"Thomassima IIII" project

On that note, I would like to share some recent progress. The A-pillar assembly and windshield buck I made for Tom was based on a mold taken of the TIII glass. There are many innovations that will be seen on just this one aspect of the TIIII, as I shared with Jim last year at The Lodge. In an effort to refine my engineering and design of the TIIII body and details like how the glass is best mounted and shaped, I have re-bodied the Pangea. After taking Tom on a drive in the Pangea (which secured our bond), he said "never be afraid to change the windshield on a custom car." Well, Tom, I took your advice.

I put close to 2000 hours into designing and sculpting a 1:5 scale model of the TIIII based on Tom's actual drawings in my possession and our work together as one. It was great to bring a heavy influence of my TIIII design into the Pangea (now a Spider), which I will use to spread the word about the upcoming Ferrari powered TIIII I am building. The influence of the pontoon fender 250 Testa Rossa is a reminder that Tom not only gave it the "pontoon" nick name, but it was his favorite Ferrari. Also, naturally the 330 P3 and GTO influences are there, as well.

Pictured below is Mark Broderson, of Aircraft Windshield Co, who is with a P4 windshield buck and next to it were his 250 TR molds. Mark did/does everything from all of the GTP cars, to Parnelli Jones' 63' winning Indy car, to all of Tesla and many other manufacturers' prototypes. Not to mention any vintage Ferrari, Maserati, etc. They are fabricating the Pangea glass currently, which mounts from the inside, not the outside, and can be replaced in minutes. One TIIII innovation shared.
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100 comments in 12 years and not even subscribed... and self endorsing. This thread is not for promoting books about Tom or Ferraris. Please remove.

 

I received your PM, Yuri, and you seem to be a true Tom Meade fan. I understand your passion and appreciate it. I am protective of Tom's and my work and just prefer any offers of books and coverage be PM'd to me, unless there is a valid reason for the other readers of the thread to see it. This thread is where I intend to showcase the TIIII build, not in a book On that note I will share more soon.

 

I wrote this a while back, and thought this was a good time to post it.

This is dedicated to my good friend and mentor, Tom Meade, genius Ferrari artist and designer.

Four years of knowing and working by the side of the great Tom Meade, from 2009 to 2013, on the Thomassima IIII (Tom did not use the traditional IV Roman numeral) Ferrari-powered supercar build, gave me the chance to work with one of the greatest designers to grace Ferrari and Maserati. Together, Meade and I designed and ironed out all aspects of the Thomassima IIII in a daily collaboration as I made Tom's ideas a reality. From small details, to a composite ground-up tub, Meade and I worked together until the very end, to bring the Thomassima IIII to life. I was Tom's secret weapon, as Tom went to great lengths to keep his protege' a secret from those who might tempt him away to work on higher profile projects. Tom's loss of his Ferrari and Maserati skilled craftsmen in Italy years before had taught him a valuable lesson.

It all began on May 18, 2009, on my first night back in Los Angeles, when I met Tom Meade by pure chance, or fate, at the weekly Westwood Village Ferrari meeting held in Tom's honor. As I walked by on my way to dinner, the glimpse of a stunning rim on a laptop stopped me in my tracks. I then introduced myself and stated that I was in Los Angeles to promote my hand-built, 1950's-1960’s era Ferrari-inspired supercar, the Pangea. Meade then spoke up and declared, “I’m Tom Meade!" and that was his Thomassima IIII rim. I had just connected with the last living legend and genius of 1960’s Italian race car design, a man who earned the equivalent of a PhD from Medardo Fantuzzi and went on to quickly leave his own mark on Ferrari and Maserati racecar history. Tom Meade invented the supercar with his 350s in 1962 with a custom windshield and the first removable fastback top. A racecar converted for street use.

Shortly thereafter, I took Tom for a ride in my one-off supercar, the Pangea. Tom was impressed by the 700hp beast, with the fit, finish and sophistication of a supercar. He commented on how solid it felt and that it didn't have the squeaks and noises many one-offs were known to have. Meade appreciated the quality of my work, and admired the flowing form I had created so much, that he hired me on the spot. Meade initially hired me to re-design, re-engineer, and fabricate a shapely carbon tub using my proven proprietary techniques and materials. In fact, Tom told me that he wanted the shapely and "flowing like water" surface he saw in the Pangea, for his tub. The tub that had already been designed and built, which Tom hired me to replace, was all straight lines and flat surfaces, to Tom's dismay.

The first pieces I created for Tom Meade's Thomassima IIII, were the windshield buck and the a-pillar plugs which I sculpted primarily out of balsa wood and fused with a “birdcage” of welded tubing for support. From casting jewel-like leaded crystal taillights, to vacuum bagging carbon parts, and guiding the build of the Thomassima IIII, Meade grew to rely on me to come through with results. I also managed our many vendors and the budgets to make sure we got the best value for Tom’s money spent. It was a relief to Tom to know that the project was finally in good hands because he had encountered so many problems with those he tried to work with before he met me. I understood what it took to get a supercar built right, from experience, and took it very seriously.

