Back in 2007 I became aware of the Automotive Xprise . It was a contest to see who could get a car to go furthest distance on the least amount of energy. What a great idea! I was inspired . So I began to research what needs to be done to reduce the energy demand on our vehicles. Seems one of the biggest obsticles preventing low energy consumption is the air we breathe. Our atmosphere is a dense medium compared to the vacuum of space. Therefore aerodynamics on the surface of this planet is very important.I can remember as a child holding my hand out the window of the family car while cruising down the highway and how the resistance would change depending on how I shaped my hand. My number one goal here is to create as aerodynamic a shape as ergonomically possible for a four passenger car. Yes ergonomics and practicality are also a big part of my quest. It would be artistically liberating to just throw caution to the wind (no pun intended) and just design my car on visual appeal . The journey I chose is to counter the mainstream philosophy especially in the supercar realm and design with a much more ecological mindset. Hence the name Zoleco combining the first three letters in my name with the first three in ecology. Humanity needs to improve its relatiolnship with the environment for the long haul and I hope that my car will in its small way help people to visualize that goal.
The results of my research clearly indicated that the most aerodynamically efficient shape is that of a tear drop. This image is one of my scale models . It worked rather well in the simulated wind tunnel tests I did with it on my flowbench. That is another story that I can share with you here. The flowbench is a machine like a huge vacuum cleaner that pushes or draws air through cylinbder head ports and measure the amount of flow at a preset test pressure. In the cylinder head porting world it is a critical measuring tool to assure high quality air flow improvements are being made by the cylinder head porter. By placing the model in a flow tube critical shape alterations could be tested for efficiency. I have years of experience on this machine where I also built custom carburetors two of which went on to set a land speed record at the Bonneville Salt flats. But thats another story.
I just finished high school and was working two jobs saving up money to build my first hot rod. When I found the body shell of this 1950 Austin pickup 50 miles from my home. I brought it home and started to think of ways to customize it . I started with the cab and front end only. The back half I built from scratch because I did not like the factory slab sided box.It took 3 years of concentrated effort to complete. The finished product you see here was classified at the first car show I went to as a radical custom rod pickup. Happened to get first place, but I was in a class by myself with no other radically modified vehicles in the show. I've always loved the creativity in personalizing the cars we drive. The only way to really let loose is design the whole car from scratch starting with a clean sheet of paper...hence the Zoleco.
My Austin pick up was destroyed in a highway accident in 1981 so I decided to build this car to replace it. I was so busy with my restoration business in those years that this car did not get the attention it deserved so I sold it to another drag race enthusiast.
Like you see on these custom car building tv shows a lot of big builds start with drawings to try to bring life into the idea. I am no big artist but one can grasp the idea.
For maximum eco-friendliness I opted to build my full size design and development model around a 3 cyl turbo Suzuki drive train. The donor vehicle was a 1988 Suzuki Forsa. I liked the front wheel drive idea for it suited this concept very well . The fun begins in laying out the parameters, using lengths of plastic tube to visualize the contours, a hands on design approach that is brought into being in the real world , not the virtual realm of a computer.
Once the plastic tubing and my visualizing have given me my perimeter markers , the actual body layout is formed by hand with steel round bar which is tack welded in place. A lot of visualizing ,trial fitting and measuring is used during this step to assure the ergonomics fit what I had set out to achieve.
So my layout is complete creating a bird cage type frame work onto which the foam is applied for the next step.
Lovely isn't it? Kind of resembles my brain matter at this point. This whole thing now is carefully carved with saws and grinders to achieve the rough in of the body shape.
Now with careful application of the smoothing medium, one can see what was in my brain much earlier in this arduous process. As this step continues sutle changes can be made to finalize the shape I want.
Wow, it is in first primer. Now it is further fine tuned in the shaping process.
Here is the headlight layout that will used.
This photo shows the hood venting that will be used. It will allow cooling air from the radiators to flow out and over the hood.
This shot shows the changes made to the side venting . These side vents bleed air pressure from the wheel houssings.
This shot shows the venting for the engine bay which is cut in behind the headlights and above the side vents.
The rear wings were reshaped a couple of times in the fine tuning process to bring them into the visual I was trying to achieve.
Now these wings are set to be neutral in aero affect with the tailights molded into the trailing edge. The addition of them is a visual one on the most part.
Here is another angle showing the tailight form and the hatchback perimeter lines. Yes, those blacked out areas will be windows.
