Commercially produced aerodynamic pickup bed cap

[davidgrey50]

Took me a while, but I've found a picture of a Ford show car I remember from an old Road & Track - 1965 Galaxie 'Magic-Cruiser. Still looks great, and still makes sense.The link is http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...CCRUISER-1.jpg

[Arkaneinc]

Originally Posted by bondo

It took King C. Gillette 19 years to get his razor off the ground. I can identify with him. Everything was looking good with a manufactuer in October of last year, then came TARP. The company I talked to is just barley able to keep their doors open now and gas prices falling by 50% didn't help either (but I am glad the gas prices came down.) Everything is on hold right now.

I am trying to get some Federal money from the stimulus package thrown my way since the aero cap is a green product. We will see if my Senator might finally come through this time. If you know of any manufacturers who might be interested let me know.

Bondo

I wish you the best of luck. I would defiantly be interested when they are made

[GoodOak]

Hi I am new to these forums. After driving a small, economical car for years I now need a truck for my small business. I chose a Nissan Frontier King Cab as a good compromise between capability and efficiency.

So Brett, what is your status currently with these cabs? I know my truck is not the most common on the road, but I am very excited about the possibility of getting one of your cabs. Is there any chance you might bring one to market for my truck this year or should I "not hold my breath" and just bite the bullet with a standard cap when I need to cover up the back?

Good luck with your venture. I am finding how challenging starting a business can be myself and I admire your dedication and spirit.

[Drive Stick]

Originally Posted by bondo

My name is Brett

Even if you didn't invent the cap, you'd automatically be cool because you have the same name as me (and I'm awesome so you're now officially cool too.)

- Brett

[bondo]

GoodOak,

We do hope to make an aerocap for Nissan trucks. It won't be anytime soon though. It is difficult to post here with nothing new to report.

The lack of capital has been the main cause of not getting the aerocap to market. As stated in a previous post, last October we had gained an alliance with a manufacturer to produce the caps. I would do the tooling and they would produce and market the aerocaps. That went away with the TARP bailout and the subsequent down turn in the economy last fall. Now my time is spent doing contract work, mowing grass, whatever I have to do to keep the bills paid, me and many others like me who are presently out of work.

I wish you well GoodOak in your business startup. Make sure you have enough capital before you start. I continue to look for capitalization. There might be some Government money available in the stimulus package. Hopefully someday soon I will have some good news to report on the aerocap.

Yeah Brett, I have a brother named Bart. My mom loved to Maverick brothers!

( I did put some better looking side windows in the aerocap.)

[SVOboy]

Bondo's back! Good to hear from you Brett. I hope things work out with the cap,

[Christ]

Hm... wonder if a set of CRX's 1/4 panel glass would look better in the shape of the aerocap?

I'd love to see these things come to market, and watch the traditional truck guys try to think of reasons and excuses why they won't work to do what they say...

Those crowds seem to be counter-intelligent at times, from what I can see in the RW... They swear by things that we all know don't really work, yet they look down on the stuff that's been proven by countless tests and data extrapolation.

[GoodOak]

The traditional truck guys are the target market for this product so I think that convincing the traditional truck guys is job #1.

Bondo, if I may offer some unsolicited advice/my opinion on the subject of marketing these things. If you go straight for the MPG issue I don't think there will be as much interest as if you focus on "performance". For example the "aerocap reduced drag, which increases acceleration, top-end speed and (this one goes at the end) drastically improves fuel economy."

Also, style is so important to these guys. Looking cool is more important than actually performance increase, after all most of these guys rarely use their trucks for their intended purposes. They are more show than blow. So think about style elements. Think about the street racers with their low slung trucks and what style the aerocap will add to these trucks in addition the the reduced drag. Think about the 4x4 gear heads and what they will think will look cool. It seems like you got a lot of negative feedback on one of those truck forums from a bunch of bone-heads and some very simple style changes could turn those opinions around. Things like graphics, lights, small body-form changes and window shapes can go a long way. A good graphic designer or other artist might have some useful input.

Also, maybe a cooler name would help. Not that I have a problem with aerocap, but something else might appeal to your target audience more. I think I saw the term "fastback" somewhere in this thread, that sounds pretty good to me.

So those are just my thoughts. Good luck getting your business online. Your latest version looks great. And when you get around to making a cap for a Nissan Frontier (king cab!) you will have a customer ready and waiting for your product.

[winkosmosis]

I agree with GoodOak.

Call it a "Humveeback"

[bondo]

You guys are right, the product needs a good trademark name. I have been using "Aerolid" and one of the pictures show the name on the side. I could use some help in this area and welcome any suggestions anyone might have.

GoodOak, your marketing ideas are sound. The product should be marketed as a replacement for the traditional camper shell, with a camper shell having a poorer aerodynamic coefficient of drag than a truck running with an open bed with the tailgate up. As you can see, the aerocap raises up into a camper shell configuration and can be driven at sustained freeway speeds in this mode.

Therefore you get the utilitarian aspects of a camper shell with out enduring the penalty of increased fuel consumption. Again, I am open for suggestions on a good name for the product.

Thanks,

Bondo