legacycentral bbs

Nah, I stuck a stock Ford Focus ATF cooler behind my grille. It fits almost perfectly, even if it's a bit small.

No, MA is the only state without a clear-cut classification for 3-wheelers. The front end has two wheels and the rear is the single, and it should easily be well under 1500 lbs. (easily a motorcycle in every other state I checked).

MA DMV had issues with the engine size (too big for a motorcycle even though it's a motorcycle engine!), side by side seating, doors, roof, and car controls.

The vehicle I've decided to pursue will resemble either a P-40 Tomahawk or F-4 Corsair (utilizing the NACA cowl to aid cooling for the A/C and radiator as well as reduce drag) sans wings and tail aft of the canopy, S2000-powered, Goldwing rear drive, and with custom wishbone front suspension. The canopy will be safety glass flat paneling so I can add the prerequisite wipers and washers. I'm going to try for a car classification to avoid some confused cop issues. It will be 1+1 tandem seating and the numbers for both performance and mileage look impressive, however, I've yet to find a decent mileage calculator. I'll post pics when I finish these models and it will look a lot better than it sounds. I hope I can build it and sell it to someone who wants to be different and has too much money they don't know what to do with. I want to rid myself of this second mortgage. I may have to sell a few of them.

It's good to have you back. I feel like the little kid who's uncle hasn't been around for a while and gets too excited to tell him what he's up to.

Wow, Steve, that sounds really exciting. It seems like you could end up with really good aerodynamics, which is actually a lot of the reason cars like the Prius do well with fuel economy.

Your words are too kind. Like I said in another thread, it's the Coca-Cola Classic effect... They took away the Coke people liked, and then when they brought it back people celebrated.

But, I do love the way you come up with these ideas, Steve.

Steve

Found the article on the Messerschmitt 3-wheeler. After producing 30,573 Bf 109s with some 45,000 engineers and craftsmen the plant at the end of WWII was in bad shape.

Eventually they started making the tandem-seated micro car with a 38 cc engine, and soon moved up to 100cc. Drive was to the single rear wheel and models included a convertible and a clear plastic "bubbletop"

I drove in one once and it was a lot of fun.

Displacement moved up to 200cc in 1956 with 10.2 hp(not at the wheel) at 5250 rpm. Curb weight was 506 lbs., with a wheeelbase of 79.9 inches. Top speed was 52 mph and the 0 to 40 mph took 30 seconds. This was the KR - 200.

Of interest, is that it had 4 speeds ahead----as well as in reverse

An article in Automobile Quarterly published in the second quarter of 1973 also included a picture of them racing. Generally, the name was "Kabinenroller", and production ended in about 1961.

Ultimately it was produced with 500 cc and 4 wheels

The 4-wheel was called the Tiger. They're actually worth pretty big money today. Yeah, for reverse, they just rotate the engine the opposite direction. I guess my vehicle idea would be something like a big bad version of the 3-wheeler with the engine in front... Nah, the only thing in common is the tandem seating, 3-wheels, and the canopy, but mine will slide back, not flip to the side (because I HATE doors and I think it would be nice to be able to drive around with the canopy slid back like an old fighter plane). I'm still exploring how I want to manage the high step-over to get inside.