Sleek Z Street Racer concept 1

[Sleek Z]

For all of you keen on new visual concept ideas for your S30 bodies, I have just finished a new illustration, now up for viewing, that a few of you may find interesting and possibly somewhat controversial. Feed back, pro or con, most welcome.

 

Had a bit of spare time this past weekend and decided to work at illustrating a body kit mod concept that I call a "Sleek Z Street Racer" which has been beating around in my brain for a year of so.

 

Although not all variations on this visual theme are completed, you all are welcome to review an intro page I have published in my Sleek Z Concepts section at ZPARTS.COM

 

Cick on this link,

SLEEK Z STREET RACER

 

Viewing image in browser's Full Screen mode is advised. Please let me know if the vertical image displays too tall in your browser or within screen resolution that you use. The image kb size is quite small, but the height is 500px. I view the internet on dual 21" monitors set up side by side, each set at 1152x870 resolution, and sometimes I misgauge image sizes that are not practical for others to view on smaller monitors. Please help on this if you experience a problem.

 

Eric Neyelrin

[Synlubes]

Eric,

 

I like what you are showing!

The stock Z body does not have much going on as far as the side of the car goes!

I really like curving of the body that you show and IMO with the rear fatned up like your concept shows, a nice rear wing would be in order!

 

Great mind to invision something like that and to be able to draw it out as well!

Would love to see some frt / rear and side views of this idea!

Keep it going, I personally would like to see a kit something like this!

[Sleek Z]

Doug,

 

Thanks for the interest and compliments.

 

I hope to start on a side view soon, but I am not good at maintaining proper flip side scale and proportion in proper perspective in my illustrations, but I intend to give it my best shot.

 

When you fatten up the tail end section of a small car like the S30 body, it becomes tricky to intergate the side view proportions to attain the right balance of "form follows function" without sacrficing pleasing aesthetics and visual harmony between the front and rear areas of a car , IMO I can visualize what I want it to look like, but it is much hard for me to illustrate it in a credible manner using computer design programs.

 

For now, however, I'd like a bit more feed back from hybridz minded guys here before I try to illustrate some of the variations I have in mind to compliment the top view on display now.

[aviatorx]

Coke bottle shapes look great on cars.....and women....but I digress. Great concept Eric!

 

I think a g-nose would look great on that concept as it would carry the curves you put on the corners and cary the theme across the front, rather than settling for the square nose of the original design.

 

I also like the intergration of the fender flares into the doors - too often the flared fender look stops at the door frame and creates a 'flat' between the front and rear quarters that detract from the final appearance. I like how it continues a curve along the body sides.

 

My one complaint, if that's possible , is that the hips are too wide in ther rear, and might look better (?) squared off at the fender well. Just my opinion... I suspect the may be a tail light panel in the works as well?

 

I like where you are going with the design. Side views would be next?????? NO pressure!

[Synlubes]

I`d like to see a frt that is a bit shorter and rounded, like the 350Z!(I`m talking just about the area in frt of the frt tires)

Something that starts the flaring and continues thru the frt fenders!

[Guest Anonymous]

To achieve this body shape..what diameter and width of wheels to fill in the flares?? As a practical issue the wheels and tires could be fitted with opened wheel wells and then the flares could be developed around the wide wheels. A full door skin would accept the flow from the front and rear flares.

[ToplessZ]

Man I love that body style. Here is a link to a great front end concept http://www.hybridz.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=26;t=000037 I dont really like the full gnose but that one is schweeet. I like the body lines you have going if it were to be a good show quality kit it would look so awesome on my convertible and the room for some fat tires would be nice. need something to fit my 18x10 vette rims under Keep us posted and more pics. You could definatly hook some vr engineering yz body kit fans with this one if your price was the same or less. Will be waiting in anticipation!!!!

[Sleek Z]

I'll try to reply to a few of your questions.

