The Estate

_____

It's frustrating.

These images in my head -- I know I can never get them on paper or on a monitor screen the way I see them in my imagination...

And so, here I go again, describing a vehicle concept instead of offering images:

The Tellurian Estate

Mid-sized by 1970s standards, the Tellurian Estate would be considered a full-size "station wagon" today. Based largely on the Time Further Out, its seating capacity ranges from 5 to 8, the maximum being achieved with a front bench and a rear-facing third row for 2, both optional.

I'll stress again how much sense I think it makes to use a motor for each axle in electric passenger cars. With appropriate hardware and software, this gives you on-demand all-wheel-drive. Use a light foot, and you're cruising around in 'economy mode'. Punch it, and the other motor kicks in -- which also happens when the traction control system detects wheelspin. Both motors would always be employed for regenerative braking. Lockout switch disables the second motor ('valet mode')...

Should there be a problem with one motor, you'll be glad to have the second one to keep you moving.

The Tellurian Estate has a long nose, housing the battery packs up there to open up the rear for more passenger/cargo volume and provide a forward weight bias to offset passenger/cargo load. Handling will be at its best when you need it most, carrying many passengers or other precious cargo, weight balance then being closer to 50/50.

As the name implies, yes you can use this car on your country estate. On-demand all-wheel-drive and electropneumatic suspension give the Estate much more capability than a typical passenger car, allowing limited off-road use.

If you want to ride up high and tackle more challenging terrain, we offer the BRUTRUCK and EXOVAN.



Phil Smith
November 1, 2007

_____

hot rods & customs

_____

In my first post here, I mentioned some ideas for rods & customs that have been rattling around in my head...

The Deuce 2.5

Have you ever seen an original 1932 Ford pickup?

I have.

Have you ever driven a US Army 2 1/2 ton 6X6?

I have.

The '32 Ford has long been known as the 'Deuce', and that Army workhorse has long been known as the 'Deuce-and-a-Half'. At some point I began to imagine what a '32 Ford would look like if it were modified to 50% 'more'...

Here's my take on it: You know right away, this is going to be a wild custom rod. Instead of two axles at the rear, this beast has two at the front -- and yes, all four front wheels steer. A custom frame is needed for this, but there are a few highly qualified frame builders out there who can handle the task. The sweeping front fenders ('wings') of the original are scrapped in favour of a quartet of angular cycle fenders, reminiscent of the Army truck. Rear fenders are similar.

1932 saw the debut of Ford's flathead V8 engine. Only extreme car geeks like me know that Ford's Lincoln division had a flathead V12 based on the V8. This 'Deuce-and-a-Half' should ultimately have one of those Lincoln V12s, but sourcing it and then having it rebuilt with custom components for greater performance and reliability could prove extremely problematic. A vintage Jaguar V12 will do, even if parts and maintenance are as much or more of an issue. Perhaps a Lamborghini 7.5L V12 under that stretched hood...

Many pickups back then were roadster pickups, with removable folding tops. Army 2 1/2 tons also featured removable tops, either of steel or canvas, to meet a minimum break-down height requirement for aircraft transport. Thus the Deuce 2.5 is not a 'hardcab', but a roadster pickup -- also featuring wooden bows supporting a canvas canopy over the bed, which has fold-down center-facing wooden benches on the sides, just like the Army truck (finished not in green paint, but high-gloss polyurethane).

Paint is olive -- but candy, not drab. Chrome? Yes, please. Even the blackout lights (a full set) will be chromed, or powder-coated to resemble chrome. Reproduction headlights should be fitted with steel covers with slits, just like those used during WWII (except, chromed). Wheels should be painted steelies with Baby Moon hubcaps...

I've pictured this thing cruising without the cab roof, and without the front and rear canopy flaps, but WITH the canopy. Also missing are hood sides, the better to show off the 6-pipe headers on each side. Internal combustion is okay if fuelled by Joe Cell technology...

