You might be wondering what I was smoking when I designed the Tiger 700
The main inspiration was the Messerschmitt TG 500. Messerschmitt was an aircraft manufacturer during Word War II. Part of Germany's surrender agreement was that they would not produce any aircraft for ten years after World War II, so Messerschmitt retooled to produce a small 3 wheeled car that looked like an air plane without wings. When they added a 4th wheel, the TG 500 was born. The TG 500 was manufactured from 1958 to 1961 and was nicknamed the "Tiger 500". With a 500cc engine, the TG 500 was considered a performance car in its era.
Think of what I'm building as "Hot Rod Messerschmitt". In true hot rod fashion, that means you tear off the fenders, install larger wheels/tires, put a more powerful engine in it, and make it lighter.
The design takes inspiration from other cars as well:
- The front fascia barrows elements from a Rat Rod VW Beatle
- The heat chimney behind the driver's cockpit is reminiscent of the STP turbine race car that ran at Indianapolis.
- The tail cone is from a vintage indy car of the late 1950s.
Before I started the design, I read a book called "H-Point: The Fundamentals of Car Design and Packaging. This is a text book used in the prestigious Art Center College in Pasadena CA. The Art Center College produced many of the greatest car designers of our time such as Chip Foose, Ed Welburn (GM VP of Global Design - Retired), Camilo Pardo (designed the Ford GT).
Anyway, the H-Point book was a great starting point with lots guidance on packaging. It recommends designing a car from the inside out. So I started with the ASE manikin template, which is the auto industry's standard that represents the human body dimensions for 90% of the population.
The body pays homage to the TG 500, but is a unique design (not a replica). The overall body dimensions are close to the TG 500, but not a single panel is the same.
Oveall, the design theme is to make so ugly its cute, like a VW Beatle, Fiat 500, or MG Mini.