LocostUSA.com

Current status April 2014 ..







Firstly I think it's always polite to mention that this will become a commercialy manufactured product and hopefully at a very sensible pricepoint.

After a few false starts over the last few years due to other committments which had to take priority, it's quite a nice feeling to finally make a start full time on some car product!

The first couple of pre-production cars hopefully have most of the bugs ironed out through building and development work on some prototypes over the last few years besides a lifetime of working on and building cars.

While it intrinsically looks like and hopefully retains the character of a Lotus/Locost 7, the design is considerably bigger and offers a massive 53" cabin width at the torso. A Caterham 7 is 36" ~ 39" in comparison! Wheelbase will be closer to 97" compared to around 90" for a 7'ish and track width is considerably wider utilising around 62".

Simply put, I wanted for myself and want to offer others a 7'ish car that 2 larger people can sit in with comfort and with their arms inside the bodyline at all times. My friend is 6'5" and takes up 2/3rds of the Fraser's cabin and only a small child can ride with him!

There's also a point of road presense amongst some of the larger vehicles found on American roads, driving a 7'ish car can be quite an intimidating experience. Storage space will be improved and room for cup holders! The larger size has also allowed me to position the fuel tanks in front of the rear axle line for improved safety and, along with massively increased trailing arms at over 30", prospective ride and handling chances are improved.

It's not just bigger for the sake of it, there's a philosophy for it to be a base for 6 cylinder and V8 engines designed to take the weight and torque larger engines offer, so for this the design is aimed to achieve over 8000lbs per degree as the minimum target for torsion resistance and hopefully get more towards 10,000lbs per degree. That does not prevent one from using a 4 cylinder by any means but bear in mind this chassis will neccessarily be a little heavier than a typical narrow and short 7'ish chassis. Certainly makes a sensible touring chassis option for a 4 though.

It will only be a little larger and a little heavier car compared to a typical 7'ish unit but in reality and relative to standard cars, it is still very small and very light!

So yesterday some steel arrived and today I managed to make a bit of a start on the sides, here it is obvious how my slat build table works. the plate under the tubes is a jig for the sides....





So I will try and keep updates weekly and as this is a semi-full time operation, thnings should happen quickly!

I'll get some 3D images up in the next few days ...

From what I saw in your other thread where you posted CAD model of the car, it looks like you're making some well thought out design changes to address some of the traditional Locost characteristics that tend to make them less well suited for modern road use. I'm looking forward to seeing this come together. Are you designing around a particular rear axle width, or a specific stock rear axle?

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-Justin

"Orville Wright did not have a pilots license." - Gordon MacKenzie

I've heard that size matters.

Any idea of price point or at what stage you'll ship? Just a basic frame?

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mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.

Why yes I am, 62" Toyota Previa in most countries as it's available in most countries, 62" Ford Falcon in Australia and 65" Ford Crown Victoria in the USA. There are other choices of course but aprox 60" is about as narrow as you can go before things start to get in the way. the 3 mentioned all have drum inside disc handbrakes which makes life a bit easier.

Trailing arm design is a bit of of Ford Escort (works race cars), Mallock and my own and alleviates the typical 7's axle bump steer and some of the rough ride issues. Also the axle lateral location is chassis mounted as it should be. A total rethink of the traditional chassis rectangular layout to a diamond shaped layout has allowed these features to be included and more.

Fairly comprehensive rolling chassis minus rear axle but including trailing arms and axle mounts ready to weld on. Want to offer a kit that can be put together in a few weekends.

Not worth me shipping basic frames due to transport costs, need to start at a price point and simply include as much as possible to make it great value for the client. I haven't fixed that price yet, early days, but 100% will keep it 4 figures.

That's kinda why I was asking. It seemed that you are a long ways from anyone so shipping could be a big factor.

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mobilito ergo sum
I drive therefore I am

I can explain it to you,
but I can't understand it for you.

A complete roller takes up no more space than a bare chassis so of course the shipping then becomes a much smaller factor.

I was just looking at Caterham prices in the USA, man oh man ...... they do know it's just metal and fiberglass don't they?

you can get wheel/tire models from Car9 that are adjustable. You can move the center section for different offsets, I included a ruler too on the rim. I should update the workshop to hold the various pieces we use, try to get to that one of these days soon. I wanted to have rows of shelves full of parts to pick.

If you keep up with the SketcUp I think it makes a nice addition to any manual you provide for the car.

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Marcus Barrow - Car9 an open design community supported sports car for home builders!
SketchUp collection for LocostUSA: "Dream it, Build it, Drive it!"
Car9 Roadster information - models, drawings, resources etc.

Thanks Marcus, you might recognise those seats and backsides too!

This morning was official turning of the first sod for new office building (the Chinese are quite superstitious and it all had to happen at 8.08 and the fireworks to scare off bad spirits!) and got the first pieces underway ...

Yo, Cheapracer!
Sooo good to see things coming together for you. I hope your business venture works out well!

I also am intrigued by that little drawing of a chassis... Do the rails really come to a "point" in the rear? Show us just a bit more please Sir? Not enough to give away anything special, but just so's I can understand what you've done. Looks interesting.

Oh, and Merry Christmas (if you do that kind of thing) and a Happy New Year (Round-Eye calendar)!!!!


JD Kemp

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JD, father of Quinn, Son of a... Build Log
Quinn the Slotus:Ford 302 Powered, Mallock-Inspired, Tube Frame, Hillclimb Special
"Gonzo and friends: Last night must have been quite a night. Camelot moments, mechanical marvels, Rustoleum launches, flying squirrels, fru-fru tea cuppers, V8 envy, Ensure catch cans -- and it wasn't even a full moon." -- SeattleTom

Yup, comes to a point and thats where the Watts linkage mounts to the chassis as it should properly do (using my "Bex Link" actually but people know what a Watts Link is for the purpose of explanations).

As you can see routing the trailing links inside allows me to run literally whatever length I want and they over 30" as you see them there. Yourself, being a fan of Mr Mallock, you may know that 30" is really the minimum length you should be at to avoid axle steer and other nasties but a typical 7 chassis doesn't allow for it.




Thanks, not too many people in history have made money out of car companies, luckily I have been able to piggyback it onto another project that makes it viable.

Very interesting choice on the Crown Vic - I bet there are hundreds of thousands of them around the country just waiting to be picked apart.

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Ford 5.0 into an M3
mikaelvroom.com | @MikaelVroom

Smart man, cheap and the wheel stud pattern matches the front spindles I will be supplying and they have an internal drum 'normal' handbrake/ebrake. 1997 til 2003 solid disc.

For the non-believers, You would never thunk it, but a Crown Vic has gorgeous underpinnings.
It also has a 8.8 rear axle too, which I believe is better then a 9". It takes less power to turn it then a 9" and it is plenty strong. Are you using the engine? It is um..kinda lame, but I guess you could put some P.I heads on it and get it up to Mustang power levels. Are you going to leave it Automatic? I guess in a feather weight car the stock Vic engine would be sufficient though.

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My build log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=13890

If you can leave two black stripes from the exit of one corner to the braking zone of the next, you have enough horsepower.
- Mark Donohue