Tall tale of a molded composite sports car

[Comp]

And a design from over 50 years back..

Lotus Elite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lotus Elite - Racing Sports Cars

[Andrew Gibbens]

Not a 'tall' tale as the Elite was a successful all-fiberglass car (unibody/monocoque) after some early build problems were sorted out. Another even lower-volume all-fiberglass car was the Clan Crusader -this went on to be a good rally car, which demands a very sturdy body.

Perhaps the most far-fetched construction for a small volume British sports car was the early Marcos cars, which had a fiberglass body moulding over the integral plywood monocoque. They gave up and went to a metal chassis due to customer resistance. Not surprisingly, the plywood monocoques did suffer from rot after some decades and here is one being rebuilt:

[redbarron55]

You missed Jim Hall's all fiberglass Chaparral. He later produced the same car in aluminum for lower weight


No wood I know of.
The later cars had aluminum chassis and were lighter, but JIM hall said they were not as stiff as the fiberglass ones. The 2A's and B's were fiberglass and the 2C began the aluminum series.
Also the first car (I know of) with a movable wing)

Leading to the ground effect powered sucker:

This car won almost every race it ran as long as the two JLO snowmobile motors that drove the vacuum cleaners ran. (which often failed). The car was eventually eliminated by rules changes.

[Comp]

I was particularly intrigued by the elite as it uses fiberglass as the entire structure of the chassis.. I read on wiki that the suspension mounting points have problems on some elites.

Do any of these fiberglass trailers bolt the hitch and suspension directly to the fiberglass?? I'm assuming they all use a metal frame underneath the trailer body..

That plywood car is fantastic. Plywood makes a lot of sense for in cthat doesn't need to hang around for 50 years.

The car was eventually eliminated by rules changes.

There is an American 80's fiberglass car that was also successful in competition then was banned..

[redbarron55]

Originally Posted by Comp

I was particularly intrigued by the elite as it uses fiberglass as the entire structure of the chassis.. I read on wiki that the suspension mounting points have problems on some elites.

Do any of these fiberglass trailers bolt the hitch and suspension directly to the fiberglass?? I'm assuming they all use a metal frame underneath the trailer body..

That plywood car is fantastic. Plywood makes a lot of sense for in cthat doesn't need to hang around for 50 years.

There is an American 80's fiberglass car that was also successful in competition then was banned..

Well it wasn't the fiberglass that was banned.....
It was the movable aerodynamic devices like the big wing and the vacuum cleaner that sucked the car down on the track. Impressive to watch however
I loved the big Can-AM cars. The Chaparrals, McLarens, etc. Those were the days. Big motors no computers.

[MC1]

Originally Posted by redbarron55

I loved the big Can-AM cars.

Me too. Not Can-Am but Trans-AM. These cars were close to the ones we could buy for the street (well sort off) and the big 4 rivalry was great.

[Comp]

https://youtu.be/bOFAtvpTqSk

The whole molded composite thing is std operating procedure in supercars nowadays..

[USDM]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGGiuaQwcd8

I am waiting for someone to do a carbonfiber egg trailer.

[Ken C]

We have a thread here on the CR-1 trailer.