Hey Ed, That Smart diesel with a gl*** body is a nice idea. I like the salt flats streamlining techniques and the fibregl*** bodies for Ts and Bs can be had pretty cheaply here in the UK.
There you go then, a wrecked Smart TDI, a fibregl*** body, steel grill and bonnet and plenty of fabrication. Ed
Here in Ontario, Canada, every 3-wheeled "car" I've ever seen had to be licensed as a motorcycle, thus requiting the driver to have a MC endor*****t on his drivers license and to wear a helmet etc, etc. I'm wondering - what about building a 'four-wheeler' with two conventionally located front wheels but with the two rear wheels mounted inline? Basically, you'd have a 4-wheeled version of a 'trike" but one that could be legally licensed and driven as a car. I remember years ago too, seeing pics of a Bonneville LSR streamliner (an early, pre-Goldenrod Summers brothers car, possibly??) with four wheels, all inline, to get around the cl*** requirements that said an "automobile" had to have 4 wheels,while still allowing the car to have the same narrow, needle-like profile of a typical Bonneville motorcycle cl*** streamliner. Mart3406 =============
Hi guys, I've really got to get into photoshop - that's what I was thinking about. As for licencing, here in the UK you can ride any trike up to 3500kg on a car licence. If you got a bike licence, you are limited to 410kg. The 'cheap' modified vehicle category you get with motorcycles (MSVA) covers all trikes up to 1000kg (or four wheeled vehicle less than 15kw power), but for motorcycle tax to apply the trike has to be less than 450kg. I think I got that all right. Hence, three wheels and 450kg to get cheap build and tax costs. I think the Bonneville four wheeler you mention is Infidel, a 2000hp 400mph Cadillac. I wondered if there were any rules in the UK that would allow me to use two closely spaced rear wheels and still count it as a trike - then I could use a conventional diff. I think there are rules in the US along those lines, allowing the Tomahawk to be cl***ified as a motorcycle despite its four wheels. Not sure on that though.
I run the owners club for the Blackjack Avion and its replacement, the Blackjack Zero. Both meet your criteria and the Zero can be had with either a VW flat 4 or a Guzzi Vee Twin. BTW - the Zero below is now in SoCal. The Avion is mine. AVION ZERO
Ive never been a fan of the single rear wheel design. After riding car trikes for a few years, ive always thought the single rear would be unstable. Heres one of my old trikes, an 1100 Austin land crab, with homemade bike front. Cheap to build, run on very little gas, and regoed as a car, so i didnt have to wear a helmut.
Interesting little contraptions. It appears that it wouldnt take a whole lot to make the Zero look a lot more like the Avion. -Dave
On the contrary, it's the single-front format that is inclined to exhibit really nasty handling characteristics. I've no doubt your trikes handled beautifully within the limits of what you'd expect of them, but if your handling expectations start to approach extreme territory insurmountable problems emerge. The higher the limit, the less you can do to keep a single-front trike from oversteering viciously at the limit. On the other hand a single-rear trike will tend to understeer which, besides being somewhat more benign in itself, there is more you can do about, the result being that many of those things handle like you wouldn't believe. Any trike is, however, ultimately limited by the lack of weight transfer at the end with the single wheel. The most promise lies in getting rid of weight transfer at the other end by getting parts of the vehicle to tilt (Ariel 3/Honda Gyro). Then it doesn't much matter which end has the single wheel, and if anything a single-front format is likely to meet the criteria more easily. I'd really like to see something seriously performance-oriented built on the Ariel 3 principle.
theres plenty of bikes with reverse, but there usually gold wings and large displacement, (1500cc which if im not mistaken is the same cc as a yaris) so maybe not....
Front steer, front drive with two front and one rear (reverse trike) with approximately a 70/30 front/rear bias is incredibly stable. Moving the weight of the engine behind the p***engers is when it gets unstable and opens up the greater possibility of rollovers. I used to have a file with a physics study mathematically proving this, as well as the superiority of reverse trike vs. standard 4 wheel configuration, however I am currently unable to find it. I did find this, written on the subject of three wheelers. It's pretty thorough, and in plain english; http://www.clevislauzon.qc.ca/Professeurs/Mecanique/ethierp/3-wheels/map.htm All Subaru two wheel drives are front drive in the US and have great HP for the size/configuration/weight/cost, however since you are in the UK, and looking to achieve better mileage, I'd have to agree with the aforementioned Smart/Diesel idea. I really like the sketch you posted. Ironically it is very similar to a sketch I did quite a few years ago for the three wheeler I have been wanting to build since I was a kid. If you want some inspiration for something more traditional, check out the cycle car thread here on the H.A.M.B. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=226791&highlight=cycle+car&showall=1
The cyclecar thread is a great source of inspiration. I have a bit of beef with a real traditional build though. I'm not sure somthing like that GN or many of the 'spindley' machines transfer too well to modern technology. I'm not sure why, it's silly things like correct wheel size, engine structure, beam axles etc. I'm sure it's possible to do on a budget (Austin 7 wheels, probably a modern 'big' aircooled engine, possibly even an Indian Enfield 750cc?) but even so, I think that real vintage aspect can be a little too easily compromised. Besides, if I was going down that route I'd really like to be deaf from the exhaust and have castor oil spattered over my goggles. I think hot rods are better suited to the style, people have been putting more modern/powerful powerplants in them pretty much since day one.I don't know, they just kind of feel different. Re the Smart car drive, traditional rear engine certainly isn't unprecedented - I reckon the drive lends itself to an Art Chrisman Coupe quite nicely. I'm a little hung up (probably too stubborn for my own good) on the front engine rear wheel drive thing though. The chances are this thing will stay on paper for a long time anyhow, I haven't got the funds. In the meantime, here's a Msoft Paint job (haven't got photoshop) of that boattail Model A on the first page. I have since learned that this rod belonged to the late Jalopy Joe of Ventura CA. I reckon the boat tail's been pulled off really well. R.I.P. Joe.
My machine is essentially the same as this photo-chop, but with really reclined seats (think Glider) to keep driver and p***enger 'inside' it, may also be a little 'taller'. Small engine as far forward as possible and extended footwells should help with this - I'd like to reserve the possibility of putting a soft top on it Structure would be a rivetted aluminium (sorry, aluminum) skin over a steel spaceframe. Since I someday want to build an aircraft I might as well get some practice in with the rivetting.
The Jalopy Journal
