CAR DESIGN PART II

In Car Design Part I (recommended reading), The Good Car guy asked the following questions: Where has design evolved the most? Where has modernity struck heaviest? Who designs with cookie cutters? Which design group resides 'in the box'? Does anybody?

INEXPENSIVE FAMILY VEHICLES

MID-ENGINED SPORTS CARS

From the top: Chevrolet Malibu, Volvo S40, Mazda 5, Audi R8, Ferrari 430 Scuderia, Lotus Europa, Porsche Cayman

OTHER EXOTIC POLICE CARS

Don't take any of these as a serious part of your local police force's method for tracking you down next time you crack 100 in a 60. The Caparo T1 police-edition inspired me to find some other great "paint-and-lights" jobs, most of which are publicity stunts to one degree or another.

500+ bhp Lamborghini Gallardo's do a fantastic job of transporting kidneys and livers down the autostrada. All-wheel drive helps the driver ignore the rain, too.


High horsepower numbers is not a part of the Lotus Exige game. Granted, the S version isn't exactly a weakling. But for crossing the Yorkshire Moors behind too-fast Mitsu Evo's and Subie STi's, nothing will work as well as Lotus' racer for the road.



Brabus is a renowned Mercedes-Benz tuner, probably the most famous aftermarket Benz manufacturer now that AMG is in-house. The Brabus Rocket truly shares characteristics with a high-powered space machine - humanity has never moved so fast (730 horsepower, 360km/h) in a sedan before. Oh... forgot, Mercedes calls it a coupe. Sorry, Benz. It ranked #1 in yesterday's Top 5 Cars Bought for Beauty. You won't see Brabus CLS Rocket's cruising by your 330d on the autobahn but you will see it used as a German tool (like the Techart 911 below) to encourage safe tuning of automobiles.


More than the CLS or Exige - but perhaps less than the Gallardo or Caparo - this 911 really handles the polizei livery quite nicely. I'm not a 911 drooler; but I am a Porsche respecter. And this 911 looks about as good as any.

I'm curious to know why the car enthusiast world gets so enthusiastic over a fast police car, whether it reaches your local constabulary or not. Drop a line to goodcarbadcar@gmail.com or share your thoughts with the GCBC Nation by clicking the Comments button below.

WHAT IS THE DODGE ELECTRIC VEHICLE?

Lotus is as much an engineering firm as they are a mass manufacturer of automobiles. The Elise, Exige, and Europa all stem from the same aluminum tub; not one of them contends for sales crowns in any nation.

So when Chrysler LLC comes to Lotus for engineering work, of course Lotus agrees to take on the project. You may be very familiar with some of Lotus' work while much of it goes un-praised. For instance, as was made clear in pictures earlier this month, the Tesla Roadster is oh-so-very-much a Lotus Elise made to work with electric-power only. The weight of extra batteries forced changes that Lotus is adept at making.

Read about the Chrysler EV and Jeep EV here

As Chrysler rolls out a trio of EVs, the Dodge version is oh-so-very-much a Lotus Europa made to work with lithium-ion battery technology that should offer a range up tp 200 miles. Along with range comes extreme speed - the Dodge EV can hit 60mph in less than five seconds and travel upwards of 120mph. Thank 480 lb-ft of torque for impressive off-the-line quickness. 

Around the time Tesla's Roadster becomes a more frequent sight in wealthy communities in SoCal, Chrysler LLC wants to have 100 of these EVs in the hands of government, business, and Chrysler fleets. That's before 2010; before the Chevrolet Volt rolls in to mass production of 10,000 units in its first year.

Tesla is asking over $100,000 USD for their Roadster. Were Dodge to build an EV just like this one, it'd be expected to cost significantly less even if Chrysler had to lose money in the process.

EXTREME SPORTS CARS YOU MAY NEVER SEE.....

In this world of ever-tightening regulations, ever-dwindling derestricted highways, ever-increasing traffic, and ever-decreasing oil reserves - there's little room for massive conveyors of speed. They chug back gasoline and bottom out on every parking garage entrance in New York City.

