Telstar and the Alfa Romeo BAT 9 concept car,,,,

im leaning towards keeping the grille opening i have......

 

See my edit.

 

Looks like it has forgotten to put it's teeth in...

Another grill you might look at is Jaguar Mk2 or modern S type.


On the side, how about matching the top profile of the striped section with the top of the fender from the top of the wheelarch, give it more of a flow?

 

LOL!!

It´s a work in progress.... you bast....

 

James D, I really like the latest update for Telstar. I do have a small problem with the Edsel grille. I do like that the hood reminds me of Telstars origin as a shoebox Ford. You and Jim are definitely the "A" Team for this car !

 

More like this?



I really like this fender shape - it seems to fit to the shape of the car a lot better - but the problem is that it doesn´t work with your hood. The hood in the pic is way lower at the front edge than what you have.

 

Nice... Very nice.

The higher hood could work if the fenders were streched out a few more inches... IMHO anyway...

 

I saw all the BAT cars together at Retromobile Paris a few years ago. As stunning as they are in pictures, they are even more impressive up close.

 

To me the grille in the last couple of renditions is crying out for some kind of eggcrate or mesh insert. With the bar or without, but that aught to have a badge or tooth or something in the middle, doesn't look right with that arched top, flat bottom and just a flat bar in there.

I actually like the streamlined headlight design better, to me it more matches the rest of the car and makes the whole thing flow better.

 

That floating bar grille was just one that I did a long time ago and had lying around. There are three or four others with different treatments, but it´s not really important at the moment. I think that once the fender shape and hood profile is sorted out, the grille shape will fall into place. What Jim choses to fill the grille with is something to worry about much later on.

 

you nailed it james....
i think darryl is right about slightly lengthening the front fenders..

awesome work as usual james...

lightened her up a little

 

Didn´t want to go too crazy with lengthened front fenders simply because they end up miles ahead of the grille. Anyways, I´m glad you like it - when will see the first mock up?

 

very soon,,,,,,,,,,
the more i look at it, i think it would help if i sectioned another two inches from the cowl..

 

Maybe....

 

That's a really superior shape you guys have come up with.
I can't help but think that the leading/top edge of the side cove should come up to the top of the wheel opening - otherwise it is too flat of a visual compared to all the swooping shapes of the rest of the car. So I did this version below.
It would also help kill some of the visual bulk of the cowl area.
I'm not sure that you really need to section the cowl down again. I think the way it is gives it all a nice curving arch like a panther ready to attack (for lack of a less gay term).

 

pure genious...
that addresses the cowl sectioning problem perfectly..
i love it!

 

Ditto

 

Sorry to say I don't like it at all. looks like your doing it because you can and not
because it improves the look. The front end is way too bulky. I Love the rear treatment.

Keep us posted....



Happy Trails,

Mick

 

Edsel grille = too much going on, floating grill could be nice. Mesh grille will make it look like a modified early Corvette.

 

this is sort of edsely, and has the original grill. labelled giulietta.

 

Last pic makes the headlights look like '57-'58 Chrysler/Desoto surrounds with a lens and flat bottom extension added. That takes it back to more what someone might have done adapting existing parts to it - and the quad lights is a late 50s period update to modernize an older car. I wonder what it would look like from the front using those rings as the source of the shape? They're cast so they don't take to narrowing well.

 

IMO...the frontend is too heavy compaired to the slim rear, it's also too simple and needs a more dramatic look, again compaired to the rear. Not saying do the BAT9 front as I don't think that's gona work..the other BAT cars (IMO) are nicer and the front end treatment would fit better with the heavy front end..The PhotoShop examples are great but show me the Corvette style lights just arnt long enough (horizontaly) and fabricated lights similar to BAT9 with a slightly extended front (to visually slim) would look better...Just my opinion....Stellar work by the way!!

 

been thinking on this all night,,,,,
and have come to the following conclusions:

the nose needs a little more length (maybe a couple of inches)

the cowl has to be sectioned an additional 2" or so, it's just too high to tie in and flow properly with the rear of the car,,

sectioning the cowl will lessen the severe taper where it transitions into the nose

the cove needs to be modified ala cleatus' photoshop

i did this ****y drawing to get a general idea..


are you up to tweaking it a little bit more james?.....

 

The body lines flow really nicely in this drwaing, only thing is that the windshield doesnt quite seem just right. But dang, the overall concept looks like one on those 1950's / 60's futuristic concept designs. Go Man Go!! Your relentless pursuit of getting the look just exact on this car is amazing.

 

Hey Jim,

Your tweeking of the shapes of the fender ends is a major improvement in the ever evolving TELSTAR saga. The former shape was a little ''pug-like'' for the flow of the balance of the design, kinda early ''Plasticcar like''. The early Corvette was typical hamfisted Chevrolet designstudio of the period.

At this point, you may wanna establish seat height, and actually sit behind the wheel. If you section the cowl much, you may well face the same problem most owners of '55-'57 Thunderbirds face, that of poor foward visibility with the header bar at eye level. Perhaps a thin seat squab would offer some relief for the problem, but given your still runnin a Schewbaux frame beneith the floor leaves channeled floor pans out of the question, no? Could you go with a reverse crown panel directly beneith the windshield frame/pinchweld, and retain the current cowl height, but level the cowl top panel to flow with the now level hood panel? Will the hood panel feature louvers or swages in its' design?

Have ya given any thought as to how the plastic headlamp lens/covers will be constructed? Plexigl*** heated in an oven and formed over a plaster buck, or perhaps, vacuformed? I've had very limited sucess forming plexi with a heat gun, but never in very high crowned shapes. Maybe the guys that have built the ''goldfish bowl-rods" could lend an idea?



" If I Don't Sin , Jesus Will Have Died For Nothing "

 

Everybody, PLEASE stop attatching pics of other cars to this thread, or he's never gonna pick a design and stay with it!

Brian

 

Damn man....I still cant get over that you started with a shoebox Ford. If you have gone this far with it I dont think it hurts to make sure you get exactly what you want. Other projects can wait.....get this one exactly how you want it.

....and theres nothing wrong with the Edsel ******. Not that you should go with it but I am just saying theres nothing wrong with it.

<--------

 

just a suggestion here (probably not a good one either) but how about 2 edsel grills laid horizontally (rotated 90 degrees)?

 

i think it might be getting more ugly with each change. its pretty bad*** now, please stop.

 

lol... . . just experimenting with ideas,,,,
i'd rather explore my styling options while the car is at this stage,,
nothing worse than looking at a car when it's finally finished and saying "damn, i wish i would have done that differently"..the car has been an ongoing excercise in restyling for me,,,i won't weld her up solid until i'm completely happy with the design,,there are certain areas i think are fine,,others need further tweaking/rethinking,,believe me, there is NOBODY that wants to finally drive this car worse than i do...