AFTER Ford Motor came close to bankruptcy in the late 1970s, the company decided to bet the store on what was then a radical new design: what would come to be known as the Ford Taurus.

To develop, manufacture and market the car, Ford earmarked $3 billion — about $8 billion in today’s dollars — in hope of turning the company around.

These days, various entrepreneurs are betting they can build radically new vehicles using a tiny fraction of the investment Ford required. Their business models call for production of vehicles that range from three-wheeled cars priced below $10,000 to luxury vehicles meant to sell for six figures.

And unlike Ford, they are largely wagering with other people’s money.

These would-be carmakers are raising money through online crowdfunding, taking money in small amounts from people who in many cases have only modest incomes. There’s a lot of faith involved, in other words — on the part of the entrepreneurs, who are betting they can beat the auto industry at its own game, as well as the small investors putting up the table stakes, a few dollars at a time.