Karmann Ghia streamlining with Photoshop

[electricghia]

Originally Posted by Cd

One major problem that I see with this aero modded design is that the back end is essentially a RAMP !
I can just imagine how that this car would fare with an SUV crashing into its backside.
The SUVs bumper would end up taking your head off.

This is one more reason why I see genius in the design of the new Aptera. The tail end of the car is high enough to meet the bumper of any upcoming traffic.

Indeed, the aptera borrows alot from the 'typical' tear-drop solar-racer.
Ours, circa 1996, had the tail at bumper height exactly for that reason:

(Sorry for the poor image... wasn't much of an internet in '96...)


-Nick

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by electricghia

As it happens, I'm converting a '72 Karmann Ghia coup to electric

Hi Nick - I saw your Ghia in Rick's workshop in Ottawa. I'm jealous you'll have such a stylish EV!

[Stan]

Originally Posted by Cd

One major problem that I see with this aero modded design is that the back end is essentially a RAMP ! I can just imagine how that this car would fare with an SUV crashing into its backside. The SUVs bumper would end up taking your head off.

Actually, since all the karman structure/engine bay is still there, a rear impact should not penetrate any further with the boat-tail than it would with the OEM bodywork.

[electricghia]

Originally Posted by Stan

Actually, since all the karman structure/engine bay is still there, a rear impact should not penetrate any further with the boat-tail than it would with the OEM bodywork.

I think the concern is mostly with regards to deflecting the energy of the impact upwards; that is, an SUV would climb up on top of the car!

Such as:

[Cd]

electricghia, your image above is just what I was talking about.
Luckily, it looks like no one was seriously injured. I saw a Corvette that fared much worse - the SUV climbed up the hood of the 'vette and smashed straight into the driver.

I have a fellow that I work with that welds as a hobby ( he is very good ) and is building an old Ford hot rod.
He knows of a guy that has some K.G. bodies for sale, but since I'm still without a garage, I won't be building any K.G. streamliners anytime soon.
I showed him the model in progress that I have pictured on this thread, and asked his opinion about the 'ramp' problem.
He seemed to think that a good roll cage would help to deflect any vehicles away from the driver. I was surprised that he actually really liked the look of the car. Several other co-workers also gathered around and made positive comments about the look of the car.
Without me saying anything about my real reasoning for extending the trunk,( to streamline the car ) he said that it looked really " streamlined " .
Cool !
Had I shown him a traditional car with a full boat-tail and wheel skirts all around, you can be sure that his reaction would have been quite different.
These cars just have a 'cool' look to them when you streamline them.

If you do decide to do any streamlining to your Ghia, please keep us posted on your progress !

[Cd]

This is a minor update on the physical model of the Aero-Ghia.

The model of the VW GTI is of the same scale, so as you can see, the car really is quite long.

Anyways, this is how the car would look 'naked' without her skirts or her top.



For the top portion of the car, I am just going to shape some thin sheet metal and JB weld it to the metal of the body.


( BTW, I used Durhams water putty, and it works fantastic ! Compared to Bondo, it is much better, being non toxic, environmentally friendly, and doesn't have any fumes at all. Just mix it with water - no extra crap to mix, and no chemical clean up. I wouldn't use it on a real car though ... without testing it first at least. )

[some_other_dave]

One thing I would be concerned about: Engine cooling. The engine gets both its induction air and its cooling air from the grille in the engine lid. Covering that up would be a Very Bad Idea, IMHO, and making sure that you get laminar flow over the grille (if you leave it in place) may also wind up starving the poor engine of air. Not to mention that the fan ingests different amounts of air at different RPMs. Not sure if it's enough to mess up your aero effects significantly, but....

Just another thing to think about.

...And I agree: It looks really cool!!

-soD

[evolutionmovement]

Watercooled Subaru conversion? The radiator could be mounted horizontally either in the nose or tail with appropriate ducting. Or maybe custom ducting for the air cooling, maybe NACA ducts for cooling. There must be a low pressure zone somewhere to draw out waste heat.

[jerryd]

[QUOTE=Cd;82623]Why not go E.V. ?
I've seen quite a few of them that have already been converted.

Stock, the car did 0-60 in something like 26 seconds. ( So it wouldn't be hard at all to do better than stock and be EV. )




I agree an EV version would be quite good. One stock bodied Ghia EV gets 100wthrs/mile which is equivalent to 160-240mpg.

As Ghia's don't do weight well Li batts could give a nice 100 mile range at a reasonable cost of about $5k. Another is use lead batteries with a 3-5kw DC generator for unlimited range at about 100mpg.

As for aero you could get about the same effect with an air trip edge just before the rear starts turning in fast, about 6" from the rear sheet metal. But it looks so good as shopped it might be worth the work.

[catchonfire]

I dailydrive a Ghia. Yur boat tail has got me really likin' it! Great model: progress?