Why on earth you'd build that
instead of a Terrapin is beyond me.
Hi,
Just found this on the haynes forum an up date for the single seater.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/saturnsportscars/sets/72157627657443099/
I understand that it's not the finished item but........... sorry, that's horrible in so many ways Why on earth you'd build that
instead of a Terrapin is beyond me.
I have to admit that after lusting for this over the last two years I was very disappointed by the pictures and my quick brain dump.... for example
the seating position is very upright.
Hopefully some better ones will be out soon.
quote:
Originally posted by D Beddows
I understand that it's not the finished item but........... sorry, that's horrible in so many ways
It had so much promise, then i saw the pictures oh dear................................................
Is the kit available from Screwfix, Plumbcentre or B&Q?
I can't see that one catching on
Nasty
+1 for the terrapin.
The Haynes car looks a bit disproportionately large but the seating position look incredibly cramped around the arms/legs but with the driver sat very
upright.
Having said that, it'll still catch on in the same way as the Haynes roadster, which also IMHO is just a bit wrong in it's proportions (too
big).
I have a copy of High Speed Low Cost and am trying to get a set of plans - I'd love to make it one day with a bike engine in.
My eyes my eyes they hurt the pain..........................
looks like the motor cover mould was taken from some american style coffin !!!
Me thinks Mr Stainforth (R.I.P) would be chuckling at the sight of that thing.
I reckon Haynes publishing has told them to get the finger out so a book can be published and this is the result !!!
[Edited on 14/10/2011 by Hector.Brocklebank]
I see lots of love for the Terrapin in this thread.
Never seen one before. Is this it?
If so I dont think much of that either!!
Where are the nice single seaters?
The terrapin has been around since the early 60's (IIRC the original book was printed in 1963). So, the terrapin has taken many different forms
in both looks and construction over the years - plenty people have used the base design and gone their own way with the overall build.
The main difference between a terrapin and the Haynes single seater is that the terrapin is a proper race car, not something made to look like one.
This is one the best looking terrapins IMHO, and it's bloody quick too (in the right
hands).
Check out terrapinracing.co.uk for lots of other information on the car and it's many guises over the years - the gallery for new builds has a
particularly nice example of an old school A-Series powered car that I think was built by someone who uses this forum.
The Haynes guys seem to be in love with it. Looks like the front wishbones
will hit the chassis with even a minor upward deflection and it looks like a fracture or a 'dent' in the nosecone at the rear of the front
wishbone.
[Edited on 14/10/11 by Mark Allanson]
Nothing to with either of the above, but was on the side of the terrapin link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk89EqfGme4&feature=related
what a noise!
Terrapins can be ugly as sin as well tbh but that's mostly down to what bodywork the builder uses/makes. It's not all about looks though as
I'm sure you could make the haynes single seater look better if you made some different bodywork - you'd have to I think looking at those
pictures
Terrapins are hardly at the bleeding edge of racecar engineering either but but they do have a long history of hillclimb success and I'm pretty
sure for most of us your driving talent would run out before you found any serious handling limitations.
To be fair the Haynes book might be a useful read if it contains a decent idiots guide to properly making your own chain diff etc etc but as to
actually building the car yourself..................
if you read the post on the haynes forum he says it was the first test session last week and they have had to do a lot of work since then.
i would want to wait for the finished model before making judgement.
as for the terrapin, does anyone know what would be needed to pass iva.
also in true locost fashion you can change the outside to suit your own taste.
i suspect there will be a lot of people (includeing myself) who will go for this simply because you know it will pass iva
and you will get parts easly.
quote:
Originally posted by sprouts-car
I see lots of love for the Terrapin in this thread.
Never seen one before. Is this it?
If so I dont think much of that either!!
Where are the nice single seaters?
