SNAFU MOTOR COMPANY
If only I had realised what was involved before I started !!!!!!
This is what keeps me off the streets in my spare time or rather a 1/12 Plasticine model of what I am attempting to build.
So what is it supposed to be?? Well .......
It was inspired by Art Deco 30's cars like Cords, Dusenbergs, Bugattis, etc. and the streamliner movement of the Thirties as well as cars like the SS100 (Jaguar), Riley RM, Jaguar MKII, Lagonda, Alvis and many more.
The donor car is a 1993 Jaguar XJ40 which came with a 3.2 ltr straight six and a manual gearbox. The Jag also donated it's front suspension assembly and chassis mounts, rear suspension/diff assembly and chassis mounts, brakes, steering components, front doors and frames, seats, petrol tank and parts of the wiring loom.
SNAFU (don't ask, it's a long story!) will be a two seater Grand Tourer with a removeable roof, which will fit in the boot. The chassis is semi monocoque i.e. it incorporates traditional chassis rails connecting the front and rear chassis mounts for the sub-assemblies, as well as monocoque construction around the rails consisting of floor, transmission tunnel, sills, front and rear bulkheads and windscreen frame. The body panels will be glassfibre (GRP).
The front end will be a one-piece moulding like an E Type - easier to mould and it will also make maintenance less of a pain in my back, the main reason for doing it this way - hopefully I'll be able to sit on the front wheel whilst I do the maintenance. There will be little fixed running boards below the doors to continue the body line to the rear wheels. By re-skinning the Jag doors in a re-shaped GRP panel I can save a heap of time and effort by using the Jag doors, frames, locks, electric window motors, etc.
The roof will be in two sections - one above the driver, another above the passenger and a rear fixed section (like a Surrey top on the Triumph TR's), the two sections will fit in the boot and should still leave room for luggage.
The interior will be re-trimmed in leather or Alcantara.
Below is the story in pictures and a few words .... so far, so good!
I should say thanks to Sven for keeping an eye on me, to my brother Nick - without his malign influence on me as a teenager I might never have got to build this! and my long suffering wife H - it's nearly finished darling, honest!
If only I had realised what was involved before I started !!!!!!
This is what keeps me off the streets in my spare time or rather a 1/12 Plasticine model of what I am attempting to build.
So what is it supposed to be?? Well .......
It was inspired by Art Deco 30's cars like Cords, Dusenbergs, Bugattis, etc. and the streamliner movement of the Thirties as well as cars like the SS100 (Jaguar), Riley RM, Jaguar MKII, Lagonda, Alvis and many more.
The donor car is a 1993 Jaguar XJ40 which came with a 3.2 ltr straight six and a manual gearbox. The Jag also donated it's front suspension assembly and chassis mounts, rear suspension/diff assembly and chassis mounts, brakes, steering components, front doors and frames, seats, petrol tank and parts of the wiring loom.
SNAFU (don't ask, it's a long story!) will be a two seater Grand Tourer with a removeable roof, which will fit in the boot. The chassis is semi monocoque i.e. it incorporates traditional chassis rails connecting the front and rear chassis mounts for the sub-assemblies, as well as monocoque construction around the rails consisting of floor, transmission tunnel, sills, front and rear bulkheads and windscreen frame. The body panels will be glassfibre (GRP).
The front end will be a one-piece moulding like an E Type - easier to mould and it will also make maintenance less of a pain in my back, the main reason for doing it this way - hopefully I'll be able to sit on the front wheel whilst I do the maintenance. There will be little fixed running boards below the doors to continue the body line to the rear wheels. By re-skinning the Jag doors in a re-shaped GRP panel I can save a heap of time and effort by using the Jag doors, frames, locks, electric window motors, etc.
The roof will be in two sections - one above the driver, another above the passenger and a rear fixed section (like a Surrey top on the Triumph TR's), the two sections will fit in the boot and should still leave room for luggage.
The interior will be re-trimmed in leather or Alcantara.
Below is the story in pictures and a few words .... so far, so good!
I should say thanks to Sven for keeping an eye on me, to my brother Nick - without his malign influence on me as a teenager I might never have got to build this! and my long suffering wife H - it's nearly finished darling, honest!