Building a new sports car, where to start?

As I said Trev I admire your enthusiasm but be carefull not to have loads of wheels in your garage and not one of them turning!
Idea though.. Get an Ultima chassis and make something around that.
There chassis's are strong, fairly light, handle very well and cheap in my opinion @less than 3k.
All the very best goodies like AP racing and 740 H.P. engines just bolt on and you will be lucky to catch one on a circuit.
And best of all the hard work has been done for you.

 

[Dave P]

Hey Trevor:

It is funny how the mind tends to wander during a project. I have been thinking forward to the next project also. Lola MKII or a monocoque GT40 spyder maybe a old INDY styled roadster even thought about building a 3 wheeler like a morgan. Then I think about the 3 K in parts I need for this one and reality crashes in.

 

[John]

Here is a thread of a guy who had a similar idea.
Time, money and persistance can pay off.

This actually started off as a gtm project idea... - FFCars.com : Factory Five Racing Discussion Forum

 

Wandering a bit, but a long time ago I wanted to build V8 powered milk float.
I saw one at the drag strip on two wheels and thought it was seriously cool to pull up at the lights and leave black lines for a mile

" ERNIE " comes to mind

Only a Brit will remember Ernie, he drove the fastest milkfloat in the west !

 

[TrevS]

Here is a thread of a guy who had a similar idea.
Time, money and persistance can pay off.

This actually started off as a gtm project idea... - FFCars.com : Factory Five Racing Discussion Forum

Good find, just spent my lunch hour reading through the thread. That guy has done a very good job and seemed to have the right idea by making a car for himself firstly and then worrying about making it a business

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

Made in Detroit......

Jeff was here yesterday picking up some more parts we just made from him.

Not wanting to dissuade you from you plans Tev but....

He has close to a million USD into the project...Jeff did all his own CAD work too on the exterior stying..and that was before we got involved and did a chassis and drivetrain package for him....which we did for next to nothing to keep his project moving forward in a professional manner...(but I get future residuals)

The million dollars got him a running prototype but not a production ready car...and that was using connections around Detroit and pulling some favours too....The Falcon is bitchin in the flesh....
FYI...we also make all the billet parts used in the cool twin plenum carbon intake system too....

 

[Jackal]

That is one stunning car.

 

[René]

or something like Gulwing-America wants to build more...
on a basis of a Porsche 987 Boxster they build a sort 904...
finally a cool "boxster" :laugh:

 

[Seymour Snerd]

That's what happens to a 904 when you leave it out in the sun too long....

Trevor -- you're going to build something from your own imagination, right? I think the world is filling up with "tributes"; it's time to stop pining for the past and start looking to the future.

 

[Jimmy P]

Are we looking at America's Horatio Pagani as far as that FALCON goes? Very nice work.

 

[TrevS]

Hi all

Been thinking about this project for a few weeks now and trying to work out what might be a suitable donor to use. I want the car to be a mid engined sports car so that already eliminates quiet a few options. I thought about starting with something like a cosmetically damaged Audi R8 and then building my design on that kind of platform but I don't really like the shape of a lot of modern day mid engined cars. They all seem to have very short blunt noses and long backs (think Bugatti Veyron). They do have presence but I wouldn't call them pretty.

Anyway so I've looked at lots of options and think maybe a Lotus Evora might be a good base car. It's already a brilliant car and has the kind of proportions I want for my design and is I feel a bit of a marmite car. Some people really like the design but personally I really don't like the front of the car and I think there is room to improve it or take it in a slightly different direction.

So the question I have for you guys is do you think this could be a good base car and what about the possibility of removing the Toyota V6 and replacing it with something like a Coyote V8? Would this be possible as I know the Evoras engine is transversely mounted?

Thanks

Trev

 

[René]

the evora is a nice car, although its not that light...
going from transverse to longitudinal does mean extra length? difficult I guess...

do you know the "de Tomaso" Qvale Mangusta? also not light but it has some nice things, a lovely type roof which can be used as a Targa or even cabriolet (nice system) and has a nice V8 under the bonnet...(which can be tuned) but the outside is a bit euhm...ugly especially the front...

those cars are pretty rare but also "cheap" to get (look say on mobile.de)...and would be nice to give a better look, they deserve it.

here some more pictures with the roof gadgets>>

http://carscoopcar.blogspot.nl/2010/06/qvale-mangusta-for-sale-on-ebay.html

ofcorse there's also de Tomaso Guara which is mid engined...but that one is expensive to use as a base...bit has a very sporty lay-out under the carros.

 

[TrevS]

Designing my own car

Hi all

Well I've decided to give this car design thing a go for myself. I don't have an unlimited pile of money but I do have an idea that I think will work and plenty of enthusiasm so I thought it was worth investigating.

I don't want to go in to too many details at the moment as it's still early days but I created a design brief for a concept and I've been working with a very talented car designer in the Netherlands for the past month. Together we identified a suitable base car and he then produced me several designs and renders based on the brief which I've been reworking and refining. As I have a background in design being able to do a lot of the work myself means that I am not having to spend huge amounts of money at the concept stage.

So far I've got the basic concept sketches drawn up and am working on a set of digital plan drawings. I've already done the side plan and top plan so have the front and back plan drawings to finish. Once the initial drawings are done they will be sent to another car designer in Australia who is going to produce a full 3D model of the car and rework the design for me. At that point I'll have something that I can show to you guys and get some feedback and thoughts on. The final step will then be sending the model and drawings to a 3D CAD guy I've found over here in the UK to create a CAD model of the car the relevant drawings to actually produce the body.

As I said I don't have a huge amount of money and things will start to get more expensive when it gets to the CAD stage which will only go ahead if the design comes out well and gets a positive reaction.

So there you have it, I've taken the plunge and decided to see what I can come up with. Watch this space

Trev

 

How's the 40 progressing Trev ?

 

[René]

good thing Trev, will follow.

 

[TrevS]

How's the 40 progressing Trev ?

Yeah I get it Keith, don't start too many projects . The GT40 is still moving along I just haven't posted any updates. It's ready for the brakes but I can't do that until my Anglia is finished so I am in limbo waiting for the bodyshop while they finish off that car.

I find times on my builds that I can't do too much due to money, waiting for parts or waiting for other people to do jobs so I thought during these quiet periods I could do some planning on this project. Obviously the GT40 comes first.

 

Hi Trev, I think the quality of your 40 is bloody good, in fact too good.
I have seen over the years loads of people start builds and years later sell them on unfinished.
It's sometimes hard to keep motivated if the build is too slow.
You go to a car show see a 40 and get motivated again.
Building the 40 start to finish will give you loads of experience and set you up for the next build.
I made the mistake of not concentrating on one build and making it the best one out there , but keep on building, restoring, building etc etc etc.
It will cost shed loads of hard earned.
To many projects will drag you down.
I am speaking from experience, this is my last build .... Probably.
Karting, Restorations, six car builds, and at least 13 motorcycle resto's
I should have just built one serious motor.

 

[Bill R.]

Hi Trev,
I was reading about your project idea. Having designers work on your project sounds like it could get expensive. If you need a good cheap CAD program might I suggest Rhino 3d. It can be bought for a little over 700 dollars and seems to be just as capable as a program like solidworks. I've been using it for a little over 3 years now and found many solutions to design problems as I've been creating in 3D. Funny how problems lead to solutions that amount to more problems, but its a good way to sure up your design and avoid interference issues when you go to construct the car. Cheers and happy designing!

Bill

 

[TrevS]

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

 

[TrevS]

Some images for comparison, old vs new