Jour de (toutes) la(les) femme(s)

En ce jour je rends hommage à toutes les femme en ayant mis-en évidence Amouk Aimée (Un homme et une femme), Ingrid Bergman (Casablanca).
Évidemment je ne pourrais oublier mon épouse [décédée en 2003], femme extraordinaire, compagne des bons et des mauvais moments, mère dédiée et grand-mère dévouée.

Homenageio todas as mulheres relembrando Amouk Aimée, Ingrid Bergman.
Sem esquecer a minha esposa [falecida em 2003] companheira nos bons e nos menos bons momentos, mãe dedicada e avó extremosa.

Tribute to all women by remembering Amouk AImée, Ingrid Bergman.
I must include in this tribute my [late] wife, my good companion in the good and bad moments, dedicated mother and lovely grand-mother.

Project Splitwheel

In 2008 I was invited to participate in what seemed to be a very interesting project. Read the discription.

Project Brief v1.0 28/11/08
The initial project brief has been established by PSW and Caterham Cars as follows. The brief will be subject to revision/change as the Project progresses based on feedback from all parties.

...

- The vehicle must be a 'performance car'
"The only restriction is that the project must design a 'performance' car...the most important factor is that this car must be enjoyable for an enthusiast to own and drive in its own right." from splitwheel.com FAQ Nov '08

- Ultimate performance is not necessarily the overiding objective
It is for the Project Team to establish performance targets for the vehicle based on the performance levels of existing (and predicted future) cars in the marketplace. The car must have appropriately high performance for its target market. The car's positioning in the market may or may not require prioritisation of ultimate lap times, acceleration figures or top speed.

- The viability of 'environmentally-friendly' propulsion technologies must be considered carefully
The Project Team will need to consider the current (and future) trends in the marketplace towards reduced-emissions technologies, along with the increased legislative pressure to adopt them. Any viable alternatives to petrol combustion will be considered (e.g. diesel, hybrid, electric, biofuel, hydrogen), however it will be imperative to establish that any such technology used in the car will result in a desirable, true 'performance car' which is viable to manufacture and sell profitably.

- The starting point of the Project is a 'blank canvas', but with caveats
Splitwheel and Caterham agreed to start the Project off from a very broad position where any format of performance car will be considered. However, the resulting vehicle must be a viable, saleable product for the real world that Caterham can realise. This will mean that a clear business case will need to be made for any vehicle to reach the prototyping stage. For example, a million-pound Bugatti Veyron rival would have exceptionally high R+D costs with a tiny potential marketplace, which would almost certainly prohibit Caterham from proceeding with development. The Project Team therefore needs to demonstrate who would actually buy the finished vehicle.

- The vehicle will need to be suitable for circuit driving and racing.
Caterham is a global leader in grassroots motorsport, with the Seven being one of the most popular track and race cars in the world. It is therefore a requirement that any new Caterham model is inherently suitable for (or can be modified at low cost for) track and race driving. Note that this does not mean that the brief requires a stripped-out 'track-day special.'

Bottom Line:

1. No shopping cars, vans or trucks.
   
2. We need to set some performance benchmarks to aim for
   
3. Green is good, but only if it will sell
   
4. Super-exotic 'Veyron-killers' unlikely to suceed
   
5. Need to establish who will want/be able to buy the car
   
6. Caterham has racing 'in the blood.' The new car must share at least a bit of that DNA.

What do you people think that is the inferable project framework?
For me it was a light, two-seater, mid-engined spider (eventually targa), simple to build and mantain, 1.6 to 2.3 lt cc, nimble and twisty. Exactly my definition for the 53!...

Aranhuço (Spideresque???)

A friend of mine told me about his project of building a car quite radical in the line of a mix between the Ariel Atom and the X-Bow and his desire that I would project its kynetics and dynamics. This sounded good to me as it came towards my other project of a light middy speedster that I called Lo'rus 53.
In fact my friend sort of gave up his project as his personal life drastically changed but I still kept updating the project.

Um amigo meu abordou-me com a ideia de construir uma bomba, misto de Ariel Atom e X-Bow e se eu lhe fazia o projecto cinemático e dinâmico. A ideia agradou-me tanto mais quanto vinha ao encontro do meu projecto de um spider, muito leve, ao qual chamei Lo'rus 53.
Este meu amigo acabou por, mais ou menos, abandonar o projecto a partir do momento em que a sua vida pessoal deu uma volta completa; apesar disso continuei a desenvolver o projecto.

Projectos

Locost 7 (± by the book): Escort ou Datsun 1000/1200/120Y
Locost 7 IRS
Aranhuço
GT1 Chevy LS7 mid-engined coupé
Gulf 917 K40 (LeMans winner 1970 +40 = 2010)
Lo'rus 53 GT4 (Lotus never built type 53, it was meant to be what ... I propose now.)

Formula Ford 1972

In 1972 I exhibited, for the first time, a racing car that I designed and built. It was shown at the Brussels Racing Car Show and the "hostess" was my 2 year-old daughter.

Em 1972 exibi, pela primeira vez, no Racing Car Show de Bruxelas, um carro de competição, projectado e contruído por mim. A "apresentadora" foi, na altura, a minha filhota de 2 anos.