My project idea revealed
Hi guys
Haven't been on here for ages as I've been trying to get my Ford Anglia finished and with the crap weather I haven't been able to get to the GT40.
However inbetween working on the cars I've been beavering away with my project idea. What I have been thinking about is producing a mid engined car to my own design but trying to use an exisiting road car as the base and then rebodying the car. If you think Aston Martin Zagato etc or Hot rod style builds then you get the idea. The reason for this would be to save time developing a chassis, running gear etc and if you pick the right car you have a great starting point.
So what about the design. I did think about designing my own look car but there has been a car that for years I was hoping they would build a modern version of and it's never quite happened. I know you guys will know the car well as the original uses a GT40 gearbox. I am talking about the De Tomaso Pantera. A true 70's sports car icon and a car I've always been a massive fan of.
I have been working ona few designs and have been working with several car designers on the project and after about 60 different designs I've produced some concept sketches that illustrate the design direction I am thinking. However the design went into 3D production this week and we quickly hit a massive issue with the roof line of the donor car.
The problem is that most, if not all modern day mid engined cars have the cabin positioned very far forward in the car. If you look at the Audi R8 and Gallardo for example they are very much forward weighted with short stubby noses. To create the Pantera look the car needs to have a long nose and so we looked at taking a donor car and removing the roof and positioning it further back in the car. However the packaging is too tight so it doesn't look like the project is going to be a starter.
So I thought it was time to let the cat out of the bag and share my work and project idea. If you guys have any thoughts on a suitable donor car to base this kind of project on then please share your thoughts. I have thought about using a custom chassis but really the project then becomes a much bigger beast and I really saw this as a coachbuilding excerise rather than a scratch build
I know there will be a load of you guys saying, you shouldn't have bothered etc but hey, I gave it ago and maybe there is a way yet to get the project moving in the future. Finally I hope you like the design.
Thanks
Trev