How obtainable is 0.159Cd? (Why dont we have bubblecars yet?)

[euromodder]

Lovely car that Volkhart - very similar to early Porsche designs .

Clean it up - bumpers, blinkers, grille, mirrors, bigger windows, give it a better structure - and drop in the 1L VW CNG engine instead of a TDi.

[freebeard]

Hi, aerohead. You're one of my favorite peeps from my lurking days. I'm looking forward to being mocked by Frank Lee. When you were building that 1970 VW Type II, I was drawing this:



Mexico is full of 2nd-hand VW floorpans. Non-VW replacement floorpans were available in the 60's. One could make one's own in a garage following this lead:

Autospeed from 2010

I like the Beetle's construction for it's modularity: stock engine and stock body with composite floorpan--or the other way around, or both, or neither.

Did anyone here recognize, or even see, the link to Local Motors?

EMPOWERING A WORLD
OF AutoMAKERS

Local Motors is the place for people to create influential vehicles together

Join The Forge to create, showcase, and discover the vehicles of the future

[Frank Lee]

Why would I mock?

I myself have a '71 Super and a '60 Microbus, and back in the day had many more like them.

[freebeard]

Hi, Frank.

I meant that in the friendliest way possible. I consider you the voice of reason, but you seem to have a 'take no prisoners' approach when people ignore what you have already said once.

So what I was saying is I expect to sound like a doofus at some point.

[Frank Lee]

I'll be extra nice to my fellow VW enthusiast!

[freebeard]

Frank Lee -- I should teach myself how to Thank people.

euromodder -- are the wrecking yards over there full of them? Instead of the 1L VW CNG, how about a 1/2 VW? No engine adapters:

Volkswagen air-cooled engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1/2 VW Engine Kits, Parts & Plans from Great Plains Aircraft!

[ERTW]

I still take issue with people who demonize gm for "killing the electric car". They invested one BILLION dollars in r&d, and they're supposed to be happy selling 80 cars at $80k each?!

As to why they can't build a 2700 lb steel version, with a turbo 1.4...it'd be a two seat commuter car for the same price as a cruze. I'd expect 15% lower fuel consumption based on weight and drag. The SIV1 should at least be a 2+2. Gm should have a turbo 1L 3 cylinder soon, and cidi engines which will bring it to prius level economy.

The Shape has to stay the same from the a pillar rearward to keep it aero. Designers would be redundant. You don't want them to lose their jobs, do you?

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Hi, aerohead. You're one of my favorite peeps from my lurking days. I'm looking forward to being mocked by Frank Lee. When you were building that 1970 VW Type II, I was drawing this:



Mexico is full of 2nd-hand VW floorpans. Non-VW replacement floorpans were available in the 60's. One could make one's own in a garage following this lead:

Autospeed from 2010

I like the Beetle's construction for it's modularity: stock engine and stock body with composite floorpan--or the other way around, or both, or neither.

Did anyone here recognize, or even see, the link to Local Motors?

That's some nice pencil work! The Eurovan kinda went in that direction didn't it? A friend and neighbor who used to drive to the Yucatan peninsula each year said it was swarming with these 'walk around inside' V-dubs.Very user friendly.

[freebeard]

Thanks.

If your search term is
'high-top VW' you'll get the various aftermarket fiberglass camper conversions.

The magic term is 'highroof':


When you get far enough down the rabbit-hole, you find this:


While I was trawling though my backups for those, I found this. My back yard around that same time:

That one in the back was a 1952 Silver Streak Clipper. I had all the ingredients.

[thomason2wheels]

Originally Posted by euromodder

Mostly for the very same reasons as the missing boattail.
The bubbles have lots of interior volume


The VW 1L and XL show they aren't dumb
They can do it - they just doubt the market is ready to accept their solutions.

VW / Audi tried with the Lupo and A2 3 Liter (per 100km) cars, and effectively failed as they didn't sell that many.
That surely makes any company cautious.
However, these cars are more in demand now, than they ever were when new !

VW is trying again, with the up! CNG (79 g/km CO2, that's Prius C territory).
A brave try in what's very much a niche market in most countries.

Fiat has the lowest overall CO2 output in Europe, yet the company is in shambles .


If they were, it wouldn't be so easy to ecomod them, would it ?

I wonder if fiat quality has improved in their current offerings. Anyone have a feel for that?