RCR's Next car should be.....

[Sandy]

I was at the track the other day and the Atom team was cleaning up after a run (Brammo's the sponsor I think). I'm not sure what the purpose of the car is other then taking to the track. It (The Atom) is has no endearing value and is pretty far out from replacing the '7'. The exo-skeleton remindes me of old sand rails or a mad max car Nothing a tubing bender and a stick welder can't solve. Not much art in that. Good for what it is I guess, but expensive and just odd IMO. Most of those issues I guess can be solved in other ways, but you might have to ask Fran ;-)

Sandy

 

[Ben Whittle]

I keep thinking about the SL Roadster being a great starter car to get me into the kit car market, I'm thinking I would use a stock 2.0 TDI (170PS) Diesel engine from a Mk5 VW Golf and simply use a Superchips, chip to boost it a little but without modifying anything.... I'm pretty certain you would probably have more torque than a Supercharged 2.0 Civic Type-R engine (around 300bhp) which is what you get in certain versions of the Atom 2/3.

It should be a lot simpler kit than others but I would love to see the handling of the SL Roadster proven a bit first or be able to have a go here in the UK

I wonder if the wheels it comes with are magnesium and the tubes are chromo? I wonder how light we could get that thing

 

[Randy V]

The exo-skeleton remindes me of old sand rails or a mad max car Nothing a tubing bender and a stick welder can't solve. Not much art in that. Good for what it is I guess, but expensive and just odd IMO. Most of those issues I guess can be solved in other ways, but you might have to ask Fran ;-)

Sandy

I tend to disagree with you Sandy.. Making a chassis like this would be far from simple. Those long bends are not going to be easy to make in the first place let alone maintaining symmetry between the two sides. Making sure the skeletal support is compliant enough to absorb crash impact as well as rigid enough to keep all 4 wheels on the ground during hard cornering - well - that's just not done by accident...

To me - it is an art and a display of engineering skill...

 

[Brian Hamilton]

Someone should build this for real...

Reasons for this are:
1. Its great looking. IMHO
2. Its original.
3. It suits the use of a FWD drive train in the back so has reasonable volume production possibilities.
4. The designer of this is alive (I've lost his name) and kicking and and produced this I believe as an individual so could probably be worked with to make sure the job gets done right (and no worrying about corp lawyers).

At the moment I think the money in the kit-car market is in the Baby Boomer bracket hence the lust of 60's sports cars, but as these guys start falling off the perch (a major worry for HD) the focus will shift to gen X who have a different set of memory's and probably wont be lusting after the cars Granddad drove.
This to me is why cars like the Atom have been embraced so well by the market. I see the Atom as the new '7' but what will come to replace the Cobra and the 40 is yet to be decided?

That thing is friggin SICK!! Looks like a smaller Veyron! Gonna make it AWD too? Haha Just kidding. Great looking car though!!

Laters,

Brian

 

[Brian Hamilton]

I tend to disagree with you Sandy.. Making a chassis like this would be far from simple. Those long bends are not going to be easy to make in the first place let alone maintaining symmetry between the two sides. Making sure the skeletal support is compliant enough to absorb crash impact as well as rigid enough to keep all 4 wheels on the ground during hard cornering - well - that's just not done by accident...

To me - it is an art and a display of engineering skill...

You should see it in real life. Absolutely spectacular! I got the chance to see the prototype he took Carlisle and the new & improved version. WOW! Both are killer but he has implimented some design changes in the V2 and it's going to be a killer. I can't wait for it to debut. I'm already saving what pennies I can. haha

 

[AdrianBurton]

Here is a good one that I came across on another board
Gorgeous Dino Concept| Kitcars and Replicar Information

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

Thats a very cool looking car...has a little P4/5 flavour to it...

 

[Richie]

Here is a good one that I came across on another board
Gorgeous Dino Concept| Kitcars and Replicar Information

Do it do it do it!!!rockonsmile

 

[AdrianBurton]

Quote:
Originally Posted by RUFAZZ View Post

Here is a good one that I came across on another board
Gorgeous Dino Concept| Kitcars and Replicar Information
Do it do it do it!!!

And the best part about it is that it is not a copy of anything.

 

[Pat Buckley]

Not trying to blow smoke up your ass here Fran, but I think your SLC is better looking.

 

[Eric]

Fran...the 312P...almost as lovely as the P4, would be a nice addition to the set including 904, 917, T70

 

[Ben Whittle]

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

Thats a cool looking shape...its appearing all over the net at the moment.

I read that its going to be built as a one off for the end of 08 and then a short run of only 20 units...so that suggests it wont be inexpensive....

 

[Randy V]

Thats a cool looking shape...its appearing all over the net at the moment.

I read that its going to be built as a one off for the end of 08 and then a short run of only 20 units...so that suggests it wont be inexpensive....

If you could make one of those cars with a 95/96" wheelbase so it would fit the taller driver comfortably - I think you'd sell a bunch of them.
I think that even FFR realizes that the Cobra market has either reached (or soon will) saturation point.

 

[Ben Whittle]

Yeah, I've seen it around loads of place now.

It really caught my eye, its a much better/worthy successor to the original than the one Ford designed.... in all honesty if anyone ever did a kit for it I'd probably consider it over an original Cobra replica.

I think it looks *damn hot*, I would also be nice if they designed it from the get go to have electric windows so that a proper folding convertible roof could be used and seal the interior properly....

Fran, I'd imagine you'd be pretty hot up on the laws, what is the situation if you ever decided to replicate that exact/almost exact design yourself?

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

Ben,

I would not do that to someone that has spent their time and money to develop an original design, The deserve to be able to build their design and profit from it.

 

[Manny]

Frankly I'm so tired of "Cobras" and Cobra look alikes that I wouldn't build one on a bet. By my calculations there are far more "Cobra" replicas around than Shelby ever build of the originals... Purposeful, yes but beautiful, NOT...

The Detroit Auto Show in 2005 they had the Shelby GR-1, which was a lot prettier than any of the Cobra recreations, but since I am pretty partial to the Daytona coupe I guess that I would have liked it better anyway... That was a close to any Cobra theme that I could concieve of doing.

Anybody who would try to produce any kind of Cobra replica now, with so many variations of them around would have to have rocks in his head. The market would be so small.....

 

[Eric]

wow...no love for the 312P above ? damn shame

The Cobra has been done up one side and down the other. Its a bit too simple a tool for Fran to bother with as he has his own SLC and SLR to refine and develop. there are many companies making good Cobra rep's. And besides, the modern Cobra exists, its called a Viper, whats left to do?

cheers
Eric

 

[Richie]

How about something like this:

Or something like this:

Both are cars made by the french company Leblanc.
The 2nd one is a smaller group C type car powered by a turbocharged 4 cilinder engine.
This might be a good option with the rising gas prices (I'm paying $8.50 a gallon over here!!).

I really like the mini group C car idea personally.

 

[Dan]

Richie the first car is nice.

The Leblanc Caroline looks like a cross between an Ultima and Schupan the design's a little dated.

I think the SLC is nicer then the second car. "Cough , Cough, Discount"

Fran, How about an LMP type open cockpit type car or a SLC roadster?
A SLC-R do you have that variation in the works?