locked up and forgotten

[Fire-medic]

An abandoned Japanese auto dealship building w/an interesting assortment of cars. http://www.revvedmag.com/news/diamonds-in-the-rough-abandoned-car-dealership-in-japan/

 

[Fire-medic]

From the article I read-up on the Unipower GT which was a1st generation BMC Mini-based fiberglass kit car from the 1960's, about '66-'70. They only sold a handful, but the engine is a midship design, so the handling must be very good. The car was sold w/o an engine which got it around the onerous tax structure in the UK. Superamerica (So. Africa-built) does the same thing now for their Cobra replicar and the Cobra GT.

The Unipower GT looks cute, and because only 70 were built before the one principal part-owner stopped his involvement, effectively ending production, that was that. They fetch ridiculous amounts of $ for any left, & are obviously hard to find/purchase. Someone could update the design, I think.

If you're a gearhead and don't need a minimum of 4 wheels and 327 cu inches to get excited about something vintage, this makes a good read about this particular car's history: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=918937

http://www.vmaxforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=51113&d=1445359992

 

[caseyjones955]

Wow, it's amazing that something like that can go unchecked for so many years. I love mid engine cars, sort of surprised we dont do that more over here.

 

[Fire-medic]

One of my friends who is a mechanical engineer has an interesting history. I met him through an old college classmate of mine, who came to FL to do prototype work on a 'classic design' car in the early 1980's. It was built by a MI industrialist who wanted to make a car like the Excalibur, designer Brooks Stevens' car made in WI which used contemporary running gear and a body which bore lines lifted from the Mercedes cars of the 1930's, and other same-era cars.

My college friend did the prototype body based on input from the business owner. The car was manufactured in Pompano Beach FL. The person I met was the mechanical engineer who designed the subframe and other running gear modifications to make it work.

The Clenet was another of the 'classic era' replica cars designed around a Buick Regal unit body car and running gear. This car my friends worked-upon used another popular car of the day, the Fox-body Mustang (4th generation Mustang) which had a front subframe extension mated to the unit body of the Mustang, draped in swoopy front-fendered glory and with a huge custom front radiator grille, lights and bumper, a truly imposing look, if you were a pedestrian and saw one of these barrelling towards you.

The guys in the production shop all wanted to drive the prototype Golden Spirit which had been delivered to the business from I think it was Bobby Unser's shop in AZ. It was a Ford turbocharged V8 which was going to be a performance option for the discerning Golden Spirit customer who wanted some power to match the appearance.

The industrialist was named Zimmer, he decided to name the car the "Golden Spirit," and it came w/a spread-wing eagle perched atop the radiator shell. The phrase, "nothing exceeds like excess" certainly bears fruit in the execution of this automobile!

It had a good run, and then the market for this particular vehicle was satisfied, and the industrialist decided to close the operation. So, my engineer friend went elsewhere. The guy who was contracted to do the body went to GM in Warren MI, and he retired from there almost two years ago.

The engineer had an idea for a car of his own, and he built one prototype. Based on the work he had done for the Golden Spirit, he knew what to avoid, how to design for economy of assembly, and other considerations. What he built was truly a stunning concept. He used a 1970 Cadillac Eldorado drivetrain, which was a FWD V8 using a modified GM Turbo-Hydro 400 transmission, which used a Morse Hy-Vo drive system. It was the largest power and displacement FWD car (the Eldorado) ever produced at the time. He designed a space frame and located the Eldorado drivetrain behind the driver and passenger. I never saw it in person, but I saw a video of him driving it in the mountainous coal country roads of WV. It had an open body and resembled nothing as-much as a Can Am car for the road. At 500 cu.in., 400 HP, and 475 ft.lb torque in a car which weighed < 3000 lb, it had potential. Sadly, he was never able to find adequate financing, and as far as I know, he still has it. I still have the VCR tape of the car somewhere, I'd like to find it and post it up, but being able to locate it is low on my list of things I have to do soon. Maybe I can just ask him to send me a digital copy.

