Over the years I have had many trades and learnt numerous skills which sometimes is good for me as my skills are often called upon to help on projects. For many years I worked in the surf industry where I gained a reputation for being the go to guy for any thing fiberglass. So when a engineer friend asked for my help with his new line of "sporting trails" race cars I jumped at the chance. Sporting trials is a bit of a niche sport, it involves getting a car around a very tight steep course, similar to trails on bikes which i'm sure more of you will be aware of. Here's one in action and a example of what we were trying to better.
Foot on the gas.
Where my help was required was to build body parts and protective plates for delicate moving parts. This build was to be a prototype with the promise of future orders if the car was competitive which we knew it would be so time to get it finished with a lot hanging on my input. A couple of days in the workshop and this is what I came up with.
And with a few more hours in the spray booth and a nifty bit of airbrush work by my friend Nick Williams it was looking spot on with a wavy Chequered Flag design and Cornish flag upfront.
A few other parts were knocked out over the following week like these super strong carbon/kevlar guards.
Now it was time to complete the build and unleash this wacky racer on the trails community.
The finished prototype.
For our efforts came the rewards, the car was a resounding success, put through it's paces in competition and coming out a winner. Orders came in from near and far, the new cars were refined a little and continued to be a winner. Of course this meant more work for me which was no problem as it was great to be involved in a small way in taking this sport to the next level.
Thanks for taking time to read this post and hope you enjoyed, stay safe folks!