So my good buddy in chicago sold this super awesome and weird 1 of 1 sports racer to a buddy of mine in Austin, TX.
Because of schedules and other things a middle man was needed to intercept the car being dropped in Dallas today and picked up in dallas tomorrow.
The original 4AGE met an unfortunate end in 2017 when an grassroots fix to an unobtainable gasket failed and the motor ran lean. Now has a Yamaha R1 motor and trans in it.
It's basically a custom built body and aero work on top of a Fraser S3 lotus 7 clone.
it's friggin COOL.
Pictures I shot today and last night.
I'll try and get some other cool shots of it tomorrow.
Here's a shot of it running at Gingerman in 2018.
Cool things are cool, and that's super cool.
Wow, the seat is quite rearward. Very much "driving from the back seat" sort of position.
That is some very "mid-engine" engine placement.
NOHOME
UltimaDork
1/20/19 6:49 a.m.
What are the wheels? They have quite the offset!
And yeah..the driving position does look to be from the back axle.
Pete
I thought that was a "feature" of the "lotus 7 lyfe"? (yo)
When you put the engine in the front seat you have to drive fom the back seat.
Kreb
UberDork
1/20/19 11:10 a.m.
There's a lot to be said for driving from the back seat. You're keenly aware of slip angles, and it becomes that much easier to control them.
More photos, had to poke around it a bit before it leaves tonight
Why not drive it over to my place in Fort Worth. I've got room for us to try it out a little
Cotton
PowerDork
1/20/19 5:23 p.m.
That is wild. I’d love to have a rig like that to play around with.
carguy123 said:
Why not drive it over to my place in Fort Worth. I've got room for us to try it out a little
I'm in ft worth as well, scca racer owns a cocktail bar in downtown ft worth that was taste of ft worth 2017. he's a cool dude and has built and run a couple different cars over the years. we should get some of the DFW GRM crew together there sometime.
NOHOME
UltimaDork
1/20/19 10:08 p.m.
Still want to know who made the wheels. They are unique.
Pete
A Large majority of this car was fully custom 1 off parts, including the entire body. The wheels are 2 piece, but I don't know more about them besides that. I will inquire with the previous owner. He has more photos that I'll be postin for you guys to see.
there's a part of me the wonders if they've had cooling issues with that car. that engine bump looks... disadvantageously placed, if I'm correct
In reply to sleepyhead :
they have not, the radiator is actually side fed at an angle in the right side of the vehicle.
How’d you get it in and off the trailer? It’s low and that nose is looooonng. There’s no way it was just those ramps.... was it??
_
Reader
1/21/19 7:46 p.m.
You had a car like that in possession for 24 hrs and didn’t Ferris Bueller? And before you say “it’s my friend’s car, I’m not a jerk!”, remember, Ferris stole his own father’s car...#noregrets.
CJ
Reader
1/21/19 8:27 p.m.
_ said:
You had a car like that in possession for 24 hrs and didn’t Ferris Bueller? And before you say “it’s my friend’s car, I’m not a jerk!”, remember, Ferris stole his own father’s car...#noregrets.
Ferris didn't steal his father's car. He had his best friend steal HIS father's car ;=)
jfryjfry said:
How’d you get it in and off the trailer? It’s low and that nose is looooonng. There’s no way it was just those ramps.... was it??
3 Pieces to the puzzle
Truck rear axle on ramps, aluminum ramps off the trailer onto 4 step wood ramps.
the wood ramps that came with the car, didn't actually get used in loading.
_ said:
You had a car like that in possession for 24 hrs and didn’t Ferris Bueller? And before you say “it’s my friend’s car, I’m not a jerk!”, remember, Ferris stole his own father’s car...#noregrets.
New owner is a good buddy and I've already requested a co drive at an autox in exchange for the weekend babysitting, and I knew i would be able to finagle that from the get go.
We tried to start it Saturday before we pushed it into the garage but the battery was a bit too dead, it just needed a jump off. But the guys who dropped it and myself deemed it not needed to get into garage and not our car, so we didn't push our luck.
I don't take risks that don't have an applicable payoff. I was trusted to take care of it, and I barely fit in the thing as is.
Clubmans class cars are very popular elsewhere in the world. Mallock is probably the best known brand. These cars are very rapid, they vary between 900-1200lbs and 150-200hp or more. Lap times range from slightly faster than Formula Ford to nearly as fast as Formula Atlantic.
For those still following along. Here's a link to video from right after we jumped it.
Idle and Revs, it's loud, and I laugh a lot, you've been warned.
My Yamaha powered DSR once popped the sound meter at 104 Db, so that day nest seem so loud. Of course it's only at idle.
