The same band of engineering misfits that brought the Rally Fighter to life is crowdsourcing the sports car of our dreams. It's front engine, rear-wheel drive, with a manual in the middle. And now it's time to vote on the design.
Local Motors put out the challenge brief in July and accepted designs through the end of last month. The requirements are detailed here, but the main takeaways are:
- Design should use a 4 cylinder turbocharged engine. This platform calls for the engine to be located forward, with a center mounted transmission, and rear drive.
- Two seats, side by side configuration
- Track Width: Centerline of tires must be between 1295mm (51 inches) and 1549mm (61 inches) apart, side to side
- Wheelbase: Distance between wheel axes front to rear must be between 2270mm (89 3/8 inches) and 2570mm (101 1/8 inches)
- No Doors, no roof, climb in for ingress
- Roll Hoop(s) behind passengers
- Windscreen that passes at least the height of the eyes of the driver while seated
- 4 Wheels, 17-18 inch diameter rims
- Design should include fenders over any open wheels.
LM is also shooting for a curb weight of under 1,600 pounds for the stripped-down, track day version, and is shooting for a build price of under $30,000.
Most of the designs look like a combination of Caterham, Ariel Atom, and Smart Roadster – not a bad thing, and not surprising considering those and the KTM X-Bow are the primary inspiration.
There are 200 submissions so it's damn-near impossible to pick a favorite, but find yours, post in comments, and get voting.