KITCAR DESIGN sketches/concepts year 2008-10

[seansverige]

Coming at with fresh eyes, a lot might be down to perspective: both are slightly exaggerated views which help give the them impact. The first is wide angle > nose looks bigger, second is single point perspective > overhang looks shorter. Either way, the relevant bit (roof) looks grand.

Neil - OK to forward the pics & info?

[fuoriserie]

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

[seansverige]

nice one.

fuoriserie said:

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

plus

seansverige said:

'kitcar design cues' idea - not only do I want to identify bad habits, I'd like to propose alternative strategies

As regards the thread you linked, I'd propose Alfa Duetto Spider, Porsche 908, Ferrari 250GT Lusso, Matra 660 - I don't know that any of them have been done before; however, with the exception of the Alfa, getting ahold of them for reference poses some interesting problems. As regards the Alfa - why not a kit to 'save' old ones (not sure how the Alfisti would take that) - i.e. transplant usable bits onto new body, or a conversion kit for the kamm tail to boat tail, though that's so obvious someone's got to have done it.

Anyway, joining these to ideas together: what are the great lost concept cars gagging for manufacture? I know the Furai is mentioned in the thread, but I'm talking about something a little less demanding in terms of bodywork, - like Griffmonsters muse, the Suzuki GSX/R4. Here are my first few:

Mazda Ibuki:

(you could be cheeky and make it MX-5 based....;) )

and Toyota CS&S


It's only as I looked at them together I realised just quite how similar they are.

Intermediate difficulty - the Seat Tango


You've even got inspiration for a race oroiented monoposto ready made too

[thescamper]

seansverige said:

nice one.


Mazda Ibuki:

That is just crying out to be a rebody mx5.

[p1doc]

very nice pics neil i see the fuel cap has been moved and the roof loks very nice with exige s style full length vent-could it be retofitted to my hardtop....
martin
ps looking forward to tue

[kennyrayandersen]

I like that little Toyota rendering -- that would be a snap with the MR2 mechanicals

[Ferg]

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.

[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...

[Twincam16]

kennyrayandersen said:

I like that little Toyota rendering -- that would be a snap with the MR2 mechanicals

Often thought the Mk1 MR2 would be the ideal basis for an RS200 replica myself. Even the 4A-GE engine is based around a stripped down Ford-Cosworth BDA with Toyota reliability added through the TVIS head, so mechanically it's not too far removed either. In terms of general dimensions it's spot-on.

Also, the Achilles heels of the MR2 were rust and not exactly pretty looks. An RS200 rebody solves both these problems.

[Twincam16]

seansverige said:

- 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?

Hmm. I think 'retro' is one area in which kit cars have a massive edge over modern manufacturers, as kits can get away with looking absolutely identical to the original. Even though the best of the modern retro designs (I'm thinking Fiat 500 here) are good-looking in their own way, they don't have that slimline elegance and simplicity that you can get away with in a kit car that doesn't have to contend with things like airbags or pedestrian crash protection regulations. Jaguar, for instance, couldn't produce a new XK that looked identical to the '50s XK140, but Autotune can.

However, I also think kit car design can be radical in a way that the mainstream can't. If your car has to sell in the millions to Bloggs families the world over, it will end up as a bland compromise. If a kit car is strikingly radical to look at, even if it divides opinion, it'll probably sell to a significant number of home-builders.

One or two kit car design cues I'm not liking at the moment: Individual taillights just bolted to the bodywork. A dead giveaway that the car is a kit (it even looks awful on the Pagani Zonda). Surely just moulding in a recess to cover them with and fairing over them with some smoked perspex would go a long way to disguising this approach.

Bolting on an enormous BTCC-style spoiler to freshen up an ageing design is a bit of a cop-out too. I'm of the opinion that the best designs are the ones that don't need anything adding to them. A spoiler is almost an admission that the car has been pushed slightly further than its original design was intended in order to compete with purpose-built rivals.

One thing I think the kit car industry could do (and I see it's already been picked up on earlier) is building roadgoing versions of concept cars manufacturers don't bother putting into production. This might get especially easy as they're often used to 'showcase the next generation of design cues' or whatever, so in the process will create a handy, accurate parts bin for the kit in the process.

I think another area in which the kit industry could intervene is in quadricycles, electric cars and small, possibly even single-person city transport, existing in a kind of crossover genre between motorbikes and small cars.

[Moogle]

fuoriserie said:

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...

It is a pretty car yes or at least has potential however, I don't see how this borrows from the Libra at all although I hate to say this but I do think it borrows heavily from the Tommy Kaira ZZII concept:

http://files.conceptcarz.com/img/kaira/tommy_kaira...

http://sportscarforums.com/gallery/data/65/Tommy_K...

http://www.drifting.com/forums/attachments/picture...

I wish someone would revive that concept, maybe as a kit car.

[seansverige]

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

A reference to a new kitcar from Anglesey launching at Stoneleigh on totalkitcar.com caught my eye. Does this mean you're on schedule? Top Stuff!

[disco don]

hi, ive just been reading your letters. im new to car design, and have just finished my first design. its called a hummer hx, its an electric car small, light, and nippy but not that fast top end. two seater and two options fully enclosed or open top. the light waight means it passes as a tri-quad.its a good option and cool looking [i hope]. i took the chassis and suspension design from existing designs off the net and carved the body from foam and timber. the body is fibregless, which is a cheap way of low sales manifacture. molds are not to expensive. ive chosen a two oz lay up with extra cor mat to keep the car light. the front sus is double "a" frame, and the rear is "a" frame construction link bars. the chassis is steel box and ally floor and bulk head, again to keep it light. take a look on minielectric vehicles.