I've always lusted after a Can-am car, a BIG Chevy with MASSIVE twenty-one inch wide rubber and HUGE organ pipes jutting out every which way from behind the drivers head. But I wanted a track car and a street ride, even I understand how very impractical a Lola T70 spider or the like would be as a street car. I was also torn between the brute muscle of a Can-am and the current ground effect and technical sophistication of F1 and LeMans. I can only afford one such toy so it took over two years since I first contacted RCR for the right combination make itself available.
Fast forward to a month before Carslile 2007. I visited Fran's shop for the second time, there I saw bits and pieces of what was to become the Yellow SLC on the website. There were chassis and suspension parts laying about but no body, just the body plug. Mike Moore was crafting the instrument bezel with loving care and showed me what the dash panel and remaining interior parts were to look like, I wondered around the shop talking to the crew about bikes and cars, I even helped Fran bolt suspension on a Lola chassis. As it turned out I must have liked what I saw and heard, as I surprised even myself when I let Fran know I wanted to put a deposit on that random pile of parts in the other room! We adjourned to the office to work out the details and afterwards I stepped into the shop and proudly announced "You all work for me now!"
Fran's Carlisle car will be SLC-P, my chassis will be SLC 001, and at this moment I can tell you 001 will be powered by an all aluminum big block Chevy of 540 cubic inches operating on pump gas with either Twin Turbos or Kinsler fuel injection ( I cannot use a newer engine unless I am willing to deal with California smog and smog checks, which of course I am NOT ). It may very well start out normally aspirated and then get switched over to turbos after all the bugs are worked out. Or maybe not, once I realize 750hp + is quite insane enough, thank you. The box will be Ricardo connected by a SPEC twin disc carbon clutch rated at 1,600 pounds. The shifting will be paddle shift utilizing a Master Shift setup. All that power will be transferred to the ground (Ok well SOME of it will get transferred to the ground) via 20'' by 17''w rear wheels for street and 18'' by 15''w for track use, fronts will be 18'' track or street.
I will mod the rear body to accommodate the 28'' dia tires (current LeMans prototype size) and I also plan to make the whole rear panel hinge up to show off all the combined handiwork under the ''hood''. The body will most likely be bright red and the interior a two tone tan leather / suede combination. Mirrors will be via cameras mounted in the nose, sail panels and roof, all connected to a steering wheel switchable normal position rear view screen. The ones in the nose will help me see down the road before pulling out of parking lots with obscured vision. I already have enough trouble with this in my NSX.
Some of you may remember I bought a Ferrari 360 engine and transmission to possibly use in my build, in the end I didn't think it would offer the kind of power I wanted for track use. So they are up for sale if interested.
As a teenager I built a 914 V8 Porsche, I spent every spare penny to build it, in the end it was a very cool car for a kid, but it did have some shortcomings only money could have solved. I vowed someday I'd make up for those shortcomings. My last visit to RCR was the start of that endeavor.
I have a lot of work ahead of me and some very talented guys on this forum to learn from and follow.
Wish me luck.
Rob
Fast forward to a month before Carslile 2007. I visited Fran's shop for the second time, there I saw bits and pieces of what was to become the Yellow SLC on the website. There were chassis and suspension parts laying about but no body, just the body plug. Mike Moore was crafting the instrument bezel with loving care and showed me what the dash panel and remaining interior parts were to look like, I wondered around the shop talking to the crew about bikes and cars, I even helped Fran bolt suspension on a Lola chassis. As it turned out I must have liked what I saw and heard, as I surprised even myself when I let Fran know I wanted to put a deposit on that random pile of parts in the other room! We adjourned to the office to work out the details and afterwards I stepped into the shop and proudly announced "You all work for me now!"
Fran's Carlisle car will be SLC-P, my chassis will be SLC 001, and at this moment I can tell you 001 will be powered by an all aluminum big block Chevy of 540 cubic inches operating on pump gas with either Twin Turbos or Kinsler fuel injection ( I cannot use a newer engine unless I am willing to deal with California smog and smog checks, which of course I am NOT ). It may very well start out normally aspirated and then get switched over to turbos after all the bugs are worked out. Or maybe not, once I realize 750hp + is quite insane enough, thank you. The box will be Ricardo connected by a SPEC twin disc carbon clutch rated at 1,600 pounds. The shifting will be paddle shift utilizing a Master Shift setup. All that power will be transferred to the ground (Ok well SOME of it will get transferred to the ground) via 20'' by 17''w rear wheels for street and 18'' by 15''w for track use, fronts will be 18'' track or street.
I will mod the rear body to accommodate the 28'' dia tires (current LeMans prototype size) and I also plan to make the whole rear panel hinge up to show off all the combined handiwork under the ''hood''. The body will most likely be bright red and the interior a two tone tan leather / suede combination. Mirrors will be via cameras mounted in the nose, sail panels and roof, all connected to a steering wheel switchable normal position rear view screen. The ones in the nose will help me see down the road before pulling out of parking lots with obscured vision. I already have enough trouble with this in my NSX.
Some of you may remember I bought a Ferrari 360 engine and transmission to possibly use in my build, in the end I didn't think it would offer the kind of power I wanted for track use. So they are up for sale if interested.
As a teenager I built a 914 V8 Porsche, I spent every spare penny to build it, in the end it was a very cool car for a kid, but it did have some shortcomings only money could have solved. I vowed someday I'd make up for those shortcomings. My last visit to RCR was the start of that endeavor.
I have a lot of work ahead of me and some very talented guys on this forum to learn from and follow.
Wish me luck.
Rob