So, the RWD but mid-engined car has always been something of interest to performance enthusiasts, and cars like the 1st generation Mini-based Unipower GT and my friend's prototype were attempts to provide enthusiasts wit something they would purchase. Supposedly there is work being done on the Corvette to accomplish this, but those rumors have been flying around since the 1960's when GM made some concept cars using mid-engine design. "Is this the new Corvette?" has been asked every time the generational design was changed, but nothing like that yet.

 

[caseyjones955]

I'm not sure the Corvette can be swapped to a mid-engine without pissing off the purists, besides they do have a stellar performance platform now (I'm no fan of the vette' or anything from GM), it would be like spreading out the S&S Vtwin to 60 degrees, it would be better but as a business they still have to give people what they want. They would need to create something from scratch like that delicious Ford GT instead of a mid-engine Mustang.

Aside from all the awesome Italian mid-engine stuff I could not justify I would really enjoy finding an Acura NSX to play with.

 

[jinks]

I bought a Eunos Roadster a year before the Fukushima melt down in japan. A dealership here use to bring them in. But that has all stopped now because of the radiation. No more cars, and no more dealerships. It was like brand new. very fun little car.

 

[Fire-medic]

A Mazda MX-5 in the USA, I see yours is RHD http://www.teameunos.com/cars/eunos-roadster/specs.html

A co. installs V-8's in them but it's not cheap. Road & Track did an article on them. R&T called the V-8 Miata, "4/5 of a Viper." http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/first-drives/reviews/a3981/drives-flyin-miata-mazda-mx5-v8/

Since you (caseyjones) like the mid-engine cars, here's a great article on the car that shocked the world when the small company brought-out its mid-engine production car before Ferrari! Why the Miura Is the Greatest Lamborghini Ever Made http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/news/a27071/valentino-balboni-interview/ It's an interview of the Lamborghini test driver Valentino Balboni, who is well-known to the marque's fans as the #1 test driver, he even has a special edition named after him.

 

[Fire-medic]

The S&S X-Wedge is 56 degrees, that's the one you can get in a 2.1 liter size, street legal, and the X-Wedge was chosen by Morgan for their new/old three-wheeler, the original three-wheeler was the 1/4-mile record holder for street-legal cars nearly 100 years ago. http://www.motorpunk.co.uk/features/xcar-morgan-adventure-to-the-brighton-speed-trails/

They had to open the V wider to clear the pistons/bores @ BDC.

I'm not sure the Corvette can be swapped to a mid-engine without pissing off the purists, besides they do have a stellar performance platform now (I'm no fan of the vette' or anything from GM), it would be like spreading out the S&S Vtwin to 60 degrees,, it would be better but as a business they still have to give people what they want. They would need to create something from scratch like that delicious Ford GT instead of a mid-engine Mustang.

Aside from all the awesome Italian mid-engine stuff I could not justify I would really enjoy finding an Acura NSX to play with.

 

[Fire-medic]

And if you like those "barn-find" stories, here's one that is almost unbelievable. I have never seen such a variety and number of cars in one place, collected and showing various amounts of age, awaiting some attention.

http://www.motorpunk.co.uk/out-and-about/europes-biggest-barnfind-850-classics-greenhouse/

Allegedly there are hundreds! A guy by me in south FL collected GM A-body muscle cars of the 1960's and he had a collection of just over a hundred, which is only "a good start" on what this fellow has amassed! Unfortunately the FL collector died around 60 y.o., and when his family found out what he had been spending on the collection, everything was put up for sale: industrial buildings, where the restoration work was being done, storage warehous(es) for the parts and the finished products, and of course all those cars and parts. Oh, and he had a Moto Guzzi dealership. To liquidate the stuff, the company hired to do it just advertised, "25% of retail," and hundreds of people showed up, buying parts, clothing, and whatever-else. The cars and the warehouse of muscle car parts went at auction. One of my friends bought pallets-full of motorcycling stuff. There were thousands of helmets, clothing from textile to leather jackets, pants, boots, gloves, new name-brand tools, etc. Yes, I made a contribution to the liquidation, I got stuff for friends and shipped it to them, and got some great deals on clothing and tools for myself.

Don't you love stuff like this? It's enough to keep haunting old buildings and asking questions wherever you go, "do you know of any old cars or motorcycles around here?"