I've been wrestling with the fact that Schism, while being a great teaching tool for our interns and volunteers, doesn't quite feel like it's "mine". When I am not working with the Team, I have little interest in it, other than designing new parts to create more tasks for them. They're always the focus, not the car. Logic has been telling me to donate it back into the company, and find something I am more passionate about, but
what I would do next has been the big question.
I finally made a decision. One of the Team members kept sending me videos of microcars with bike engines, and eventually I caught the bug. I settled on a Fiat 500 (the old kind), but never one to take the easy way out or do what's "normal", I also decided to just build the whole thing from scratch, body included. '64 is an arbitrary number, chosen because I always thought it would be cool to have a hot rod that was born in the same year I was.
It's based on our G-bucket platform, with Fiero suspension front and rear (because it's sitting on the shelf), a 900 Ninja engine, and a small AC electric motor for Prius-like hybrid drive and reverse. I have four huge blocks of foam that will become the body plug, as soon as I finish the model. I'm aiming for well under 1000lbs; like 750 of 'em, if possible.
Without further ado, I give you project "Pistachio":
The CAD renderings are rough because I am using a free (Google SketchUp) 3D model of the body to sort out the layout and forms. When I am happy with it, I will model the whole thing over, using this mesh mess as a guide. I could make the meshes render smoother but that just bogs my computer down, with no real benefit. To date: I have rolled the front and rear fascias, scaled the flares up to VW fender sizes, and shaved a bunch of crap. Those are 345-section width rear tires, compliments of our chassis and the relatively narrow bike engine!
The Ninja's gauge cluster looks like it was made to fit over the Honda Accord steering column. I plan to make paddle shifters which will pull cables attached to a lever on the Ninja's shifter shaft.
Hopefully, you can find Pistachio's chassis in the clutter. We're in the midst of reorganizing and all that stuff in the background is stacked and hung on the back wall, awaiting reassignment to a permanent home.
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
Project Pistachio - (scratch-built) '64 Fiat 500
I've read quite a few times on major builds where very little of the original vehicle survived, and I know how far I have to go to have peace with it, so I usually just start modeling. If I had the skills, or time to learn them, I'd roll and hammer this body out of aluminum sheet, but I don't so it will be composite.
I am going to try a Flowmaster (original 40-series) and hope it doesn't sound like a ricer fart can. Hopefully, Flowmaster's technology will cancel the right frequencies and bounce the good ones out the back. I had a pipe on my old KZ1000 that had a warm, deep, rich, exhaust note. I ran an open pipe (no baffle) and that pipe was 4-2-1, with a very unique can shape. This is 4-1, but hopefully the Flowmaster will do the trick...
I think it's going to be a lot of fun. I was thinking this morning that something like this has to be a blast to rip around autocross and short road courses in. IIRC, the original Mini was a formidable competition and I'll have a little more power, a little more tire... 
Linear Mode