The Rumbler

Ford changed their styling for 1933, but the only major change for 1934 was the grille. I like the '34 better, so I'll use that as the basis for the Rumbler. What is the Rumbler, you ask? This is something I've been thinking of since junior high. Imagine a '34 roadster with so much space dedicated to its transplanted engine -- an Allison aircraft V12 -- that the body has been cut back so much that there is nowhere for the driver to sit but in the rumble seat...

A rumble seat, in case you are unfamiliar, is a seat set into what would otherwise be the trunk space. Once upon a time, some buyers would opt for this extra seating in the expense of cargo capacity. The seatback folds backward with the lid, where the lid would ordinarily open forward...

For the Rumbler, this is the only seating -- and the windshield disappears into the cowling when the rumble seat is closed, so that the car appears to have no driver compartment at all. Modifications are made so that occupants are not sitting bolt upright, but nestled in with plenty of legroom...

This is a custom rod inspired by drag racers of yesteryear. What would be ironic would be if I executed the concept with a massive electric motor and a ton of lithium-ion batteries instead of an enormous V12 from a WWII fighter plane (with a full hood and sides to conceal those components, instead of no hood at all). Then, it wouldn't rumble...


Customs (as opposed to hot rods)? Let's just say I like doorhandles, and that I've seen too many customs (and rods, for that matter) get way too smooth. I like what was done in the '50s and early '60s, and despise the smooth trend that began in the '80s. I'd like to do a '49-'51 Mercury to show everyone how I think it should be done, but what I really want to customize are those forward-control vans and pickups of the 1960s...

ChevyVan, its GMC equivalent, first-generation Ford Econoline, and Dodge A100. Just let me loose...



Phil Smith
October 9th, 2007


Just when you thought I'd gone on long enough, here's more:


Yes, I said I like doorhandles, yet they are conspicuously absent from my concepts. For me, it's a matter of preserving a certain amount of the flavour of yesteryear. If I ever do get the chance to build a few hot rods and customs, it will be my intent to present them as if they were modified long ago, during a 'simpler' time. They'll be low-tech, and the lowest-tech way to open a door is with a handle.

My original concepts are for the future, in which I am allowed to use technology with abandon.

About forward control: Volkswagen pioneered it with their Type 2 (Transporter, Kombi, Samba Van, Microbus). There was COE (cab over engine) before that, but VW put the engine in the back... A forward-control vehicle is basically anything with the front seats over the front wheels. Within that genre are quite a few vehicles I admire and would like to own. Plus I happen to think that the FC driving position inspires people to drive more carefully, as it puts you right up there where the impact would happen...

Just imagine, if everyone had to pilot their vehicles from such a position. Wouldn't they be more careful? Wouldn't there be fewer accidents?

Let's just say the modifications I would make on the vehicles I mentioned above (plus a Jeep FC150, and a Haflinger and a Pinzgauer from Steyr-Daimler-Puch) would be mild -- yet each example would be right in my eyes...


I'd rather build an EXOVAN, after all. Seriously, with the effort and money people put into restorations and modifications of old stock, it would be easier to create something new. The difference with me is, I have new things to create -- not just old things to breathe on and/or covet.


When it comes down to it, I'd much rather perform and be recognized for original designs, over well-executed customs and hot rods. This is not to say that I wouldn't, if I had my druthers, proudly display those steel dreams in my garage and out in the world. It's just that my creativity goes beyond that, and nothing would bring more satisfaction than driving something (completely) of my own design.

I hope you understand.


Phil Smith
October 13, 2007

_____

DARK STAR (introduction)

*****

DARK STAR

My five-seat, five-door concept had no name. These days, among my flat-panel designs, that's unusual -- but sometimes the naming of a vehicle is more difficult than preliminary conceptualization. The other night, while watching THE ELECTRIC UNIVERSE, very near the end as the film was winding down it became obvious that this car should be called Dark Star...

