Jonathan Arthur Tennyson (April 16, 1945 – April 21, 1997), was an American car designer focused on alternative fuels.
Early life
Jack, as he was known until 1975, was born in Ottumwa, Iowa
Florida
In the early 1970s, Jack met hairdresser, Paul Mitchell.
Jack designed and created marketing materials for Paul and his partners' company, Winston Brooks Production Company, including the "...28-inch-by-12-inch, orange-and-black ticket" to the Traveling Energy Crisis Road Show – a cross-country hair show.
Their business relationship turned into a friendship that would last until Paul's passing in 1989.
It was while living in Florida that he began experimenting with living off the land while also living off the grid. He pulled concepts from alternative teachings explored in the 1970s and incorporated them into The Village.
His home was a pyramid due to the concept of Pyramid Power. He and his family ate a macrobiotic diet, growing some of their own food. He tried to live with a respect to the Mother Earth, in reverence to his appreciation of Native American beliefs.
He was against nuclear power and attended events sponsored by The Catfish Alliance in Florida.
It was this desire to protect the planet that led him to design and build solar and electric powered cars.
Hawaii
In December 1981, Jonathan relocated his family to the Big Island of Hawaii. He bought a plot of land above the cane fields, which sat above the small town of Paauilo. This new commune became known as The Farm.
Jonathan and his family lived in tents for the first year while they built their homes. Jonathan felt building small, hexagonal, single room homes for each family member was a better way to co-exist than with everyone living under the same roof. The Farm, when completed, would have one communal kitchen, a communal shower, a pond, a greenhouse, and a workshop.
Jonathan and Paul Mitchell, now both living in Hawaii, began collaborating on a solar car project that would result in the construction of the Mana La ("power of the sun" in Hawaiian), a solar car that qualified for second start position (P2) in the first World Solar Challenge, in Australia, in 1987.
The Mana La
Jonathan designed and built the car on The Farm at a cost of $250,000, funded by John Paul Mitchell Systems, the hair care company owned by Paul and his business partner John Paul DeJoria.
With the help of James Amick, the inventor of the "Windmobile", Jonathan was able to achieve his goal of designing a way to utilize the Australian winds to help power the Mana La, a function unique to this car in the field of entrants. By covering the resulting arched wing of the Mana La in solar panels the idea was to be able to expose the panels to the sun at all times of the day.
The car is 19' long, 6 1/2' wide, and 6 1/2' tall. It is ["c]omposed of urethane foam, carbon fiber, and high-temperature vinyl ester resin, the entire vehicle weighs only 500 pounds, sports an on-board computer...(and) carries NASA-grade storage batteries."
The arch is covered by 140 solar panels. The 64 silver-zinc batteries, which hold the power collected by the solar panels, "...feed a pair of 2-horsepower, brushless direct-current motors. Each motor utilizes two windings, one for lower speeds and higher torque, and another for higher speeds at lower torque."
"...[T]he graphics, lettering and art work on.... the car..." were done by John Mydock.
Nicknamed "the hair dryer" due to its hair care sponsor, the $250,000 Mana La qualified for second starting position with a 58 mph run, behind GM's estimated $8 million entry, Sunraycer.
By 4:pm the first day, the Mana La was out of the race. "The crew confess[ed] they ran too hard through the hills trying to catch the Sunraycer...., exhausting their batteries and never got the wind boost their car was designed to exploit. Their battery specialist estimat[ed] it (would) take 40 hours in the sun to recharge."
The Mana La was featured in a National Geographic Society film about the race.
In 1988 the Mana La competed again, this time in Visalia, California, in the American Solar Cup course as part of the 14th annual International Human Power Vehicle Speed Championships.
The car completed only 102 of the 160 mile course, and was driven first by Jonathan, then by John Paul de Joria.
In 2010 the car was donated to the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles by John Paul Mitchell Systems.