The chassis, frame and body

Abstract

When Lotus Cars were asked to provide a submarine version of the Elite for the latest James Bond film the problem of buoyancy was no doubt a new experience, but the normal considerations in the mind of a car designer when choosing his materials of construction are strength, stiffness and resistance to wear and corrosion. Not all designers are in agreement on the most suitable materials. The vintage design in which a steel ladder-type frame supports an ash body panelled in aluminium now only survives in a few vintage replicas and in that appealing hand-made product of the Morgan Motor Company at Malvern. Even they now make certain concessions in the design of the frame to increase the torsional stiffness.

‘The Admiralty opposes the building of ironclads because iron is heavier than wood and will sink.’

Sir Francis Baring

(First Lord of the Admiralty, 1850)