[THE ELECTRIC UNIVERSE in a larger format here: http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=7y7x85v6og]

I'd considered the using the name for this car before but had dismissed it, partially because I'd used it for a sports car drawn only a few times, years and years ago. Being that I used to call my larger fantasy the 'Eclipse Motor Foundation', it was a perfectly natural model designation (I think I may have considered 'Dark Star Motors' at one time, as well)...

Back to the movie (spoiler alert -- switching to a less visible text colour to make this part easier to ignore): It reveals that celestial bodies and phenomena are electric in nature -- that our Sun, for example, is not (as is widely believed) a nuclear fusion furnace, but rather an electric plasma 'event'.

Needless to say, I was inspired. There are countless references to a 'dark star' in our culture, including one song by the Grateful Dead and another by Crosby, Stills, & Nash. There is the theory of a 'brown dwarf' star lurking about in an extreme, off-plane orbit within our solar system...

Plus, Tesla Motors has codenamed its upcoming five-passenger sedan 'WhiteStar', so what better name?

Dark Star will be different from WhiteStar in many ways, their main similarities being seating capacity and electric power. WhiteStar may or may not have all-wheel-drive, and if it does, it may very well be a conventional system running off a single motor; Dark Star will employ two motors, one at each end. The 'extra' motor and transmission, in my estimation, will not weigh more than the extra componentry needed for conventional all-wheel-drive.

WhiteStar is a four-door sedan. Dark Star is a five-door 'hatchback', and will be shorter in length. Whereas the Tesla sedan will seem to have larger cargo capacity in its trunk, folding down the rear seatbacks of Tellurian five-door will provide ample room. The tradeoff is decreased passenger capacity in that configuration, but remember, the Dark Star can fit in a smaller parking space.

Why is Dark Star not a sedan? There is already a five-passenger sedan in the Tellurian Motors lineup. The Time Further Out is more upscale and fits in a different segment. Dark Star, instead of being sort of like a TFO with the trunk and part of the nose chopped off, has its own unique architecture.

Yes, it's reminiscent of many hatchbacks of the past, which I personally think is part of its appeal. I'm sure that many share my fondness for the folded-paper designs of the late 70s and early 80s, and will enjoy my 21st-century take on the style.


Okay, I'm about to rant yet again about the current state of automotive 'style'...

On second thought, never mind.


You'll have to see it -- and on that note, I have to apologize once again for the dearth of images in this space. I could try to tell you that I want to keep my cards close to my chest, but that would be bullshit. I just don't have enough images as yet, outside of those in my mind, to share.

Suffice to say, at this point, that my main inspiration was the Lancia Delta -- which if you've never heard of, I'll understand. Giorgio Guigaro was responsible for that, as well as the original VW Golf (Rabbit) and Scirocco and (among many, many others) the Isuzu Piazza (Ace of Clubs). Picture a trapezoid atop a rectangle, off to one side, for the sideview, and you're partway there.


Once again, the construction technique involved is the major theme behind the designs. You can refer to earlier posts for details...


Phil Smith
September 30, 2007


November 18 update: I discovered a while ago that the code name for the Tesla Roadster was Dark Star (followed by White Star and Blue Star for subsequent models) so this Tellurian model will again go unnamed, perhaps until one is built...

*****

folded paper

_____

I recently stumbled across a name for the angular style that began in the late 1960s and became popular in the '70s: "Folded Paper".

That is certainly descriptive, yet it only barely describes my own recent style of design. Paper, after all, can be folded gently, and for that matter it can be curved. What I'm after is an almost unrelenting angularity -- corners as sharp as it is safe to make them, dividing planes as perfectly flat as the materials will allow.

Ironically, folding paper is a method I've considered for constructing models of my concepts. I could even work up image files of various models as cutouts, to be printed out -- and to be shared in this space for anyone to print out, cut out, fold and tape. Presto! You could have a collection of paper Tellurian Motors models littering/decorating your computer desk...

