KITCAR DESIGN sketches/concepts year 2008-10

[fuoriserie]

Midas said:

you can have that white one if you like, althought I want a bit more than £300 for it.

that is a nice car...

[fuoriserie]

Midas said:

Thanks, although it will have to go to fund the garage

Here's another, hope the picture works

this is a very nice one too..

[fuoriserie]

Midas said:

and another

nice project car......perfect for a little design update..

[fuoriserie]

blitzracing said:

Can't someone just do a decent body for the GWizz to bring things up to date? After all this is about the future not past, and there is no shortage of track day cars. The Gwizz is switching to Lithiam batteries soon with AC motors, so the general technologies catching up. Its just so pig ugly like a lot of kit cars. Now just look at the Tesla (Lotus Elise underpinnings) , although its 10 times the cost of the Gwizz. There got to be some mid ground here, and we have to move forward. Id buy electric for my 30 miles to work and back.

http://www.teslamotors.com/

http://www.goingreen.co.uk/store/content/gwiz

I totally agree with you, and really believe that a few kitcar manufacturers should contemplate this market in the future

Sometimes you need money and a vision, and some do and others don't.....

I think a few are already working behind the scenes on something, and just look at Westfields new design competition, "Design an Electric sportscar theme"..

You could get any kitcar chassis and convert it to electric, and both have the style you want with electric power.....

I have my design ready for that, a porsche retro speedster design.......

Italo

Edited by fuoriserie on Tuesday 8th January 15:03

[fuoriserie]

FlossyThePig said:

fuoriserie said:

Midas said:

and another

nice project car......perfect for a little design update..

It's a late Mk2 - I've got an eatly Mk2 (smaller flares over front wheels) sitting in the garage waiting for a complete rebuild. Latest idea is to use four Lynch (electric) motors, one for each wheel. It's sat in the garage for ten years so don't hold your breath.

Nice idea......, something different and new and would really be a modern alternative vehicle.

You should build it ....!!!

Italo

Edited by fuoriserie on Wednesday 9th January 14:18

[fuoriserie]

I was wondering what to do with an Ultima chassis and a Porsche flat 6 engine, unfortunately I don't have either...........so here is my rough sketch...

Edited by fuoriserie on Sunday 13th January 18:35

Edited by fuoriserie on Sunday 13th January 18:37

[fuoriserie]

Midas said:

And here's the finished car?

The Artega GT is a nice looking car........

[fuoriserie]

Davi said:

Snapper7 said:

Looks very nice, just got to get someone to make it and keep the price under £24k'ish

you won't be happy with the pricetag around £55k then...

yep....

[fuoriserie]

groomi said:

^^Looks a lot like an old Ginetta G15 - which is not a bad thing.^^

Edited by groomi on Monday 14th January 22:14

I've always liked this little Ginetta.....

[fuoriserie]

kmquare said:

Same goes for the GTM 40TR which was just insane.

Yep.......

[fuoriserie]

jon0m said:

Davi - This isn't just an environmental issue - I work in the oil industry and we are relying on despots and gangsters to keep our transport systems (and by extension our entire social systems) running. At some stage they will hold us to ransom, if you don't think Chavez and Putin are doing so already.

Jon
I agree with you, they are doing that already in Italy, we've had to make a deal for our Gas supplies, and it wasn't on our terms....but at Putin's, just like it happened in Germany last year.

We need to get some creative thinking in the very near future...

[fuoriserie]

JenkinsComp said:

The body buck for the Veeteor is now finished, all smooth and ready for the mould to be taken from it.
The mould will be taken in one go, then cut into sections and detailed so that the actual bodywork can be produced in 2 or 3 separate pieces. Aiming for December 2007 for the first set of bodywork, production 2008?
I'm really pleased with the rear lights and the side detail now that it's done.

Hi Chris, is your design project finished ?, I'm looking forward to seeing the finished car.

Cheers
Italo

[fuoriserie]

Griffmonster said:

Hi guys, I'm Griff and I thought here was the best place to post details of my exciting plans for 2010.

Below are a couple of images of the first product I'm planning to launch next year. It's called the Seren (Welsh for "Star") and is a modern styled mid engined roadster to be sold in kit form.





I'd appreciate your feedback on the design.

Thanks

Hi Griff, I like your new design and as others have pointed out earlier, it does look like being influenced by the old Strathcarron. The deisng has a lot of potential in my opinion but I would like to see it over a chassis to judge its proportions, as is it's hard to tell.

Is this rendering based on an exhisting chassis or is it bespoke ?, it would be easier to judge its dimensions.

Looking forward to more pictures and information on your new project...

Italo

Edited by fuoriserie on Sunday 18th October 10:01

[fuoriserie]

seansverige said:

cymtriks said:

...continuity of supply.... taken from a low volume car or obscure car are likely to drop you in it

Italo: really enjoyed this thread and it's given me a lot to think about but even before Griff's post it seemed to have descended into an argument about battery packs - worth starting a new thread? Also, I can't find the Stoneleigh 2007 thread you refer to in the OP: will it have beem archived or have you got a link? Ta

I can't find the thread you're looking for, but these are some of the best threads with great discussions on kitcar design and the industry as whole.

They are about 5-6 yrs of discussions and comments, :

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Enjoy .......

Cheers
Italo

[fuoriserie]

seansverige said:

Wow, looks like I've got some reading to do! - talk to you at Christmas

I've made a few notes so far, but I'll hold off until I've gone through this lot...

It will take you just a few hours in reading but they're worth the info, still valid today....

I'm re-reading it myself as I've forgotten some of it.....

Edited by fuoriserie on Sunday 18th October 15:08

[fuoriserie]

seansverige said:

Off topic, but Jenson did it!