 

First off, even though I have referred to the street racer as a kit design, I did not intend to imply that my objective at this point is to create a sellable kit. The street racer theme is only a design exercise at this point, meant to help me work on visual thinking that interest me and hopefully others, particularly as it relates to re-interpreting the S30 body's potential 30 years after it's introduction. However, if this design or others that I have in my mind, managed to credibly evolve to the point that I feel jazzed to create test molds, then I suppose anything could be possible eventually.

 

D Carrow: Design intentionally blends onto the door panel from both front & rear fenders, but angle and blend-on points probably will change. Doors will become thicker also. Not likely I would shorten front area ala 350Z because wide rear requires balancing length at the front, IMO

 

AviaTorx: Agreed, most fender flare designs look awkward and incomplete because they abrubtly terminate at the door outline, leading to lack of harmony in look between front and rear proportions of car.

 

Yes, the rear haunches of the street racer are quite wide, maybe too much so, but in this design experiment, it is their exagerated width which defines the main theme of the street racer look as opposed to a Jaguar/Ferrari or G-Nose IMSA style look.

 

I was sorely tempted to add the G-Nose look and may do so as one design variation, but personally, I'd like to avoid any front end look that appears to copy well known older front end mod styles. Having a real 5 piece G-Nose here on a car staring me in the face everyday, I have many opportunities to look at it's virtues and weaknesses, design wise, and it has many of both. What I most want to avoid is a front design that has the weaknesses of the G-Nose look, but I am open to somekind of extension beyond the hood tip, especially because I have always wanted to come up with my own design interpretaion of a a front and rear bumper look for a S30 body.

 

Tomahawk Z: I made no predetermined calculations about how wide of a wheel and tire would be needed on this type of design, but it is intended to take as wide a setup as possible even if that requires going to 5 lug adapter setup. It may not be practical on this design, but I have contemplated the possibility of adjusting the design so that the rear flares could be cut down to accomodate size of wheel owner prefers to use without the strength of the design being grossly diminished. Will need more input about that idea from guys here and seasoned kit builders I know.

 

ToplessZ: Curious that you should mention the potential of such a design to look good on a topless Z body because some of the motivation for such an extreme Coke Bottle look was first fostered in my mind based on my irratation with how bland and unexciting a S30 Z body looks to me after the top has been removed. The first remedy I see for that blandness is increased outline curves to the top and side of fender areas, ala the old Stingray Corvette, Viper or Shelby Cobra/Tomahawk. The chief challenge with that approach is of creating a gaudy or stubby look without lengthening the front or rear overhang or both. Unless the length, (and perhaps the width) of the wheel base is modified to be longer (worse handling?) extending the front or rear overhangs very far could result in a design that could look decidely out of balance and cartoon like and hence, "not cool" to look at nor be seen in.

 

"Form following Function" and "balance, balance, balance" are what it's all about in trying to come up with a design that really works for many as opposed for the few.

 

Hope that answers some of the questions so far. I'll try to work on a side or 3/4 view next, but I don't feel all that confident in my illustration skills at this point to show the 3D aspects of a side view with many curves and flowing lines as I have envisioned. Advise welcome if you have experience with Adobe Illustrator.

 

Eric Neyerlin

[Guest Drewz]

All great ideas have to start somewhere and it loks like a good starting point. Curious you mention the need to make a topless Z look more distinctive as my Z is going topless and I just arranged through Show cars to have a Cal Z kit delivered to me in early Jan. Luckily they have one in stock already cracked from the molds. The shorter frontend would unbalance the wide rearend as you mentioned. Sounds like you have already given great though to this thus far. How about some venting on the leading edges of the rar 1/4's and maybe some slit openings on the lower leading edge of the front fenders vertically starting around the rearward mounting edge of the headlight extensions?? Just a tidbit from my brain... Keep it up

[Guest Anonymous]

One way to accomplish this look is with full fiberglass front and rear fender skins including door skins. Not as difficult as it sounds if a person had a lot of misc pieces to bond together. I recently saw pics of A Factory Five prototype convertible that incorprated Cobra rear fenders conneted by flat panels, door skins and a Cobra Daytona frontend when all pieced togethetr looked more Ferarri than replica Cobra parts.