They'd all be to scale, of course.

Just don't count on me to actually do this. My plan for models is to begin with folded paper, then apply the template to some Lexan sheets I happen to have lying around. It would be nice to place each of those bodies on a remote-control chassis, but it would be much less expensive to build each chassis out of LEGO...

Can hardly wait to be cutting and welding square steel tubes, bending aluminum or (gasp) stainless steel, having glass cut to fit, ordering components, and putting everything together. To bridge the gap between amateur automotive designer and car builder, quite a bit of time, money, and effort will have to be spent.

Will it be worth it?

I personally think it would be helpful if there were electric cars out there that looked very DIFFERENT from other vehicles. My designs are unique, perhaps futuristic. It's all well and good to convert existing vehicles to electric power, and my hat is off to anyone out there producing entirely new electric vehicles -- but any of these could easily be mistaken for an internal combustion vehicle, if seen sitting still.

Do I expect to be copied? Absolutely. After all, the simplicity of my proposed manufacturing technique makes it that much easier for dedicated hobbyists (let alone budding manufacturers) to build their own...

Should I freely publish all specifications, making my designs 'open-source'? Hang on a bit there. That could result in who-knows-how-many crappy and potentially unsafe homebuilts with me as a named progenitor. Tellurian Motors would have to employ extreme caution in any such endeavour.

Instead, Tellurian Motors could perhaps become a 'component manufacturer', offering 'kits' in various stages of completion to home builders...

Problem is, I'm not comfortable. If I have to build 'kits' and then have them assembled by Harmonic Conversions (an entity as currently fictional as Tellurian Motors) before sale, in order to sidestep regulations and keep homebuilders from botching it, that's what I'll do.

But listen: If I only get to build ONE vehicle of my own design, it will be a major accomplishment. If I am then able to build but a single example of ONE other concept, I'll be happy as a clam. If I end up with a stable of one-offs, I'll be in Bliss.

If people want to pony up for their very own Tellurians...

Wow.



Phil Smith (fil)
September 20th, 2007

_____

Electrum Update #1

_____

Of all the ways I could spend my time, as you can see I've been working on my electric supercar concept, the Electrum. The images above were done mostly in MS Paint, a program that is partly responsible for my flat-panel design style. It's becoming very useful for plan views of my recent concepts...

I probably spoke too soon, saying the Electrum would be only about 40 inches tall. If it were 48 inches tall (4 feet), then the 'Tenfold' rims you see in the top image would be 24s -- and someone like me (at 73 inches) will actually be able to fit inside. We don't want the car to be too difficult to get in and out of...

To that end, the doors open scissor-style, pivoting from the rear. Duck in and place one foot on the floor as you grab the steering wheel (or grab handle, on the passenger side), and rotate into the seat...

Yes, the frameless windows do retract fully into the doors. No, the omission of mirrors in the Paint sketches aren't an oversight -- cameras and in-dash monitors are used instead, as with all Tellurian Motors vehicles (though some will feature a conventional rear-view mirror).

The Electrum follows my basic formula of a spaceframe made of square steel tubing covered in flat panels, but especially with this model, there is a question of what body material to use. Aluminum is perhaps easiest, but stainless steel is certainly possible, as is carbon fiber. We'll leave that up to the individual customer...



Phil Smith
September 3, 2007

_____

Supercar

_____

Friday, August 24, 2007


I recently watched the movie Fracture, in which Sir Anthony Hopkin's character drives a Porsche Carrera GT. The Carrera GT is one of those hideously expensive automobiles built for ultimate performance, known as supercars.

As I saw it being driven and heard the shriek of its V-10, suddenly I had another concept to add to the Tellurian Motors lineup. You have to know I was comparing the GT to the Tesla roadster, and you also have to know that the (still conceptual) Tellurian Brubeck is no match for that ultimate (now discontinued) Porsche and will likely fall short of the Roadster's performance.

