lotus 11 body kit?
 

I have been asked if I would rework the chassis on a Lotus 11 replicar to make the footwells and cockpit wider as the 11 is very narrow. I am trying to do a deal where I can take some moulds of the key features to make a body kit to wrap around the Roadster chassis, making it more usable for modern shape man (who you calling fat?). If this goes ahead is there any serious interest in it and by that I mean you pay a deposit to commit to having it made, I need at least 3 people to proceed with this otherwise I can't justify the investment of time and money. Prices will be in the region of £1000-1200 and will come in grey gel coat only.

The pic below is of a Westfield11.

Love it, how much of the 1000-1200 would you need as a deposit.? And time scales.?

Deposit would be 30% of the cost so either £300 or £360 depending on what the material costs for the moulds and body parts come to. Work on the project would start in feb once I have the moulds made for my standard Roadster nose, bonnet, scuttle and arches.
I must point out at this point that a 'loanable' kit would be needed for the head and indicator lights for the front to pass the IVA.

So I'm guessing by only having one reply to this post that the interest in this body kit would very low then....

Don't think that Phil,its near xmas and £1,000 is hard to find,looks good.
What about Sports 2000 style body might be easier to fab up,on Haynes chassis.

Sorry don't think I made myself very clear, I would be starting this project in february and looking for serious interest/deposits then. I know it would be asking too much this close to christmas for deposits but thought it might have gotten more than just 1 reply even just for peoples opinion on it.
I'm not sure that a sports 2000 body would be that practical on the road to be honest, on a track or hill climb for sure but speed bumps and curb stones?

Clear as Phil,maybe when you have a body to see there will be more interest,Sports body suitably raised would be something I would buy just to be different.

I suppose most people are building the haynes as they want a 7 style car. For those that do want an 'old' style then the replicar look quite interesting, especially as it is built around the MX5 backbone. -

Is that the one done by mev?

Russ

Lol ! Well spotted. MeV replicar, don't copy that one Phil, Stuart Mills is one clever, minted cookie !:D

Saw it down at Newark show. Looks good but u still have to climb in over the 'door' which looked a bit liable for bodywork damage in my mind :eek:

Nope, it's the only car I could find chassis plans for.

I can't afford to buy a chassis of £xxxx then a body kit for another £xxxx plus all the extras that you have to buy from the kit manufactures.

So to get an nice old style body that will drop straight on the Haynes chassis is a big want for me as I was going to build this car as is then when it's done I can then make a custom body for it myself, this ticks all the boxes for me :)

Couple of points:
Westfield does an '11 kit and it is a Very Very Nice one too.
Although pretty well 'on demand' as it isn't a big seller.
Not surprisingly it's Not cheap.
Making an ersatz copy of a car you love/want isn't cheaper .. unless one settles for Very (too) many compromises.
Then it's just a Bodge result.
Cost savings is largely a delusion by the end of the project,
better to do it for the challenge.
Also when one DIY's ...the resale value is fairly non existant...less than the sum of the parts costs...and not an easy sale, unless fortunate to find another like mined buyer who, invariably has very little coin.
Just my two cents

Don't worry there's no interest in it let alone a market so I'm not going to bother.

Sorry Phil
I intend to rebody mine at some stage in the future and was thinking of LMR.
I love the shape you were considering but cant commit to it at present -too many other things happening,trying to move house for one.:( :(

Is that a prototype style bodywork?
If yes, i would be interested for that too!

the lotus 11 is a bit odd ball, i think something more like a c type or d type woukd be more popular...

Any of you guys good with CAD/Sketchup ?

An Idea, 4 rear arches, use two to cover front wheels and of course fit them to the rear as well,make side panels to make a 90 deg angle and fit between the arches,Get the idea.

Somebody finish the dream.....

This is an idea that I have been toying with/ mocking up, unfortunately my list of other custom fibreglass work that takes priority so probably won't be able to progress what I have until later in the year.

Dan

The idea of offering the lotus11 body work was that there was one due to be sat in the workshop for 2-3 weeks while I copied and modified a chassis for it. Seeing as some one had already done the hard work I was to take a few basic splash moulds from it cut'n'shut to suit the Roadster chassis and turn it around in a month. To make a reasonable job of a full bodied plug to take very basic moulds from your looking at least 2 months of work. I think a full body is a big under taking for any body to commit to as product, how ever I think theres a small market for semi enclosed front and rear body sections. Although having said that I'm probably wrong about that too...

C/D is quite a lot larger , the 11 is still a small car in the 7 vein.

TT

Steal my thunder Dan :p, Dont beat yourself up Phil its a good idea and if you had one fitted it would probably sell a few.

It would be fairly easy in my humble opinion to use available parts to mod bodywork for a different look,once I have a rolling chassis again I will try and see what it looks like.