I also agreed to build the “all new” manichino and body for the Thomassima IIII and other projects, after I had won Tom's trust through years of giving him results. Tom took satisfaction in witnessing my meticulous proprietary techniques for one-off composite fabrication and shaping. The surface detail and all new shape of his cars, each different, was crucial to Tom, who always wanted to be innovative. Tom had originally planned a hand-hammered aluminum body, due to the inevitable print-through and resulting texture of standard carbon fiber material, a well-known issue. My specialization in sculpting and then building one-off vacuum bagged race parts with a "better than factory" appearance, changed Tom's plan. The body of my TIIII is a hybrid of PITCH and PAN carbon fiber with some very unique features not seen in any supercars to date. I’m sure of this because my aerospace carbon manufacturer is the only one with the patents to sell this high performance material. Not even Ferrari uses my “bullet proof” PITCH to achieve carbon panels with a higher strain to failure rate than possible with Kevlar or any other hybrid. A real good advantage when it comes to a-pillar strength and durability on the track or on the street. These tub and body materials' strengths were demonstrated for Jim Glickenhaus and Paolo Garella at The Lodge unveil in August, 2014. Strength and even sound and vibration dampening aspects were showcased. The tub will be constructed of a Rohacell foam core and hybrid carbon skins to create a very shapely and well insulated form that is as light as it is strong.

Meade and I grew close in the four years that we knew each other and worked together. We spent long days planning and building Tom's car. Tom became like a father to me, often going beyond his role as a mentor, as I was the closest thing to family Tom had living in Los Angeles. We shared Thanksgivings, Christmases and Birthdays.

Tom's tail lights are a good example of how things generally worked out. Tom had paid very good money to a variety of glass and crystal workers and still had no tail light lens that you could even see through, they were opaque, with zero light penetration. They tried hand blowing the lenses and then Tom came up with fusing them as a solution. The last and fairly rough glass versions of these were done by a well-known crystal worker. The lenses were not being cast or fused properly with surface flaws. Since I had been casting with molds for years in other materials, I suggested to Tom that we should get a kiln and I should make the lenses myself. I also showed Tom special techniques, all by hand, that I could use to create added visual interest. My droplets design worked in harmony with Tom's organic shape to really pop, in a flowing way, like water. When I lit the red LEDs in the assembly for Tom for the first time, it was truly amazing. Tom's pride and joy had come to life and it was even better than he had imagined. I also engineered and fabricated the bucket assemblies so the tail lights could be bolted in easily. I was working on refining the crystal lenses and buckets of our final prototypes, as well as the tub fabrication and more, until my last day of work with Tom, right before he was hospitalized. Tom passed on August 1, 2013, with me at his bed side.

For the last few years of his life, Tom Meade found joy in his side by side collaboration with me as he saw many pieces the Thomossima IIII finally completed. As his in-house fabricator, project manager, engineer, designer, and sculptor, I did almost everything for Meade. Meade passed the Fantuzzi DNA of designing car bodies to me, as we worked closely together on the build. My understanding and appreciation for detailed craftsmanship and organic shapes was nurtured by Tom Meade, just as Medardo Fantuzzi had done with Tom in Italy, years before.

After the passing of Tom Meade, I took some time off, cleared my slate, and continued my work on bringing our vision to light. I have invested 1000s of hours designing and engineering a body and tub that utilize aerospace materials that even surpass what Tom had planned for his car. Many final one-off parts have been completed such as the seats, mirrors, shift knob, and other components.

The Tom Meade continuation Ferrari powered supercar is named the TIIII Lacrima RossaTM, in honor of the sweat, blood and tears Tom Meade and I have endured in our passionate pursuit of the perfect supercar.


"Josh, Thanks for all your hard work!!" -Tom Meade

 

Since this is really just for fun, I'm happy to share what I can. For starters, here is a PITCH carbon fiber sample from my 2014 unveil. The carbon fiber, mind you very thin, is a hybrid of a fiber over three times more stiff than than the T1000 used in fabled Ferrari tubs, combined with a skin that makes it stronger than any other. Let me put it to you this way...If I chose to add a Kevlar element to the aerospace tech panels of the TIIII, the Kevlar would fail well before the panel itself. In other words after improving on the Thomassima IIII lay-up that I planned for Tom initially, I have a 100 meters of Kevlar of Tom's that I will never use. Imagine that? Kevlar is too weak for this platform with weight savings held as an absolute premium. This car will weigh under 2000lb and while this carbon fiber is 10 times the cost of standard T700 Pan fiber, it is worth it. The picture shows a thin version of the TIIII skin. Carbon hybrid shown is twice as stiff as T1000 in the F50 tub, and much stronger as made obvious by the intense radius. Only the best possible will be used.

