Hello, My name is John Chesnut. I am new to this forum. But, I am not new to scratch built cars. I have built a Beck Lister. Sold tha,t then designed and built my own cars. I have been using C5 Corvette suspension and power trains to build high performance Hot Rods, a Cobra, and a just finished Spyder. I purchased the Cobra body but I sculpted my others, made molds and then made my own bodies.
I am getting ready to start my next project which I am basing on the 1990-97 Miata. I am going to build a version of my space frame and bolt the Miata parts in. My frames are similar to the Locost 7. I was going to sculpt my own body. But, a few days ago I came across pictures of the Sammio Spyder. I love the body shape and think that it would be great on my chassis.
I am interested in going in and buying one of the 6 needed to fill a container. The Sammio has a slightly longer wheelbase and I think 6 inches narrower than the Miata. The question is to modify the body to fit the stock Miata wheelbase and track. Or, build the frame to fit the body. This would require moving the suspension pick up points inboard, narrowing the axles and steering rack. One idea to widen the body would be to cut the body in half and widen by 3 inches and then flaring the fenders by 1.5 inches each.
I believe that the finished weight could be kept under 1400lbs. My Vette based cars weigh under 1900lbs. Any thoughts? John