Esprit Turbo project car - part3 - the further continuation

[ANDYR]

thinking outside the box...  if a second tailgate were made up (from MDF/Fibreglass/Alu etc.) which had the ski racks affixed, then you could drive sans rack in the summer and switch the tailgate over in the winter.

If there's enough of us all wanting to do ski racks and tailgates, then how hard is it to source the mould and make a batch of tailgates for us?

[Lotusfab]

I plan to drive with the racks on all year. Skis will only be mounted for static displays as the ski racks will be untested. 

2 hours ago, stephenwhyte said:

It's to be a FYEO recreation, so I'm with Fabian & it just has to have the skies.....otherwise it's arguably just another Copper Fire Turbo......clearly not a bad thing, but still....

I'm hoping this will be the most accurate recreation of the above car I can possibly make, which is why I went to so much trouble over the paint. I wouldn't be happy unless it's as exact as I can make it. So here we come ski racks and Olins! 

[Lotusfab]

Chassis  is ready!

[v8vantage]

Poor form Fab, you've gone to all that effort to make the chassis look pretty and there's mud on the tyres! Just not good enough.

[Lotusfab]

??????yes bad form old chum! The wheels and hubs on there are temporary and have to all come off again. The hubs from Lotus bits didn't turn up in time and the compomotives are still in pieces. This is going to be a long project, Steve Fulcher hasn't started the trim either! Never mind I'm enjoying sorting it slowly. The engine is fun!

[v8vantage]

Fab...feeble excuses! Doesn't matter if temporary or not, I expect perfection from you.

[Lotusfab]

Thanks Roo, glad your keeping an eye on me! ????????

[Jared_nomak]

You wanna do my S1 once you've finished as always your work looks stunning

Ross

[Lotusfab]

Thanks Ross, Think this will take me a while to finish, so it could be a long wait! 

[v8vantage]

22 minutes ago, Lotusfab said:

Thanks Roo, glad your keeping an eye on me! ????????

Pilots have a funny habit of always wanting perfection!

[Lotusfab]

Think Neil has pretty much achieved it with the paint! 

[Rolls]

How long did the bodywork take from beginning to shooting? Feels like it was a very quick turnaround.

[Lotusfab]

Took about three months. Neil had three people on it at times.

[Paul Coleman]

On 30/09/2017 at 11:11, Lotusfab said:

Hub Johnny, thanks fir the kind comments. Unfortunately, I have two pairs of Olin Mk6 skis with Tyrolia 380 bindings which have to be in their correct place on the rear of the car! I will be drilling the immaculate  tailgate and placing the skis where they belong, to the horror of the purists! What this space! 

Are you seriously going to drive round suburbia with skis on the roof?

[Lotusfab]

Maybe for international Lotus day! Generally they will be for static display only. However, I will make the ski racks so they could be driven around at 156 mph if somebody wanted to autobahn to Cortina for example!

[Lotusfab]

And what's wrong with them? After the effort I went to and the help I got from Roo and the generosity of Harvey in the USA they must be fitted! Here's a flavour. Buy the way these of course are the real deal, not fiberglass copies! 

The Bond website is wrong, they were COMP SL slalom skis, if anyone is missled!

[v8vantage]

Can't wait to see it with the skis Fab, it should look FAB! Even the colour around the Comp SL wording is copper fire, as I would expect from you.

[Lotusfab]

Looks good here! Not much room for the shopping, but if by some chance it snows in May, while your attending the Lotus festival, your quids in! 

[Andyww]

Reminder: Turn mounts right way up before putting engine in!

[Lotusfab]

Thanks Andy.

[Sweatow]

Fabian

As soon as Andy has finished with my ski mounts would you like to borrow them? they may help you

[Paul Coleman]

6 hours ago, Lotusfab said:

And what's wrong with them? After the effort I went to and the help I got from Roo and the generosity of Harvey in the USA they must be fitted! Here's a flavour. Buy the way these of course are the real deal, not fiberglass copies! 

The Bond website is wrong, they were COMP SL slalom skis, if anyone is missled!

Can you see me shaking my head? Hahaha

[Lotusfab]

10 hours ago, Sweatow said:

Fabian

As soon as Andy has finished with my ski mounts would you like to borrow them? they may help you

Thanks Matt for the kind offer. Yes I may take you up on that. It may be a while though as due work comittments I can't do anything on this project for a while. 

Paul if you like the above picture we could fit some to your S1?

[ANDYR]

Further ski rack stimulus.

Hi all. Thanks Henry for your idea about strapping the skis and racks down using a strap and ratchet going around the tailgate.  You're right that there is indeed a good set of gaps around the rear of the car that could be utilised.

Another idea is having both racks screwed/bolted/glued and part of a large platform that is held on to the car using suction cups...  sketch not to scale, but you get the idea.  the racks are fixed to a rig, the rig is sucked onto the car. one of the rules we're all following is the racks have to go to the car.  but they could go to another surface, that then goes to the car.  ta da.

If suction cups are used to lift huge panels of thick glass up cranes to skyscrapers - they're incredibly strong.  The fibreglass body of the car will be a brilliant surface to suck to as the planes are flat, not curved and they'll give microscopically. The benefits are having something NOT permanent fixed to the car...  very flexible.  The rig could then be swapped from car to car as other lotus folk use it... I've got the original mould coming my way and that'll help ideas - thanks, Matt. 

I think it comes down to this:

1. Commit to a rack for your car - it's permanent. - And ideal for a July drive in Orpington.
2. Have a set of racks that come on/off your tailgate using suction cups / straps. -  could always look a bit "is that going to fly off any second".
3. Have a set of racks that you can bolt in and out of your tailgate. the holes you create are done tastefully and in line with each other, plugged in the summer and become part of your two season aesthetic. - personal choice.
4. We all commit to having an additional tailgate made and commission a batch for our cars. Where is that mould?  The racks are then made in a batch that we get fixed permanently to those tailgates.  We can then get them all sprayed up to match each others' cars.  the finish and strength is then top notch.  The glass for your new tailgate could be acrylic as it'll cut the weight down (a bit). let's face it, the visability is poor anyway.  You then simply swap when you want to go to the alps.

I'll speak to my lovely contact to see how soon we can start prototyping.

Fabain, I appreciate I've invited myself to your audience.  I ask forgiveness, not permission.  Your car looks FANTASTIC.  The colour is gorgeous.  it'll look epic.  There was a scene from FYEO that was cut on the editing floor when bond leaves Ferrara in the car park and tells him not to play with the switches.  He does of course and fires off all the gadgets.  It would be good to see what that scene was and of course equip your car with those very additions

keep you all posted.

[Paul Coleman]

5 hours ago, Lotusfab said:

Paul if you like the above picture we could fit some to your S1?

Thank you for the offer but I'm going to have to decline. I can imagine the comments as I drove down the High Street!

It won't make you James Bond you know because he's NOT REAL!! hahaha

Edited October 2, 2017 by Paul Coleman