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Thank you for your question. The requirements for DOT approval are based on the light output and distance of light visibility, not on materials.

Here are the taillights and all of the stages that lead to their completion. This collection has NEVER been shown publicly. In fact, Jim Glickenhaus and his crew were the only people outside of Tom and myself, to see these until now as a comprehensive display of the Meade/Lange collaboration. Tom showed the final lights to a few trusted friends, but no one has seen all stages and versions together. Tom was very secretive, which was understandable. It is a pleasure to share.
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Who are you to come into a thread honoring one if the great Ferrari designers and part of Ferrari history, Tom Meade without a proper introduction? Your profile shows nothing and you comment a lot.

I'm Joshua Lange. Industrial Designer, and not opaque, and had Tom Meade's back to weed out mediocracy. If you don't like organic, don't know why you are in vintage Ferrari forums and specifically, Tom's? You must be a real expert to critique Meade's designs and ask to see the body design in the same entry. LOL.

 

Opinions are like internal organs. We all have them. All of Tom's designs have organic influences. Why would his greatest work change this theme? I like living things and my/Tom's designs reflect that.

The 1/5 scale model of the Tiiii took me 2000 painstaking hours and will not be revealed until the official unveil. I am sharing what I can at this point and positive support is welcome and inspiring. Thank you

 

Agreed. "If I had more time I would have written less." Mark Twain

 

When Tom showed me his opaque glass lenses that the last glass worker before me made, I saw room for improvement in the design. The glass worker had sandblasted the surface, hoping to diffuse the light and create an effect of sorts. What I knew, as a car painter of many years , is that the sandblasting texture would "disappear" when painted with the planned glass paint, another solution I did not like.

I suggested to Tom that he let me run with an idea I had to bring the lens to life with all of the refraction one would need. I kept the design along the lines of the "flowing like water" tub that I was building at the same time. I added the "dripping" water droplets one by one to create my design, which had a radiant effect. I also told Tom that I should cast these lenses, rather than the fusing techniques which left more to be desired. I suggested that a clear leaded crystal lens and colored LEDs would give Tom our desired affect. I enhanced the colors by using candy orange and red clear coat over silver base, in the buckets, as pictured a few posts back.

After all Tom had been through, and the tens of thousands of dollars he spent trying to get working taillights, with nothing to show for it, I was the one who came through for him. When I lit these up for Tom for the first time, it was an incredibly moving moment for both of us.
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Great question, thank you. Looks and performance are the most crucial aspects in the work of Meade and myself. I am sticking with Tom's vision for the car, which I also share. When planning and building the tub plug I have always used these mock-ups shown in the photo. They have correct measurements and weigh a whole lot less than the actual parts. And those are hard to keep clean in white, BTW.

We stored the 333SP engine in a secure location where it would be safe and insured. We kept the actual 355 transmission at the shop, though, which I have kept for the TIIII. The unit has been gone through, but will undergo a REM-Cryogenic treatment , as well as plating for increased horsepower management, smoother shifting, and even about 15 "free" horsepower. The engine will receive the REM/Cryo process, which can add something like 50 horsepower and 3-4 times longer life by creating a better surface on the cylinders by de-stressing the metal prior to machining.

What engine is planned? A de-tuned version of the 333SP is the planned. That engine that won the 24 Hours of Daytona, is only meant to live just that long. 24 hours. Tom and I planned to regrind the cams, lower the compression, add a modern ECU, and supercharge it. That is still my plan. I had lunch with Murray Cogan, FCA Secretary, recently. He arraigned our 333SP engine and I imagine it is not a big stretch to find another one. Two came with each car. Tom was also in contact with the Michelotto shop, asking about the spare parts they still had on several occasions. My other choice would be a modified F50 engine.

Vintage Ferrari parts inspired much of the suspension. The 246 Dino rack Tom chose, is pictured next to our quick steer unit. The 512M hub in the other picture was used for the design of our hub. Each of the pieces in the picture were used in our design in their own way. Tom did sketches and took many notes about each one, which I have for documentation in my files.

Ferrari parts:
333SP engine
355 Transmission 6-speed, shifter box
246 quick-steer rack and pinion
355 steering column
Ferrari carbon rotors and Brembo Calipers
*Others will be used

Yes, we did use donor Ferraris including a very low mile '99 355 Spider, two 308 roller chassis, which I still have, and another 355. I sold the 355 tub after Tom passed. My shelves are stocked with these Ferrari parts, but the plan was always to fabricate our all-new La Mans LMP1 suspension and tub, and still is.

I hope everyone following this thread get's to drive their toys tomorrow for Father's Day.
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