But the market for superhyperexoticars is growing. Sales of Lamborghinis, Aston Martins, Ferraris, Bentleys and their ilk are at an all time high. Sure, but even so, these cars are no longer driveable in the way they're meant to be driven. At least that's what we say; we who aren't able to afford a banged-up Ferrari with no engine. They've a place in this world, we'd all agree.

Picture this, though. A small car that can keep pace with most supercars on a track, cope admirably with city life, without the alarming price tag. Sounds good? Sure it does - I haven't told you the bad news yet. Cars in this category, frequently labeled as track cars, are something of a compromise. You may find yourself exposed to the elements in a way only motorcyclists can understand. You will almost definitely be forced to skip the luxury features or any creature comfort, really. You may not be legally entitled to import the car into your home country. (That could be a serious one, eh?) And, to successfully import the car, you may be asked - by the manufacturer and local Customs officials - to participate in the build process.

Oh, nothing much, just locate an engine and pop it down in the, er... engine bay. You're up for it. You earn middle-class money rather than millions of $ per year. You have a garage to store the car away from the harsh elements. When you were younger you pumped gas at the local Shell station, so that must mean mechanical skills are a part of your inbred repertoire. And you were never big on air-conditioning (runny nose? Me too.) or power windows (rolling down windows at the toll booth became your only arm exercises for the week? Me too.) or keyless entry (your wife gets ticked off when you constantly lock the car just to keep the horn honking until you enter the grocery store? Umm... oh, maybe that's just me.)

So, here're your options. British-owned Caterham builds the CSR you see above. Caterham bought the rights to the Lotus Seven from Colin Chapman decades ago and has building Sevenalikes ever since. There've been Superlights; Roadsports; and Classics, or Seven's with a bit of added space to hold in all your extra North American girth. The CSR is the farthest-reaching example of Caterham's performance potential - at least at this point. While the car still looks like it came straight off the pitlane of Brands Hatch in the 1970's, its performance is unbelievable. Considering its 260 horses reside in a car which weighs only 550kg, performance is quite believable. Caterham USA would charge you $44,000 for a CSR without the engine and transmission.

The Ariel Atom has been mentioned on GoodCarBadCar before. An Atom engine is typically a 220bhp Honda mill which propels this 456kg car to insane speeds in a hurry. (Remember, a typical Toyota Camry weighs approximately four times as much.) Supercharging the Ariel to 300 horsepower produces a consequent lap time equivalent to the Caterham CSR Superlight at the Bedford Autodrome's West Circuit. That would be a tenth ahead of Porsche's Carrera GT and about 1.5 seconds faster than a Ferrari Enzo or MacLaren F1. To say nothing of the BMW M5, ten seconds back.

Option number three on our list is the third British contestant. Admittedly, Lotus is Malaysian-owned, but there's little that could represent the British sports car market as quintessentially as Lotus. The 2-Eleven is yet another derivative of the Elise, one of the preeminent handlers in the world. Beyond the already exteme-for-most-buyers Elise, Exige, and Europa, the 2-Eleven carries on the principles of 'adding lightness' but takes the whole ethos further. I mean, just look at it. Lotus claims the power-to-weight ratio seen - or felt - in the 2-Eleven is equivalent to that of a 1960's Formula 1 Car. 252 horsepower - meet 745 kg. Let forward motion ensue.... now. Although Lotus has always made its cars to be quick in a straight line, it has rarely completed that task by constant power updates. Rather, constant weight loss has been the name of the game. And weight loss always aids agility, and therefore cornering. The 2-Eleven's front end eats up corners, twists, and bends and spits them out the rear, suggesting to the following car, "Try that and you'll be in the hedge."


