Meerkat
England
http://www.desicodesign.com/meerkat/
The Meerkat is a two-seater mid-engined sports car, partly inspired by the Lotus 7 and its spin-offs. The concept of a very basic "drivers" car with a high power to weight ratio and track derived handling is one that appealed to Colin Chapman, and many others that followed. One recent development in the home built sports car field is the publishing of the book "Build your own sports car for as little as 250 pounds" by Ron Champion. The end product of the book is a car called the "Locost". To say it has stirred things up a little is an understatement. He have built several cars over the past 15 years or so but Ron's excellent book has got him motivated once more.
One problem, nowadays, with the traditional "7" configuration is the shortage of suitable front engine-rear drive donor vehicles. With this project he will try to eliminate that drawback by using a front wheel drive unit in a mid-mounted position, driving the rear wheels instead of the front. It was Colin Chapman who pioneered the mid-engine configuration in formula one cars, so it's also suitable for use in sports cars, if not the most practical set up. This project, along with many like it, is not about "practical", of course "practical" is fine as a by-product, it's just not high on the list!
England
http://www.desicodesign.com/meerkat/
The Meerkat is a two-seater mid-engined sports car, partly inspired by the Lotus 7 and its spin-offs. The concept of a very basic "drivers" car with a high power to weight ratio and track derived handling is one that appealed to Colin Chapman, and many others that followed. One recent development in the home built sports car field is the publishing of the book "Build your own sports car for as little as 250 pounds" by Ron Champion. The end product of the book is a car called the "Locost". To say it has stirred things up a little is an understatement. He have built several cars over the past 15 years or so but Ron's excellent book has got him motivated once more.
One problem, nowadays, with the traditional "7" configuration is the shortage of suitable front engine-rear drive donor vehicles. With this project he will try to eliminate that drawback by using a front wheel drive unit in a mid-mounted position, driving the rear wheels instead of the front. It was Colin Chapman who pioneered the mid-engine configuration in formula one cars, so it's also suitable for use in sports cars, if not the most practical set up. This project, along with many like it, is not about "practical", of course "practical" is fine as a by-product, it's just not high on the list!
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