Altc Designs

[AriLea]

My personal interest in the 2F1R platform was efficient all weather commuting. But 90% of the public want at least some possiblity of having a passenger. This passenger space also doubles for cargo space. Most people have to carry at least a briefcase or lunch to work. And to be very popular it would have to have a nice form. Fortunately, curved organic forms are both popular and often aerodynamic too. Classic automotive styles are very popular for that reason. Although in the 50's there was a widespread mistake to fully round the back side. I took a look at some classic autos from the past and was impressed with the variations of the Atlantic that exist. The Chrysler Atlantic was a particular interesting modern varition. But could this be done in an inline two seat vehicle, plus have front wheel drive? To retain light weight I desided to allow a tall step-over for the occupants. This would not fly well for mass production, but in a niche/cult kit car, that could be acceptible. So I intended a morph of something classic, but with the lower frontal in tandom seating.

 

[AriLea]

When I do these studies, I'm not just creating conceptual artwork. The image must represent a realistic space for driver, drivetrain and all implied components. So it pays to have some measurements and something physical to put your real body into. Real photos are very useful. That way you can try unconventional variations as well as just just confirm the required shapes involved. Yep, post edit the photo if the result will be useful. In the top photo below, there was a coat hanger where the windshield should be.

Then make some line sketches or morph some images of what you are contemplating. The wierd cans on the image below is a dual electric motor drive(air cooled). This eliminates a differencial and allows more floor space for the driver's feet.

 

[AriLea]

In the line drawings, just a few minutes and a compete concept can present itself.

I did find out you can get a lot of advanced experimenation just morphing images of cars, and also show very realistic results.

But at some point you must put the real mesurements into something like sketchup and see how they fit together.

 

[AriLea]

As I said before the Bugatti Atlantic and it's updated copies impressed me. So I had to try some artwork for that.

But at some point you want a physical in your hands you can contemplate.

I was totaly happy with the rounded chin of this first cut, but lifting more air up from the ground was expected to lower overall drag and limit energy lost to induced down force. Hence use of the 'Hawker' nose.

 

[AriLea]

So I ended up calling this style the Atlantric, the 'tric' representing any of, electric, trike or tricky, your choice. The target for was for something that could be front wheel drive in electric or petrol drive with tandom seating, or motorcycle rear drive for single seating. The Hawker nose is only legal on a motorcycle, the rounded nose is more compatible for a bumper should that ever be required. So I finished up some 3d skectups to finish the graphics based studies.

Eventually all the studies culminated in the attempt to create tooling to build a body. The 'plug' below is the approximate state of the project. You can see more detailed images on the facebook page at => https://www.facebook.com/#!/ArakLea?ref_type=bookmark

If this thread becomes popular at all, I'll add more of the morphic studies if anyone wants to see all the places that a three wheel style can travel into. It's just as flexible a canvas as any 4 wheel vehicle. To my eyes, maybe even more so since the general form has a natural parrallel in aircraft, fish and birds.

 

[Dustoff]

. To my eyes, maybe even more so since the general form has a natural parrallel in aircraft, fish and birds.

 

[AriLea]

I thought maybe it would be nicer to show the rest of the Atlantric not just the butt, see below. So how does one get in and out of this thing? Wipers and entry was difficult to figure out on this car. Even more so since I'd elected to have a full aerodynamic fender compared to the outrigger wheels like the Elio. This makes the Elio lighter and easier to manufacture than using full fenders. Even so, if you go with a hand made vehicle you can choose to be lighter than the Elio. It will cost more however, as will be the case with the Atlantric. How much lighter? Depends on the effort and cost you are willing to put into it. If you went with Aircraft quality composite unibody, a 30% reduction is quite possible. But do ya want a $50K high efficency car, even at 150mpg?

 

[goofyone]

I can already see people grafting custom bodies onto an Elio chassis. What a great and inexpensive base the Elio will make for a variety of hobbyist projects.

 

[AriLea]

I can already see people grafting custom bodies onto an Elio chassis. What a great and inexpensive base the Elio will make for a variety of hobbyist projects.

VERY perceptive. Yes and me too. An Elio is possibly going to be my donar for the Atlantric. I reserved three for that purpose, 1 for me 1 for family and one more. I think a sizeable number of people are looking at the Elio as a chalkboard for self expression. The VW Bug became that.

 

[bowers baldwin]

VERY perceptive. Yes and me too. An Elio is possibly going to be my donar for the Atlantric. I reserved three for that purpose, 1 for me 1 for family and one more. I think a sizeable number of people are looking at the Elio as a chalkboard for self expression. The VW Bug became that.

Are you saying that people would customize beetles?