Not a huge Button fan but been getting really sick of the 'does he deserve the championship' non-story and glad he sealed the deal in fine style.

Back to my homework....

congratulations to him.......

[fuoriserie]

seansverige said:

Right: read the thread from the start, plus the others Italo put me on to has given me a fair bit to digest and think about. I've tried to be brief as possible but there's a lot to cover; basically I'd like to identify topics areas of interest and start threads as necessary.

Aside from the cars the industry should be making, the major theme that emerged was quality: quality in terms of exterior / interior design, in terms of fit and finish, NVH, ease of build, customer support. This is obviously a huge topic, so if of interest I suggest it's broken down into specific areas.

Of course I still want to debate cars the industry should be making: clearly there is no single car - but if we defined a few basic briefs, would it be fun to knock about some proposals? Unfortunately most of the pics have been lost from the older posts but gotta admit am dead curious about Murtaya Coupe referred to in this thread....

Clearly vehicle exterior / interior design is my obsession, and within that subject there specific topics to discuss - maybe only of interest to Italo & myself
- debate about design themes: retro vs. radical etc
- kitcar cues: in the derogatory sense what marks out a kitcar - for example large, flat panel with bullseye lights mounted arbitrarily on it with no attendent form
..and on the flip side
- where do kitcars have the edge over the big boys?

I think there's a big difference between the cars we'd like to see developed and those that will actually be developed: from a rational point of view it's very hard to argue against an Exo. It was that thought that drove the rebody idea; but there are a few gaping flaws - it assumes a skillset (exterior/ interior design) that has not historically been an industry strong suit (to put it mildy ); buying in the requisite expertise is an additional cost over and above the development and tooling costs; Exos don't have niceties such doors, windows etc., which limits the kind of rebody you can propose without structural changes: more cost.

With regard to that last point - are there ways to mitigate development costs? The Strathcarron has spawned some descendents. Acquiring a set of TVR moulds is a pipedream but whatever happened to the FBS Census? By all accounts, it quality of engineering was inversely related to it's beauty - therefore surely crying out for a rebody? (is the FBS Census itself worthy of debate?). What other 'lost' cars are there?

Aside from the car, what else is commonly missed? Customer service seems to have cropped up more than once - can we cite examples (no names, no pack drill). Marketing generally but I'm gobsmacked how underutilised the interweb is - and given how much you can get for free, the only thing it will cost is time.

Hobby vs. Dayjob: a couple of interesting conversations over the summer seemed to indicate that for many of makers, kits were not the main breadwinner but a sideline. IF we accept that, what are the knock on effects - I would guess low risk, low cost approach to development >> another seven or exo

If kits do pay the bills, what unexploited non-traditional niches & markets are there? What about Max Power generation - are panel kits the way to go: surely this is only a step or two on from a full Wings West or Erebuni bodykit? Export markets: small British sportscars are loved all over the world, how easy is to sell to export markets. Have the Hoppa & Jester, etc. found sales as holiday buggies on the Med? Has anyone heard of a Bradley (I think that's the name)? Basically American made buggy for use on industrial sites, not much to it, lead acid batteries - that'll be £20k(!) please sir.

State of the nation: what is the perception of the current health of the industry? Could there ever be another Dutton or has the landscape fundamentally shifted?

I'm looking forward to working on and discussing new kitcar concepts in the coming months and hopefully we can come up with a few kitcar concepts.

I agree with you that we could split some of the discussions on different topics in the forum to make it easier for everyone to contribute their ideas and coments.

I know that there are quite a few designers lurking in here without posting, maybe this thread revival might get them to contribute thoughts, ideas and sketches for all of us to enjoy .

Maybe we should identify as you have pointed out in the post, what type of kitcar design is of interest for an intended and well identified potential niche.

Exo is going to be with us for the years to come, in various forms and concepts that have yet to be designed, but that could become an addition to the exhisting kits, in fact I have two concept that i would like to develop, an exo-coupe and an exo-buggy onto a mid -engine chassis.

I like rebodies and think that it could have some of the Max Power kids, but instead of using hatchbacks we could use Mazda Mx5's or Mr2 to create new bodies to fit.

Another niche that is almost absent is the 4x4 apart from a few well established kits, there is a lot that can be done, by rebodying Suzuki Sj or Vitara chassis, Land Rover Defenders or Discovery and so on.

There is another special niche that I've been working with a friend and that is the Amphibious kitcar niche.......

We could tackle every corner of the kitcar market and come up with so many different projects, but the only recomendation is to do it on exhisiting kitcar chassis, or regular manufactured chassis instead of starting from scratch.

The kitcar industry has so many chassis to offer and that we can play with, we just all need to create a pleasing body for them all........

Maybe we could divide the projects by proposing a few themes and have people decide what they would like to see developed as a design, out of a set of car design concepts.

We could also divide the projects by FWD concepts or RWD concept, 4x4 or 3 wheelers......

So much stuff to cover that we will still be here by Christmas 2009.......

Italo

Edited by fuoriserie on Wednesday 21st October 12:54

[fuoriserie]

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
a had forgotten of this very interesting thread......

[fuoriserie]

Ferg said:

fergiejames said:

Hi Guys,
Thought I'd post some pictures of my finl year major project

Its called the Westfield GT and it is designed as the replacement for the GTM Libra now that GTM is owned by Pozenza Sportscars (Owners of Westfield)

A pretty car, hardly surprising since it borrows heavily from the Libra.
Sadly, I'll eat my car if Westfield produce this car and sell it within a decent time frame if ever. The costs of producing it when compared with the likely production run simply don't stack up.....
Shame.

I agree with you...