Superlite "Le Mans"

[Brian Hamilton]

Duuuuude,
Fran, you need to cut this stuff out!! I can't decide what I need to save for!! Too many choices, and now you're going to tempt me with ANOTHER BADASS??!!!









Keep up the good work, guess I'll have to become a millionaire and buy one of each...

[Doug Sainlar]

Absolutely stunning, Fran!!!

Now for my next Q--how about creating a body of this sort for the Superlight Roadster kit???????? Looking for a lower cost option for a beginner project, here...............not really wanting to do a Cobra, but not wanting to invest in a SLC or GT40 until I'm confident I can bring a project to completion, so the SLR appeals to me. A body of this sort on that project would be absolutely PRIMO!!

Love it, Love it, Love it!!

Doug

[Grant]

Originally Posted by YerDugliness

Now for my next Q--how about creating a body of this sort for the Superlight Roadster kit???????? Looking for a lower cost option for a beginner project, here...............not really wanting to do a Cobra, but not wanting to invest in a SLC or GT40 until I'm confident I can bring a project to completion, so the SLR appeals to me. A body of this sort on that project would be absolutely PRIMO!!

Ditto... I'd buy a LMP SL-R in a heartbeat (guesstimating, I'd say I'd be willing to pay $25k for a roller).

Although we really don't know how much weight and cost it would add to the car... Fran might not be so keen on offering something like that for good reasons which are unknown to us. In the computer world we call this sort of thing "feature creep" and its annoying as hell to engineers

[Richie]

One word, awesome!!!!

[Fran Hall RCR]

Doug,

there is no plan to offer a full body for the SL-R....that defeats the whole low cost simplistic design criteria.....no creeping allowed......

The time and cost to do a fully functional body would add way to much time and money to this car......

How about one of you talented young guys doing it to an SL-R yourself once you take delivery and letting us see what you build......there is the Gauntlet.......and then making production tooling and manufacturing for anyone that wants one.......

[Rob]

Sweeeet man...... I like it!!!
I'm in the camp of usually not liking roadsters too. All it needs is a couple roll hoops and she's good to go. Oh... and I'll take mine with the fender louvers too.

[ragrod]

No screens. just a high-tech 8 stack showing as much as possible. Stacks high! with clean streemline tube roll bars. raise the wing alittle, cut side glass down alittle in rear. Kind of a high-tech retro cam-am look. I like!
But about that detail in front of front wheels
my 2 cents.
Randy

[Big-Foot]

I like the idea of the speedster windshield stretching back through the door but question the ability of having a split in it at the door seam and having it stay in alignment at speed. We're obviously not talking about DOT safety glass here but rather a polycarbonate.

My first impression of the indentation in front of the front wheels was not good. I think I would prefer it blended in a little better without the pronounced line directly below the headlight.

The vent in front of the windshield - I like it but would make it larger - stretching it forward and follow the exact contour of the front end of the car (looking down at it from directly above)..

I like the wing but would find a way to either elevate it a little or integrate the side-sails with the side of the car better..

I presume that the doors would open much as they do on the RCR70.

All in all - this is one very fine looking piece of work...

[Bill D]

That is one sexy car Fran. Stunning!!!

[Fran Hall RCR]

Randy,
the windshield will be DOT glass(its the law)...and the side windows will have a small flip over catch much like CanAm cars did ...this stops the windows moving around.
The driving position is very low and the door belt line is indeed at shoulder height....when seated.

I find it funny that you guys are mentioning the detail infront of the front wheels....its exactly the same as the production SL-Coupe and nobody has even mentioned it previously........looks great in real life and is fully functional...

Thanks for the comments and compliments....

Keep your thoughts coming.........even if we do ignore them all for production...

[Grant]

Originally Posted by gt40fran

Keep your thoughts coming.........even if we do ignore them all for production...

Surely you won't change the SL-C's tooling just for a topless version? In any case, my only suggestion would be some canards under the headlights, but I'm not sure if there is enough of an angle in that area... And canards are something thats not so difficult for the builder to attach himself... and I'm more of a function over form guy than most.

I think the low rear wing is great (assuming it gets clean air that low), although it doesn't look difficult to adjust its height. I like the front splitter stretching around under the headlights too, functional and nice looking. It all puts the Ultima to shame, IMO.

[Dalton]

For a street car you need some sort of emergency top, even if its a crappy piece of fabric sliding into sail extrusions. Removable panel roof would be ideal. Is there room inside for cupholders? Or just your favourite sheep?
Seriously, looks good, but I'm not sure how the market shapes up for an unknown shape such as this (ie. not a replica of anything).
Dalton

[Fran Hall RCR]

Damn Dalton tough crowd....so is a Carrera GT a replica of something..or maybe a Caparo T1.....what about a Spyker....HHMMM....come on live a little.....
My Seiko watch does look like a Rolex though....hehe

[Grant]

Originally Posted by gt40fran

I see this as more of a street car...but being less may be more and guys may actually prefer this as a track car....you guys tell me...!!!!!

I like it for more of a track car. The lack of a roof means it'll be much easier to get in and out of with a full cage in it, which is especially important if its on fire!

Can't say if I'd buy one or not, I need to go see a SL car (or the factory) after the holidays are over.

[Ben Whittle]

Fran I actually officially now hate you.......

I had my heart set on building a FFR Cobra, I've been searching and researching and searching.

Today, literally I've pretty much made the decision for serveral reasons that I wasn't going to start with the Cobra but I was going to start with the Superlite Roadster which I can definitely afford and in theory shouldn't take long to 'assemble', so I started looking for more info on the Roadster..... now I see this thread and THATS when I hated you.

You see don't get me wrong, the Superlite Coupe is a lovely looking car but somehow....just didn't tickle me enough to completely fall for it, I know we've talked about a Superlite 'Coupe-Roadster' before and now I see this and NOW it is complete, NOW it is tickling the necessary and NOW I am drawn form the Roadster AND the Cobra... Fran I hate you....

So are you going to do it then

[Paul Osborn]

Originally Posted by Benji

Fran I actually officially now hate you.......

I had my heart set on building a FFR Cobra, I've been searching and researching and searching.

Today, literally I've pretty much made the decision for serveral reasons that I wasn't going to start with the Cobra but I was going to start with the Superlite Roadster...

He gets that a lot, as he ruins a lot of plans.

[David Marx]

Originally Posted by gt40fran

Damn Dalton tough crowd....so is a Carrera GT a replica of something..or maybe a Caparo T1.....what about a Spyker....HHMMM....come on live a little.....
My Seiko watch does look like a Rolex though....hehe

It looks kind of like McLaren designed a Mark IV/F430 spyder hybrid. It has a lot of neat design qeues. Todays' kits are much more like production cars than what we used to see in the kit/replica market (although there still are some fiberglass oddities being produced to bolt onto a VW platform). Not to diminish Fran's craft, but it seems like today if you can dream it, it can be built, and built to high standards. Very exciting. BTW, is there a market for a BMW M1 replica? There are a lot of 3.4l Porsche motors out there that were swapped out of Caymans for 3.8s that need a home.

[JMT-Z]

Originally Posted by salmjo1

When I said hardtop, I meant removable hardtop, and I was thinking of the CGT!

And no, it has to be Gulf... oh well !!

I agree that it shoudl have something even if its just a button on rag top like the Ultima Can Am....

[Fran Hall RCR]

The issue arises with the windscreen...

The Le Mans does not have a wrap over profile and as such the height is not compatible for having a roof .
The top edge of the screen has no surround so there would be no fixture point for fasteners....