Why not an electric supercar? Yes, I know it's an exclusive market, but there are enough enthusiasts out there with obscene amounts of money to throw around to ensure demand for supercars. Heck, the Tesla Roadster goes for around $100K and isn't technically a 'supercar'. My electric supercar would go for around the same price as a Corvette ZR-1...

Oh, but I wasn't even thinking about that. I was just excited to have another flat-panel design concept taking shape within my brainpan. Full lineup? Sure, I had a full lineup before this, but which model was the flagship? It's a feather in any manufacturer's cap to have one car that can approach or exceed 200 MPH, with acceleration and handling to match.

If you're wondering how any flat-panel vehicle can be aerodynamic enough to achieve such speeds, maybe you're not familiar with the F-111 stealth fighter -- not that my supercar will resemble it in any way (except for the flatness of its panels), but you get the point. By the way there have been many angular sports cars and supercars in the past -- maybe half of them 'mere' concept vehicles -- that I'm sure I've been influenced by...

...and if you want to talk about influence, I'd say most of mine has come from Italian design houses -- Bertone, Italdesign, Zagato, Pininfarina, even Ghia. The Italians know design. Throw in Frank Costin, William Towns, Syd Mead, and countless others including architects and furniture designers, and you get the picture. As I said in the first post in this blog, I pay attention...

Right now I want to give 'props' to all those who have come before me, striving to bring form to functional objects. "A thing of beauty is a joy forever."



So, back to the car, the supercar: Imagine if you will, an elongated hexagon. That's the main feature of its 'face', and the upper half of it is windshield. There is a smaller version of the Brubeck's box bumper and grille, with round driving lights, at the leading edge. The car is extremely low, on par with the original Ford GT40 (which was 40 inches tall). This is, as yet, the most visually stunning of my designs. The pure geometry of it will astound -- and that's not bragadoccio. I am astounded myself, just imagining it.

It will be hard to look at. As you circle it, its panels and angles will line up visually to give the sense of optical illusion -- and while that may be true of other Tellurian Motors offerings, in this case, more so.

It will be all-wheel-drive, with electric motors front and rear and (of course) sophisticated software that tells the front motors when to kick in and keeps both transmissions in sync, among countless other tasks. The Tesla Roadster manages over 140 MPH with a 2-speed transmission and a 250 horsepower motor. The Tellurian Electrum will have 4 speeds and a pair of the most powerful motors that will fit -- or even a motor for each wheel.

Electrum? Electrum is an alloy of silver and gold which occurs in nature, the use of which dates back to the beginning of civilization. As much of a tongue-twister as 'Tellurian Electrum' is (say it five times fast), I can't think of a better name for an electric supercar. It rolls off the tongue in a delicious manner.

Remember the car in the movie Tron? That was a Lamborghini Countach, designed by Marcello Gandini while he was with Bertone. I'm not saying the Electrum will be able to execute perfect 90-degree turns at breakneck speed like Tron's car, but I would expect journalists to make the connection.

This is an extremely sophisticated vehicle, and certainly not for everyone. It is something for Tellurian Motors to aspire to, and to work toward. We'll begin with the Runabout, and work our way upward...

September 1, 2007

Only minor editing of the above (composed offline) was done today.

It's almost funny, that the metal I've chosen to name this car after is, or was, 'unrefined'. Besides silver and gold, naturally-occurring electrum would often include copper and other elements. The composition would vary from location to location. Similarly, we expect no two Tellurian Electrums to be alike. Customers can choose from a variety of body materials and specify whatever upholstery and carpet they like. These are handbuilt specials...


...as are, to some degree, all Tellurian Motors offerings. It would take quite a bit of demand for us to invest in robot welders and assembly lines as opposed to assembly areas. Stranger things have happened, and for all we know the Electrum could be the first to become that popular.


To quote John Lennon (yet again), "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one." I intend to produce a pencil drawing of the entire Tellurian Motors lineup, parked together, to scan and include in a future post. Along the way I'll be sketching each individual model, over and over again, until they're 'right'. The best of those will show up here as well.