I quite like that terrapin, but then I'm a 60's bod and hate modern cars
Sorry but I've waited years (even had the book on pre-order) what an ugly looking thing, looks to me as if someones taken the front frame and
independent suspension rear end of an indy/locost/mac1 and welded a few bits of steel between them to form a chassis, wishbones look std 7, driving
position is horrible (last thing I drove with a driving position like that was a saracen armoured car) much prefer Martin Keenans single seater, sorry
but I'll be looking at something else for the spare R1 motor.
tony
[Edited on 14/10/11 by mad-butcher]
As above (mostly)
The Terrapin is a design from the 60's but the general chassis proportions are cocrrect. So you could make bodywork to make it look pretty,
whereas that Haynes Single Seater is just about ALL wrong in my humble opinion... It looks like not only the bodywork was made for the american
market, but the chassis Dims and proportion were also - as for dents in the dents in the bodywork etc, it's just where two moulds have been
(eventually) made to produce a single part and has been done very poorly...
Ironically, I was not waiting for the Single Seater book to be launched to build one myself, as I won't have the money for toys for some years,
but I was really looking forward to it, in the way a schoolboy might look forward to his favourite annual etc - would have definitely bought it, if it
looked even remotely well proportioned...
Anything anywhere near the ccar in the Pic below would be an improvement...
Well that looks like a Tiger ERA, I like that, prefer their Lotus 15(?) copy though
It could have been so good
Lotus
Haynes Single Seater
perhaps some stickers might help it along a bit?
Lol completely OT but I seem to have started an Avatar trend with the MX5 owning among us 
[Edited on 14/10/11 by D Beddows]
Is it just me , or does the engine cover look too much like half a coffin lid ? Not that I'm superstitious or anything.
Perhaps the design was influenced by the Munsters dragster.
On the plus side , it does appear to have central heating.
Well I am disappointed, I was looking forward to seeing this so much.
Oh well I don,t think I will be buying the book and clearing a space in the workshop for that.
Denis.
The looks aren't anything to shout about, however they are not as nice as they might be though. The front track looks much wider than the rear -
might be an illusion. However, the killer for me is the upright seat (might be different with an actual seat in?) and the fact that the steering
wheel appears to be in the drivers 'nether' regions!
Another vote for a classic looking terrapin (have book but not plans )
when's the book coming out that shows you how to build one of these? 
Not pleased with the look or design of it, now kind of upset i put an order in for the book. The bodywork is all wrong (in my eyes) and the seating position is just horrible. I think if i ever build a single seater i'll narrow the Lotus 23 drawings i have, or try to draw up a Lotus 16 chassis (always wanted to build a front engine single seater).
I like the idea of a front engine single seater too.
Only thing that puts me off is having a prop shaft running right under my giggle berries
Hi, not wishing to add to all the negativity but surely the seat is tooooo close to the steering wheel?
i like the front end, very 60's
not what the original mock up drawings looked like at all though.
Ray
quote:
Originally posted by blakep82
when's the book coming out that shows you how to build one of these?
Hi, I've just been pointed in the direction of this thread. Don't have time to use the Locost forum much.
The pics put on show where taken a couple of weeks ago of the prototype cars first time fully put together and on it's wheels moving under its
own power, they where put up just so they could be shared between a few people. Since that time a lot work work has been carried on various aspects of
the car, mainly on suspension / wishbones / geometry / cockpit and seating area / wheel position / diff area and various other things. All ready for a
full testing session tomorrow. There still remains a lot of work to complete the car and guide prior to the tight deadline but assure people
interested in the project that nothing is being rushed. Pictures commented on have been of a prototype car on its first time together and on its
wheels.
Maybe best not to make rash comments at this stage.
Andrew......Saturn Sports Cars
I've taken the pics off the site to - they shouldn't really be on general view yet.
[Edited on 14/10/11 by spud69]
To be fair to the forum maybe it was not the wisest of things to do in releasing pictures of a car which is not going to look anything like the
photos, the car in the pictures must have been based on the work done by chris and therefore what he had in mind for the book. so my comments still
stand regards the original concept based on photos provided
tony
Is the book ever going to be released? Email from amazon now says 2013
quote:
Originally posted by sprouts-car
I see lots of love for the Terrapin in this thread.
Never seen one before. Is this it?
If so I dont think much of that either!!
Where are the nice single seaters?