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To cut a long story short, I ended up back in his factory making the proto you see in the pictures. The 3-wheeler was modelled at full scale over the fibreglass chasis using the 1/10th scale ceramic model I designed in the kitchen to get our reference points. It was modelled on polystyrene foam and given a fibreglass shell., much like a surfboard. It took me around a month to style it. All up weight was around 280kg so it would have been a flyer. C of G was also low and weight distribution in between all three wheels, so she would have turned well. A Korean manufacturer, (I will keep them out of this) entered the picture and signed on for the manufacturing rights. At this point everything went pear shaped. Mike had other issues which saw me and almost everyone else leave the project. He unfortunately spiralled downward, lost his buisness and was eventually murdered. Sound like a hollywood script, but it was true. Despite his faults Mike was a great bloke. The model you see was bought at the reciever sale, I don't know what happened to it. It was a great shame as this little vehicle was drop dead georgeous and I felt it to be my best design ever. Everyone who saw it was gobsmacked. I tried to make it look like a balanced, integrated unit, a true three wheeler. I have always been interested in three wheelers but felt they either looked like a bike/car or a car/bike. I now have a factory on my farm in northern NSW and hope to start another three wheeler, with similar looks but completely different construction, when finances permit. It will have a Steel/Aluminium chassis and the body will be fibreglass.The engine will attach to the firewall (behind the driver) using a cradle similar to those used to hold aircraft engines. This will make the whole design more flexible, allowing a range of engines to be "plugged in". My personal choice would be a big Ducati twin. I would also prefer to run a belt drive if I can work it. The vehicle would look similar to the pictures I sent you. The only difference would be that the silver "butresses" would be cosmetic and cover the frame. On the model you saw they were the actual chassis. I'm also not convinced that the diagonal seating is the way to go.I'm sure most people would prefer to sit side by side. NEW: Click here for Trik Update (March 2006)
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