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Hey Guys, nice sensable forum

I'm developing an Exo Sleleton car both for myself and later for sale in any form and would like to show you a couple of weeks progress report.

I am an Ozzie in China and can assure you the price (Chinese) will be very enticing but the quality (Western) will be there.

Yes it is Atom-ish but wait for the bodywork before you write it off as just that, I think it's a bit special!

And please don't tell the At-om Forum, I just wouldn't feel safe at night

Mark

This is a great idea! The design looks fantastic too!

So you are utilizing cheap chinese manufacturing to make the components and body panels to sell as a kit? Do you realize that this kind of concept can revolutionize the kit car industry?

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+442E, SR20det, Thunderbird/Markviii IRS with clutch lsd, R1 suspension all around, Mustang II 2" drop spindles, Woodward steering rack

Will I see this in a Harbor Freight catalog anytime soon?

Looks good!

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He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

Welcome aboard Mark. Looks like a good idea.

I've seen your comments on another forum for the last few years. For those not familiar, the name Cheapracer comes from his efforts to build a very cheap spec race car to export from China so that mere mortals can afford to go racin'.

Is this an "in addition to" or a "instead of" project?
.

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http://www.SportsCarDesigner.com .... You want to design your own car... so go ahead. Sports Car Designer is the answer.

Hey there Engine Guy! I put it on a few people in another forum to purchase your software

It's going to be produced but don't ask me at what level, still thinking about things - maybe kit or roller because either the Ford or the Toyota (4AFE or 4AGE) will be cheap and easy for people to source locally themselves.

I have a distinct business reason to forge ahead quickly with this one at this time but it's certainly an addition to.

I took the chassis out into the factory today and put some uprights and wheels on it to give a better perspective...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3194/302 ... 85.jpg?v=0

Thats a 90"WB and 67" tracks for those tech minded people.

Looking sleek, I'm quite happy that it's falling together reasonably well.

Well I actually wanted to make a road going exo skeleton car in the basic Ferrari sports car shape in the 80's but it really didn't look good on paper and some people actually registered off road buggies but thats what they looked like! Credit where credits due, Ar-i-el have started this current Exo Car trend.

Yeah I wish I had the design talent! I've made some good looking cars before but this is a step up and I'm sad to say it's not my doing, he goes with the handle Gabe Warfield and we have come to an accord

I am not trying to revolutionise anything but if I can get someone's ass in a fun car cheaper and still put food on my table I will be satisfied. I am happy to help anyone, Kitcar Co's etc with the same ideal.

Thanks for your kind replies

In reality, a lot of the kit stuff produced today is below what I'd expect from a chinese factory. Its also a lot more expensive. Most kits, even basic cobra kits, go for more than $15,000 each! All I'm saying is that if you can provide a frame, bodywork, and suspension components to work with a suitable cheap donor car such that a person could build the car for less than $10k or so, and have it look good and perform well, you could be making bank! Hell, can you imagine racing leagues starting up that featured cars you sell?

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+442E, SR20det, Thunderbird/Markviii IRS with clutch lsd, R1 suspension all around, Mustang II 2" drop spindles, Woodward steering rack

The problem is the donar car angle, Chinese car market stuff is different but I have concentrated on what you can get such as the mentioned Toyota 4AFE/4AGE or Ford Zetec. Of course for the home engineer with more basic skills he can do what he wants and to this degree i have left the engine compatment simple for these mods. If someone tells me ahead of time what they intend to do I will try to do the work at this end for free or minimul cost while it's in the jig. Hell, it's only steel, so what if you cut it a bit longer/shorter!

If you read Sports Car Designers post you will see he mentioned my ideal of the cheap spec racing series. If it's these or the race car I have been developing doesn't matter, I will be happy to see some bums in seats again for the right reasons.

When you say it like that, it sounds so simple. Unfortunately that's a rather tall order to fill.

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-Justin

"Orville Wright did not have a pilots license." - Gordon MacKenzie

Why?

I would be happy to hear your views on which part do you think is difficult about it all?

I will give you genuine responses.

It appears to violate the natural order of things. You know the saying, cheap, fast or reliable, pick any two. I think in the kit car sense the saying would be something like cheap, good looking, or good performing pick any two.

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He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

I'm not saying it's impossible...But if it were simple it would have been done by now. The kit/specialty car industry has been around for quite a while, and there have inevitably been some very intelligent people involved along the way...Yet here we are today without a successful company building high-quality fast cars that can be completed and driving on the road in a short period of time for <$10k. I've looked into how the costs add up for a business like this to turn a profit, and understand a lot of the challenges involved.

Then again a Factory Five Roadsters only start at $13k (actually $11k with the current "recession special") and only really needs an old/cheap beat up mustang to go with it. Personally I think that's doing pretty damn good for manufacturing a car here in the USA.

However I will admit that you are currently being more agressive with lowering the cost of business than many before you, by being located in the heart of cheap labor/manufacturing.

The rule of "Good, Cheap, Fast: Pick Two" is rarely defeated.

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-Justin

"Orville Wright did not have a pilots license." - Gordon MacKenzie

It's true, I am in the heart of cheap and you can't believe the buying prices of OEM products here and I'm still buying retail off the street and pricing out based on that, when I go to the manufacturers later and buy in bulk I expect the appropriate savings as well. You Guys wouldn't believe what I know after sniffing around here for 4 years and just how much of the car you drive today (Jap or GM, Ford etc.) comes from China.

I also repeat my offer, any kit car company reading this I will help you to source from here in an effort to help you lower your prices while maintaining profit.

There is a trust factor too - cheap can certainly give the wrong impression especially if it hasn't been done before but then again can you name me a kit car from China? (Theres those awful buggies made from plasticine that break if you look at them too hard, they don't help my cause ) Sometimes raising the price actually improves sales because it installs confidence - doesn't work for me!

Mark

This is the latest rendering by Gabe Warfield closer suited to the actual chassis. This shows me what I have to change as well now such as the roll bar height and shape to further get a final image.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3033/304 ... cd.jpg?v=0

playing around