilized screw like tracks rather than those used on bulldozers, tanks, etc. I've since wondered what became of that creation and why it, or it's means of locomotion, hit a dead-end. If anyone can shed light on that creation it's you, Brian. Thanks for another greatly informative vid.

[@PaulG.x]

It failed because using screws to drag a vehicle forward is hugely inefficient compared to tried and true caterpillar tracks. If you set the wheels of a conventional vehicle at 45° to the forward direction , in opposing pairs, the vehicle will move forwards but the scrubbing of the tyres will absorb most of the power. Screws behave in the same way.

[@The55nomad]

@@PaulG.x Interesting. Thx.

[@Jr-qo4ls]

I want one.

[@alankohn6709]

I hope someday someone takes this idea and makes a mass produced vehicle it is too functional to just be an oddity

[@mikepaul3959]

I'm sure I just missed it, but what are the 1/4 mile ETs?

[@brianlohnes3079]

Timed via sun dial. Haha

[@mikepaul3959]

😅@@brianlohnes3079

[@pekotofo2522]

I just see in my minds eye the Sun Valley Roller tumbling down snowy hill and gathering snow and other skiers and snowboarders around it like a huge snowball form Donald Duck or smthing!

[@BillBird-df3pf]

The ball tank would actually deflect shells shot at it fairly well but unlike most tanks, from top to bottom. Less round and more triangular would work better though.

[@rharris22222]

The first thing I wondered was why didn't he counter that objection immediately with "Oh sure, we could make them of armor plate!" Made of curved armor plate would make them very much like an old tank turret. Heavier, sure, but that's the price of armor.

[@BillBird-df3pf]

@@rharris22222 yes, but sharp angles deflect shells better. If you check, most modern tanks have plating angled around 45°. Not exactly though since most shells come from slightly above. Each tank is different. I think pyramidal hemispheres would work better. And maybe a triangular body with the large part hanging down which should help with stability. You could even put in a gyro for maximum stability. You should look up the monorail gyrotrain. Fascinating.

[@rharris22222]

@BillBird-df3pf Yes, besides the material requirements (Back when the M1 was new, they couldn't make composite armor curved), curved armor does have the disadvantage of always having a spot facing the gun that is effectively a very shallow angle. I think the two factors together are why curved armor was phased out in the last 50 years. I wonder how well the wheels would work with triangular sections. I guess if we had a few million bucks we could try a prototype: -)

[@BillBird-df3pf]

@@rharris22222 yeah. A sphere always has a spot with a 90° impact angle. And that would always be a center hit. They switched to flat, angled metal because it almost doubles the amount of material a shell has to penetrate. About the million bucks..... you can 3d print prototypes easily nowadays for cheap. Make an rc version to test. Could make numerous wheels styles and test them.

[@kurtpena5462]

"Ghostwriter" XD

[@malakiblunt]

colin furze tried to make vehicle with those wheels - it did not go well

[@brianlohnes3079]

A game effort!

[@CarsandCats]

But did he drag race it? NO. Time to start a second channel! :) Excellent video, just giving you a hard time.

[@brianlohnes3079]

Haha thank you

[@dextrodemon]

theyre not quite hemispheres but those aquacycle things use similar wheels to travel on water in the modern day so, idk, his idea lives on a bit? maybe? as well as some ball wheel tanks in anime lol tbh tho, if it caught on i bet it wouldn't seem weird at all, does it look funnier than a helicopter really, i mean the ball tank would always be weird but the rhino totally looks like it could have made it in an alt timeline, hell if tractors need to be hella fast for some reason in the future it might be re-invented.

[@halffastguy8024]

Within the last year or so I came upon a similar vehicle in a Russian video (I think). It has the same type and size of wheels in the front and rear. The video showed it ripping through snow. Pretty cool.

[@brianlohnes3079]

Yes, they had their own weirdo version

[@PRH123]

ZIL made production ATV’s with a screw drive on long cylinders, instead of wheels. Does great on snow, mud, water, any severe off-road conditions.

[@andrewsmith2973]

how often do you see content you"ve never seen before? thanks brian

[@brianlohnes3079]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@L0rdskullz]

I’m going to be honest, interesting that the concept never caught on. While niche, there are very real, real world situations for it. It would be great for deep forest logging or oil fields or even vehicle rescue in those type of areas. Just a few things I could think of right off the bat, but I feel like there could seriously be a use for it even in modern times.

[@KimiWallrus]

Listener number 27.

[@brianlohnes3079]

Bam!!

[@fredmonroe6042]

Should’ve been the Hippo😇