Well, it seems I got the years a bit wrong....it was 2011 that the car was on the truck ready to go when it was all cancelled....and 2010 when I wrecked the last motor.....meh,what's a couple of years ...you three guys were very much the intended audience for that but as you said Bill anyone who jumps into this could get something out of it. The problem was i had a couple while I was writing that, the idea was to point it out to those who think they know what they are going to build.
I have always been fascinated by the body of knowledge that the designers of new cars have to carry with them, the practical knowledge of established rights and wrongs...you know the stuff, basic ergonomics, practical ways of doing things....the thing is cars aren't really, getting all that much better, because while they have to carry that knowledge they also have to challenge it, sometimes they win, sometimes they fail but all the time they have to keep loading the cars up with more and more creature comforts, more weight, so that the extra power they find in the same size motor just goes to towing around the electric seat, windows and air-con compressor.I wish there was a word for it but I don't think my 2012 car handles any better than my 1967 ute...weird, but true, something got lost in just the steering and suspension...45 years of development, a million more parts, no basic improvement....
WTF am I on about? Well, We are trying to go fast and sure you can build a motor that makes thousands of horsepower, or just plain buy one but you have to get it down to the track and you have to make it last, this game really is about aero and that's where "established knowledge" and "challenging the norms" comes in........We were all completely blown away by Keith Copeland's efforts this year.....inside me there is a burning sensation that wants to go really fast...I think the car we built while not being high tech has a sleek and stable shape, as good as has come before in a lakester.....I really hope that somehow we copped the right and ignored the wrong in a happy accident that might see it all come together sometime soon, and I'm starting to feel better about it.
And I ordered a new helmet last week.