Designing new seats. The fixed back shell is complete, the recliner is still to do. Kicking around some trimming ideas also. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Cant believe I didnt notice this before, excellent work. Two things I was thinking about, keeping the shape of the smaller grilles but making them slieghtly larger, also cutting down the hood a bit... that curve in front of the windshild looks odd to me. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hey Clive, please hook me up on a pair of these seats. Looks real sexy & period to me, would love to have them in Kevlar for my 348 Any updates on those LED tail lamps? BTW, how's your lay-up period?
Laying a seat up in kevlar now. Critical path is the exterior body as it will take a few months to layup the moulds. When that is started I will turn my attention to the peripherals, e.g., the lights etc. 3-year LTA layup ends 17 Dec 2006 - getting close!
Only just discovered this thread (I'm quite new around these parts) and I've always been a huge fan of coachbuilding. Best of luck with it - I visit KL and Singapore quite regularly so maybe one day I'll get to see the Mondial Z in the flesh! PS: That chrome/red paint looks awesome on the helmet, but IMHO I'm not sure if it's maybe not a bit too bling for a Ferrari...
That was the general idea, develop a traditional no-nonsense racer seat, trim it in an instantly recognisable Ferrari style but update it with modern materials (visco-elastic foam, carbon leather, aluminium harness slots and concealed adjustable air bladders) and add the Ferrari shield as the headrest. It is of course possible to trim the seats as you like, crazy patterns, polyurethane gel/saline cushions, electroluminescent panels, etc!
Not much going on. I am modifying the trailing edge of the bonnet. Working on the NACA duct. I need to straighten the front bumper (done since these photos). Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi Clive, I think a lot of us on here have been waiting in anticipation of whats coming next, glad to see the project is still coming on well
The bonnet changes make a huge difference -- that was the one part of the design that looked out of place to me and now (IMO) it looks a lot more coherent. Congrats on an amazing project.
I have decided that I am not going to use the NACA duct as it makes the bonnet look too busy. Instead I intend to place an intake at the right-hand opening in the bumper and from there run an air duct for the ventilation system up to the plenum on the cabin's front bulkhead. Other than aesthetics this has an advantage of being fixed (the NACA duct would have moved relative to the rest of the car when the bonnet was opened and therefore made a (possibly) problematic seal with the ventilation plenum.) and in the highest pressure area at the front of the car, thereby ensuring good (and cool) airflow. I originally created this opening in the bumper purely for symmetry reasons as it opens straight onto the battery location in the Mondial, whereas the left-hand opening directs air to the air-conditioning condenser. I am please that it now has purpose Below is a picture of the trailing edge of the bonnet showing the treatment I intend to use in order to direct airflow over the parked windscreen wiper and give a neat place for the windcreen washers. You also will note that I only intend to use one windscreen wiper. The original wiper motor, even on the fast speed, is about as fast as tortoise with one foot nailed to the floor. By starting again I can optimise (and of course modernise) the effectiveness of the windscreen wiper system. The simple solution would just be to leave the original central mounted wiper arm in place and put a bigger wiper blade on the arm so that the maximum area of the screen is swept. Unfortunately the distance from the rotation point to the left and right sides of the windscreen is about 10 cms shorter than the distance from the pivot point to the centre of the top of the screen. This would result in a semicircle of swept area that, even at its maximum, would probably not be sufficient, or at least I would not be happy with this. I have therefore been giving some thought to a mechanism, similar to the Mercedes E-class wiper. I do not want to use the Mercedes unit if I can possibly avoid it as it is expensive, a bit of a compromise (as the windscreen dimensions are slightly different) and it is Mercedes. I'm now in the process of developing a wiper arm that extends to cover virtually all of the windscreen through the use of sliding pins and a suitably designed track. I do however need to make a full-scale mockup before I decide. This week the car should be ready to go to the body shop for mould preparation. I'm looking forward to seeing the buck painted even though it is still a long way from finished. Image Unavailable, Please Login
The car is ready for moulds to be made - wow. Does this mean that the bodywork is essentially finished? Can't wait to see it painted - I think it looks great now, but will look a million times better once it's had a lick of paint! Hope you will post some more pics soon!
I agree 100% here...it was the ONLY part of the design I didn't like. I like the idea itself, but it just didn't flow with the rest of the car's lines. Of course I never said anything, becuse I am just so darn impressed with thie entire project. AMAZING!
If you do make those seats put a natural break in the cushions to accomodate a bottom seat hole so you can put a 5/6pt harness in there.
Already done. The thigh support, seat squab and backrest cushions can be removed individually. There will be a slot in the base of the seat shell to accommodate a harness.
Wow! Clive, this is really taking shape. When I sold you this car, I must say I was intrigued when you said you would do this to a recently and comprehensively refurbished mondial (everything was new - everything -with thousand's of dollars of receipts to prove it). Have to say you have done an amazing job. Even though there is something about the Mondial shape the keeps me looking again (I think it's time may yet come as a Ferrari design), you have certainly shown us all what could have been. Excellent stuff. Tried to call last week to see it and talk Ferrari's (as I plan to make a re-entry) but no answer. Let me know when you are back. Cheers FF
Here's a draft 3D visualisation of the Mondial Z with a slight curve modification. I will need all orthographic views to get the curves as they are in real life... are we able to get an orthographic top view of the car? If not, I will just use an advanced marking/referencing technique to map the car shape when it is finalised. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I hope the real car doesn't look like this. I appreciate your effort but this looks like the car has been in a sever roll over.
Guess I have exaggerated the curves with the fanciful lighting... the curves of the car are really subtle in reality. I know that the draft has many flaws... more feedback from everyone before I touch up the model? Image Unavailable, Please Login
i think it looks great save for the front bumper... its fairly big and looks kinda ricey. all in all a great design though! -Thomas
I really think it looks pretty good, however, I think a couple of the reasons your drawing looks like it does are not what will be in the Mondial Z. The biggest deal is the windshield on yours does not match the stock windshield which Clive is keeping, yours being more curved in almost every dimension. Also, the inward tilt angle on your side windows in much more than a standard Mondial, which is a bit more slab sided (and why it has so much room inside). To demonstrate - look how narrow your roof is compared to a real Mondial That all said, I am hopeful that the fenderlines work out that well as your rendition, especially in the rear. Good luck with the corrections! I wish I had the talent to do these wonderful 3D representations.