This is the stage the car is at right now , April 2019. What you are looking at is the completed exterior of the full scale design and development model. It is called a model because it is not meant to function as a driveable car. Once this shape is finalized then at that point molds will be made from this plug. It is from these molds that the composite body for the Zoleco prototype will be made. Following the prototype stage the molds again come into play to make numerous copies of the original design model to satisfy the demand for kits for the do it yourself at home car builders. Yes a full scale car model kit that you can build at home.
As you can see in this photo the interior has not yet been designed and put into plug format as the exterior has. It does show however that it is roomy and meant to seat four adults. How roomy you might ask ? With the front seat set for an over 6 foot driver there is more than ten inches of leg room in the back seat.
Yes , I am happy to be alive. July of 2015 I contracted serious vertigo caused by an inner ear infection which has left me with permanent balance issues which my brain through dilagent therapy has learned to adjust for. The price I pay is a state of constant fatigue from the extra effort I put in to walk a straight line, which means my days are less productive due to them being much shorter. That is one of the reasons why the project was put on hold. I am now trying to reawaken the venture.
Prior to my getting sick the Illinois business university performed a semester-long research project of the eco-friendly car market, the competitors that mark its landscape, as well as various sources of financing for the Zoleco. The result of this research is a comprehensive analysis of Zoleco's current status as an in-development concept car, the issues it currently faces at this stage, as well as the options available for the business's advancement. I am looking at the explicit set of recommendations given to me to use to push the Zoleco concept car into it's next phase of development. Number one is obtain a business partner. It is obvious that I am committed and dedicated to this venture and need financial backing to go to the next stage in its development.
My creativity is alive and well in the automotive realm but I also did a major restoration of a house that was built in 1935 . I spent a pile of the banks money to do the work and everything was going along nicely with my porting and restoration business so no problem to cover my liabilities . Then the banking fiasco around 2008 played hard on everyone which in turn smothered my business. I second mortgaged to keep everything running but the recovery was not in time for me so I had to sell my fully renovated house at a loss. Another hardship endured. This Virtually shut down my livelyhood so I went out and got a job at a firetruck building facility doing bodywork and paint on custom built trucks. Three years go by and my finances are on the recovery path. I am starting to think about resuming the Zoleco project in the not to distant future. It is at this point that I wake up early one morning and find my world spinnig like a tornado, so now I am striken with a serious inner ear infection which plays havock on me for over three years. Now I have a disability to deal with for the remainder of my life. My plans to complete the car are still alive but enough with set backs already.
I am sure that most of you would agree that designing and building a car from scratch might be a bit overwhelming for one person to take on. Yes, it sure can be and I hope the set backs will cease so I can get on with the challenge at hand. All things considered these challenges and set backs I have encountered have just made me more adamant about the project. I will find a way to complete the prototype and then with that proof of concept on the road and test track it will prove itself. Like they say proof is in the pudding and this whole venture is based on real science.
Like I mentioned earlier I now have a full scale design model of the body's exterior called a plug ready for mold making. The interior design must now be created in a matching symmetrical styling to the exterior. Then the underbody venturi needs to be built to give me a complete plug of the entire car. From this plug a full set of molds are built, then numerous body shells can be produced to begin the production run for the next phase.
Being a very grass roots operation from the start I feel the best approach to bring this car to market would be the kit car sector. I have had numerous inquiries regarding such over the previous few years and feel it is a great direction to go . This would allow serious enthusiasts to build their own version of an Eco-Exotic car for pennys on the dollar. Depending on which drivetrain option is used and the completed mass of the project the performance would be breathtaking. If you view my comparison chart on the home page you will see what I mean. Pick any car on the chart and the Zoleco needs so much less energy input to achieve so much more performance.
Ever wondered what it would be like to just pin the throttle and go as fast as the car can go? Well with the low drag of this body design it would be really fast with a lot less power required ! Just plain out of this world exciting,with great fuel mileage to boot. With the design perameters that I have built this car around it is a natural land speed car.
Let us play out a scenario just for fun. Lets say you decided to build your kit with a 375 hp turbo V6. If you enter all your data into the eco-modder aero drag mpg calculator, with 375hp you could achieve a top speed over 200mph , run 1/4 mile times in the low 11s, with fuel mileage close to 50mpg on a Sunday drive. That is the purpose of this whole idea to do the most in both performance and fuel economy with the least amount of energy input
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