Thursday 31st October 2002

Toniq R to go into Production?

Three companies interested

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[v8thunder]

Genuinely great raw home-grown sports car or yet another bike engined Lotus 7 development? What do we think guys?

[Alex]

It's just a Locost in drag. I think it would be more realistic if they set up a business producing their body style for existing Seven chassis. There are more than enough Seven manufacturers as it is.

[adeewuff]

Hmmm.. would this car be produced as just another model for an existing 'Caterfield' manufacturer? Not exactly a revolution of seven design, a nice evolution but not a major step considering Caterham and Westfield already produce cars that are practically the same. OK the existing cars don't look as smooth or modern but the same technology nonetheless.

[juansolo]

It needs to go on a diet to compete with the BEC's from Westfield and Co. I'd also like to see them do something a little different to the others as, other than the styling, there's really nothing new on offer that isn't already available in tried and tested formulas elsewhere.

Basically something along the lines of losing some wieght, maybe by using lighter materials for the bodywork? As it's based on a Westie chassis and these wiegh in at around 430kgs in BEC form, the extra wieght must be in the bodywork and other surplus to requirement / lardy items.

Also it'd be nice to see others take a leaf out of Sylva's book and use inboard front suspension. Far better than the compromised systems that is used by most 7 makers.

Good luck to them anyway, they have a distinctive looking car, if they can back it up with something a bit special underneath and still keep the price sensible I think they'll be onto a winner.

[v8thunder]

Personally I'd like to see someone produce a development of the classic Lotus 23. I know Mamba and Martyni do replicas, but something a bit more advanced would be great - a mid-engined Fisher Fury, if you will.

[dangerous B]

Would that be a Mojo?

[wild]

Check out www.xanthos.com

[Miguel]

I totally agree with Alex and adeewuff. While I wish the boys the best of luck, the fact that they started with an existing chassis makes it less of an actual engineering project to me; more of a rebody. They're modern coachbuilders.

As far as it being a smoother looking Seven, so's this: www.wcmultralite.com/
but they make the whole car, not just the body. I'm pretty impressed with this Texan Seven. What do y'all think?

[wizzowilli]

Designers not Engineers, thiers a difference. In the initial stages the car was a project that had to fit into a university year which is all of 9 months, a styling exersise if you like. To make it viable as a project it had to include research, market placment, initial concept sketches, concept development, scale modelling, use of CAD, then the full scale model development, leveled up doubled over surface finished and painted in that time scale. In depth reports had to be filled at each stage so i'm sure you can appreciate there was little time for much else.
Seeking help from engineers, it is aimed to have the car running with its own chassis, not the westie that was used as the bassis for the project. This is the next stage if you like you can check out our site and ask any questions online. Thankyou for your comments and keep them coming

[Miguel]

wizzowilli said: Designers not Engineers, thiers a difference. In the initial stages the car was a project that had to fit into a university year which is all of 9 months, a styling exersise if you like. To make it viable as a project it had to include research, market placment, initial concept sketches, concept development, scale modelling, use of CAD, then the full scale model development, leveled up doubled over surface finished and painted in that time scale. In depth reports had to be filled at each stage so i'm sure you can appreciate there was little time for much else.
Seeking help from engineers, it is aimed to have the car running with its own chassis, not the westie that was used as the bassis for the project. This is the next stage if you like you can check out our site and ask any questions online. Thankyou for your comments and keep them coming

Yes, but the problem, Will, is that I'm just not very bright. I read the article, then apparently tossed what I read aside and thought it was an engineering project. That makes more sense. Still, knowing that the production version is to have its own chassis makes more sense and makes it that much more intersting. Again, good luck.

[v8thunder]

(re Xanthos) - Dammit, now I want one - kina part 23, part Ferrari P4, but still a 'giant killer' in the Chapman tradition and a fitting tribute to Jim Clark

[Roadrunner]

This is great and exactly what the kit car world needs. It's about time there was a union between good visual design and solid engineering. Too many of these kit car companies try to design bodies themselves and end up with an unsightly mess.

[v8thunder]

Too true roadrunner - just look at Dutton and all those other companies trying to offer 'different' Sevens, the hideous Sylva Leader being a case in point, even though it's probably great to drive.
P.S.- I've got this great idea for a cheap-to-produce conversion kit for an Aston Martin Virage replica. Obviously, I'm not technical, it was just an idea, but has anyone got any addresses?