Interesting Aerodynamic Cars (Mike Vetter's ETV, also Avion)

[kach22i]

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-t...tures-948.html

I assume very much not road legal, but cool as all heck.

[NeilBlanchard]

Wow - another car I have never seen before!

M-1000 (1954-1956)
Engineer Alberto Morelli started in 1953 a study for an aerodynamic car, on a mass-produced chassis, the Fiat 1100\103. The car, completed in 1956 and called M1000 was realized on a new chassis, with a rear engine. This car reached 133,140 km\h without changes in its Fiat engine. This prototype was too ahead for its time, but Pininfarina noticed Morelli's work and asked him to develop another prototype, the PF-X , with its odd wheel-disposition, showed in 1960.

[kach22i]

What's underneath.
Solved 129. of All.: 1956 Morelli M-1000

[NeilBlanchard]

Every time I see a cool low drag car like the M-1000, the first thought I have is to see if an electric drivetrain would be likely to be used to lower the drag even more. Because they require far less (or almost no) air flow, and they don't have hot exhaust systems. Cooling a hot internal combustion engine with a minimal drag cooling system means that the operating temperatures will be dancing on the edge of reliability.

Also, seeing the chassis for the M-1000 shows the design solution for the use of the interior volume that is pushed forward - the front wheels have to fit under the front doors (which are hinged at the back) and the front suspension is directly under the front seats.

Very often, low drag cars push the engine to the back - where it fits and people do not - and this means that the heaviest part of the car is at just about the worst place in a low drag car; because of the issues of side winds. The rear fenders on the M-1000 may just solve some of this, though?

[some_other_dave]

...But your feet are the first thing to hit the wall, or the bumper of the SUV in front of you...

-soD

[freebeard]

As a Type II owner, this warmed my heart.

Years ago, in the parking lot at the Oregon Country Faire, I saw a VW single cab pickup onto which the owner had grafted the fastback roof of IIRC a 49-50 Kaiser. It approximated this shape pretty well.

Very often, low drag cars push the engine to the back - where it fits and people do not - and this means that the heaviest part of the car is at just about the worst place in a low drag car; because of the issues of side winds.

Drop a Type II cab onto the chassis of a Blackjack Zero and you'd have a good start. Walk around the original car with 123D Catch on an iPhone and you'd be well on the way.

some_other_dave -- Have you noticed that people who wear crash helmets drive more dangerously? Getting T-boned is less under your control.

[NeilBlanchard]

There could be a better safety structure within the front of this car - it would be rounded, so that would deflect the car (as opposed to engaging) from what you were hitting. Your feet are always the first part of you to be involved in the crash - what matters is how the structure is engineered.

The aerodynamics of this M-1000 are about as close to ideal as I've seen; short of the Pillbug or the Dolphin. It ain't perfect, but it shows that Alberto Morelli has chops... but we already knew that, right?

[freebeard]

I'd compare it to the Volkhardt-Saggita...


... except laid out like a Type II instead of a Type I.

[Sven7]

That's such a gorgeous car. I want a model of it. Being a responsible adult sucks.

[freebeard]

NeilBlanchard -- Do you know what museum that's in? Someone should walk around both of those with an iPhone running 123D Catch and capture a polygon cloud. You know, for backup.

Check that, bottsapper just posted a new thread with enough pictures of the Volkhart-Sagitta you could probably get 99% just from those.