Omatic - imagination

[zertec]

...or rather lack of it in the styling department. Clive Reed Zertec Limited [e-mail] www.zertec.co.uk

[paul]

have to agree Clive, why do so many kit cars look like sevens? OK so its an easy body to build, with good access to the greasy bits etc... but surely they could develop something with a bit more imagination? I've half a mind to get out me crayons...

[Nightmare]

perhaps Ted would like to run a 'design a roadster' competition...prizes for' most likely to actually make it to reality', 'best looking', 'what the f**k is that' etc etc..... might find some budding designers amongst us N

[fanjules]

As far as I am concerned it can look like a bus with 600bhp/tonne! (well as long as it doesn't have the aerodynamics of a bus). As it ways 400kg I don't see how they could go too far with the styling, especially with their first car. A full bodied car would easily push up the weight (and you couldn't see the front wheels bobbing up and down). I think an example of a 7-esque shape taken a little further than simple straight panels is the FW400. However, that has an integrated F1-style chassis and is hopelessly expensive at £40k!

[nmilton]

The "se7en" shape is also a safe one from a marketing perspective. There's a ready market for Caterhams, Westfields, Sylvas, Robin Hoods, etc., but cars which are a little adventurous in their styling tend not to do so well. Take the FFS Census - great car technically but the styling is a case of love it or hate it. There's no point in building a superb drivers car if that driver happens to look a complete tosser when he goes down the road ! The Omatic's styling may not be daring but the engineering behind it sounds very impressive - not least the aluminium space frame and an all up weight of around 400kg. Add in the reliable engine packages and 2 years warranty and it starts to make some of the other options look a little silly. If you want garage jewellery with the right badge, buy a Caterham. If you want a light, powerful and, hopefully, reliable sportscar then you could do worse than at least have a look at the Omatic. And no, I've got nothing whatsoever to do with the company, I'm just interested to see what they're like and don't see the point of shooting something down in flames on the basis of a computer generated picture.

[fanjules]

Reliability sounds promising - I wouldn't suspect anything going wrong on the transmission front (at least with the VTEC cars). Yes, they're going to be driven hard - but probably no more so than in an S2000 - and that's over twice the weight! With 400kg, I can't see that there is much of anything else to go wrong other than the bare essentials!

[zertec]

It doesn't have to be a full bodied car, it just has to be different to a copied Lotus 7. Round off the corners a bit more, mess around with the tail, a different screen, flow the cockpit into the rear wings and you have a substantially different looking car, possibly looking more of a 60's racer, with very little effort. There is just no reason to be boring. Clive Reed Zertec Limited [e-mail] www.zertec.co.uk

[fanjules]

Clive, I agree. I just don't think there is that much scope as with a conventional design. Again, the FW400 is a nice example as far as you can go - perhaps the LC Rocket too (if you fancy one-behind-the-other Meshersmitt style seating). Once you start rounding edges off - particulary the sides - the aerodynamics can start going to pot. Some would argue it's a brick anyway so it doesn't matter, others would say it's bad enough so why make it worse? I'm surprised nobody has tryed a rounded nose on a 7 yet (which WOULD be good for aerodynamics), but that could make the car considerably longer as you still need to have enough space to accomodate the radiator without things getting too narrow. Then again, the FW400 has only a small grille so what do I know?!