Radical has been building a Le Mans-style track car (potentially legal on the road) for quite a few years now. Seen here in evo livery, the Radical can be specced in a variety of formats. There's even been a V8. evo magazine has never tested a car quicker than the Radical SR3 1300 around the Bedford Autodrome. Both the SR3 and SR4 are powered by superbike engines, a telling fact in regards to the weight of this automobile. Here are Radical's words: "For road use, the SR3's suspension can be raised to miss even the most aggressive speed hump. A type-approval kit provides lighting, hand brake, front luggage compartment, catalytic converter and road tyres. In road trim, the SR3 is the ultimate fun sportscar, with surprising levels of comfort and practicality.Track users will be reassured by the SR3's integral safety structure and high-strength front foot protection, which exceeds the requirements laid down in the latest UK and US regulations."




Elfin is linked to GM-owned, Australian-based Holden. That's good news for a list that was otherwise turning into a tribute to the Union Jack. Elfin built sports cars 50 years ago and won numerous racing championships down under. Now, under the leadership of two historic racing enthusiasts and the ownership of Walkinshaw Performance, Elfin builds two similarly engineered cars (completely different styling, btw) with Chevrolet V8's. Vroom Vroom. The MS8 Streamliner is cool, the MS8 Clubman cooler still.


There are others; too many to touch on, in fact. Noble has had a fair bit of success with the M10 and M12 and may yet see more with the M15. Priced in a higher bracket where sports car makers must compete with cars like the Porsche Boxster, Nobles emphasize performance above all else. Noble creator, Lee Noble, was also responsible for the Ultima. The Ultima GTR is pure speed and.... not so pretty.


Toniq builds tidy little sportsters powered by either a Honda Fireblade bike engine or a tuned Ford 4-cylinder. Looking like it belongs in the Caterham sector, the Toniq started out as a two-student project at the University of Huddersfield with the hopes of making a Seven for the 21st century. Westfield is yet another British track car maker competing in the Seven segment. They've also got a car similar in theory to the Radical and have begun rebuilding the car that brought them their original success. The Lotus Eleven became the Westfield XI and is built using parts from an MG Midget. It ain't fast but it sure is cool.

There you have it. Weigh up your options. Talk to those close to you who may have sway over your finances. Your driveway will be the most popular on the street.

LAND OF OWNERSHIP: BRITISH BADGES

Brits still tighten the lugnuts and stitch the leather. The pride is still resident in the United Kingdom. In some ways, so much has changed. Viewed another way, the story hasn't been altered.

Lotus. Aston Martin. Bentley. Rolls-Royce. Rover. Jaguar. Land Rover. These are the most prominent automotive badges that Britain exports in 2008. In most cases, "export" is even the proper terms, as mentioned in line one of this post. The difference now is simply the Indian influence that wasn't present previously.

Interestingly, the new owner of Jaguar and Land Rover, Tata Motors, held some sway in Britain before. Rover sold its own version of the Tata Indica. Rover and Land Rover are terribly separate now, but use of the term ironic is awfully appropriate.

Rover's pieces are in Chinese hands. Of course, it was British at its beginning and the rights to its name are now in Tata's hands. Yes, it strikes as obvious that a country that was once in British hands now holds not just one, but three of the UK's most famous automotive fixtures. Even Honda (Japan) once held some measure of control over Rover, long before Germany's BMW had complete control and botched the whole shebang. 

Asia and Germany are in quite the battle to dominate the British brand marketplace, come to think of it. Lotus is a member of Proton's little empire. That'd be Proton, the Malaysian manufacturer of the Satria, which has been showcased here on GoodCarBadCar. Land Rover and Jaguar were bought for a tidy sum by a massive Indian conglomerate. Rolls-Royce and Bentley were caught in the midst of a humourous German battle. BMW owns the former (as well as Mini); Volkswagen the latter. Oh, and don't forget that Aston Martin is heavily backed by a group of Kuwaiti investors. 

Where does that leave American involvement? After Ford Motor Company's recent dismissal of Jaguar and Land Rover and last year's dropping of Aston Martin, major American shareholding is considered a thing of the past with equally large British motor companies. General Motors and Lotus? Nope. Not anymore.