GT40 evolution in carbon fiber

Did you ever see something like that?

When I got my first ride in a GT40 last year the owner suggested to visit another guy who had a GT40 project in his garage which I would find more than interesting - and he was absolutely right!

The pictured car's body is competly made of carbon fiber with some added "goodies" like a diffusor, integrated front and rear spoiler, removable roof parts and so on. The interior is also mostly made of carbon and alluminium - hope you like the pics!

Cheers,
Volker

 

Here's a more detailed front pic....

 

One of the rear section....

 

Look at the the diffusor and the exhaust pipes.....

 

And here's one of the interior - the toggle switches are from an airplane....

 

[Bill Bayard]

This guy must have a ton of time and money tied up there.

That much carbon fiber means BIG $$$$$$$!!!!

Neat front spoiler and diffuser!

Not so neat nostril panel and rear wing!

My hat's off to this guy! One hell of an effort! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

He HAS tons of time and money - as far as I know he owns a company which is a self-runner....
Here are some more pics....

 

And more....

 

Another one...

 

And what you see upright at the wall is part of his next project - a GT40 roadster, also carbon fiber made.
The paint job for the car shown above should be done during the winter, I hope I can get new pics soon to show it finished.

 

[James]

I am sorry. But that looks vile. The shape has been bludgeoned! Not sure what's going on here!

Is this a light weight racer? You might save some weight with a light carbon lay up. But the real savings in weight come from using Ali uprights, ali blocks, magnesium wheels, light weight shocks etc.

I bet that spoiler adds another 20kg! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Each to his own I guess.

Also what chasis is it?

Regards,

J.P

 

Sorry - I have some trouble to understand your comments. What means "vile"? And "bludgeoned"? These terms are unknown for me, I'm german....

The guy who made this car told me that it's his own opinion of a further developed GT40 using today's materials and technologys. His intention was to create a car which can be recognized as a GT40, but improved in many details. For example, the front spoiler, rear wing and diffusor have been computer simulated before making and they should produce a front and rear downforce of more than 450 kg at 200 km/h. Radiator is made from two Audi V8 aluminium radiators, welded together and connected to eliminate the smallest possibility of overheating. Brakes are Porsche six-piston calipers. Instead of A/C he installed the removable roof parts - and so on.
Of course taste may vary - but the work is excellent done.

I can't remember exactly about the basic chassis type, but I think it was a Tornado frame. I'll add another pic of the fron section, maybe somebody recognizes the chassis type.

Regards,
Volker

 

[Mike Dozier]

Something doesn't look right...

This guy has spent a ton on carbon fiber body/interior...
but the frame is 50 year old tube steel technology.

And the suspension is probably 40 year old technology.
Sorry...not all that impressed.

MikeD

 

[ QUOTE ]
This guy has spent a ton on carbon fiber body/interior...
but the frame is 50 year old tube steel technology.

And the suspension is probably 40 year old technology.

[/ QUOTE ]

At first that's something I couldn't understand, too. I asked him why he left the frame nearly untouched, and he answered that for his opinion a tub steel frame is not that bad compared with a monocoque - but main reason was that the frame in the shown condition is street legal here in Germany!!!
Of course this carbon fiber body is expensive - even if you have some good connections to people who work with it daily - but it's possible to get this modifications certified and legalized.
On the other hand building a new chassis and especially getting it legalized for street use would probably more than expensive, even for somebody who is not a poor person.
The german TÜV organisation can be a huge hurdle for somebody who needs their blessing to use home-made cars on the road - and some owners never manage to climb about this hurdle.

Concerning the suspension I assume he made some further changings - the pics show the nearly finished body, but new brakes are not yet mounted, and some other technical work wasn't finished, too.

For me it was really impressive that this guy realized his dream - even if I don't agree with every detail of the body shape, I admire his kind of work.

Cheers,
Volker

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

I think it's got some neat features, but I don't care all that much for the front end treatment. All this is the good thing about specials, though- you get to express yourself and you don't have to please anyone but you. Good for him.
Besides, there was a lot of experimenting about GT40 body parts, and from what I've read the front and rear clips of several of the competition cars contained a lot of CF tows, which at the time was a space-age material. Now anyone can buy it at a composites store. When I ordered the body for my car, I had the option of getting it in carbon/Kevlar, but passed on it. I did get to compare it, and the weight is clearly different. I opted for regular old GRP, and thicker, thinking that carbon flexes a lot and that the paint would crack. It will be interesting to see what the above car looks like after it's been driven a while.

 

[D.Berry]

Lots of hard work is evident on this car... front end treatment (headlight area) kinda reminds me of an S7 Saleen... rear wing.. well, I'm not so sure of, but if he's happy with it, so am I... One thing though.. Is that a small block chevy in the engine bay? Please, Say it ain't so...

Over all, Pretty damn cool!

mardyn

 

If that body is all carbon and not just the outer layer carbon and the inner layers glass, it would indeed be a ton of money. I don't think the weight saved is worth the money. I'm paying $30.00 US per square yard for carbon fiber and to make a layup strong enough you would need three layers. So now we are $90.00 US per yard to make a body. The question is; how many yards to do a complete body?????? I bet Chris Melia would know.

 

Jim Rosenthol, the reason carbon fiber is used,is for it's stiffness, no flex, and it's lightness. Kevlar is light weight but doesn't impart much stiffness. It's tough as nails though! You need special cutters to cut the dry fabric and works best with epoxy resin in a vac-bag system. Get a wrinkle in it and it wont come out. It doesn't work like the fiberglass we all know and "love". I'm seeing some new weave patterns coming out with different colored Kevlar (red, green) mixed with carbon and glass. The "ricers" are using it in theircars, still a little pricy right now for me to use in any of stuff I make.
This carbon GT is neet & cool stuff and my hat is off the the guy that did all the work but, the body shape changes are not "my cup of tea". not yet!

 

[James]

Sorry guys but neither carbon or kevlar are light.

The weight savings come from using less material because they are stronger not lighter.

e.g

2 layers 4oz E glass
1 layer 4oz carbon

The carbon is much stronger. Even with 1 layer.

However lightweight construction has a massive disadvantage. Impact resistance is severely impared. So don't expect a lightweight construction to stand up to dings.

The real advantage is using the same weight layup as you would use for glass. But using carbon/kevlar instead. No weight savings. But you have a very strong skin, with good impact resistance.

I used to use a carbon manufacturer many years ago. You would need various different cloths to do the job. Woven, plain, twill etc. But I think you could do it for a few grand. Material cost that is! I would use expoxy resin too.
I would guess that on a DIY basis you could do it for about 3-4 grand.

I have seriously considered the option. But I have concluded that the strength and impact resistance offered by MDA's body panels to be more than adequate.

So your options.

Light weight skin with carbon. Dings easily. Save some weight.

Full carbon layup. Same weight as glass construction. Bloody strong and bomb proof. No weight savings. Cost at least 4k.

Normal glass layup. Good strength with good impact resistance.

Regards,

J.P

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Like the rear splitter, the wing and nostrils do nothing for me, but one mans meat etc. Good on the bloke for doing something a bit out there. Look forward to seeing the finished result