Wish me luck.



Phil Smith
Late Summer 2007


PS (after 3 AM)

I managed to reinstall MSPaint... Here is a crude line drawing of the Electrum that I'm only about 50% happy with:







PPS Here's a frontal view:...and a rear (as with the side view, these are preliminary images):

_____

A Full Line?

_____

What are your automotive needs?

I keep coming up with new designs. Now (in my head) there's a full line of Tellurian Motors offerings, all electric, and all done in the same style.

I suppose I should work up something like a brochure, if for illustration purposes only... In the past, it never mattered. I could just do a rough sketch, or even keep a mental image of my concepts. I used to be very private with my sketches, showing them to very few close friends, if to anyone at all. If it existed in my mind, that was enough -- since I never expected any of them to be built.

Things have changed. Recent developments have not only inspired me to get 'back to the drawing board', but have given me resolve. Don't ask me how I'm gonna do it, but I fully intend to make Tellurian Motors more than a fantasy. So, yeah -- remind me to produce more images to share in this space.

A full line? Just about. There may be a few segments not covered, so far. Here are the models, in order of conceptualization:

• Sports car (Brubeck)
• Pickup (BRUTRUCK)
• Touring sedan (Time Further Out)
• Versatile off-road vehicle (EXOVAN)
• 2-passenger runabout
• 2+2 sporty coupe (Pinto II)
• Small 4-passenger 4X4
• 5-passenger 5-door hatchback

The last two are very much still in my head, under development, but I've sketched many a Jeep alternative in the past, and the 5-door will resemble the original Lancia Delta in overall form. For that matter it will resemble the Pinto II, which is itself a flat-panel interpretation of the hugely underrated Ford Pinto...

If you want to really get down to it, only the Brubeck is anywhere near a final form, with EXOVAN a close second and the runabout third (though that one's so simple, it almost designs itself). I've actually got quite a bit of work to do...


Model by model:


The Brubeck, though conceived with twin bike engines, translates very well to electric power. One electric motor between the rear wheels, seating two in what looks like a bench until you settle into it, whereupon you discover that the upholstery stretches, and the foam underneath gives in, in just the right ways to provide proper support. One might compare it with the Tesla Roadster, but the Brubeck is more about style than performance. Of course it must have a killer sound system, which in the original would be eclipsed by the symphony of a pair of Kawasaki ZX14 engines...


BRUTRUCK is being redone. Silly me, the original version was steam-powered, with natural gas heating the boiler. One benefit of steam (external combustion) is torque, something every truck needs -- but electric motors are even better at delivering torque. BRUTRUCK is all-wheel drive, and the new electric iteration (with motors fore and aft) is very much like a rebodied EXOVAN, designed to accept Mattracks. It will be available in single-cab and crewcab versions, but no 'extended' cab.


Time Further Out, the touring sedan, will be as much for driving as arriving. You WILL be noticed in this car -- not that you wouldn't be in any other Tellurian vehicle, but this one exudes elegance. It seats five, so it could be your family car, but it could also be something for which you hire a chauffeur. Red carpet? Sure. Just don't forget to drive it yourself...


EXOVAN has been covered better than any other Tellurian Motors model, in this space. It remains 'our' most versatile offering.


The runabout, introduced as the Salt Flats Runabout, is quite versatile as well. It could serve as a city car, a street-legal golf cart, or even an ATV (fitted with the Litefoot variant of Mattracks). Simple enough to leave most glass panels off for open-air motoring. Select rear-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive, choose open or closed, with any level of tint... This will be the easiest one to construct, so may represent the first Tellurian Motors vehicle ever built. I can see people enjoying them on sand dunes...


My first and second cars were early Ford Pintos. In my 20's, I admired their design and didn't need more than a 2+2. Plus, believe it or not, they were fun to drive. Conveniently, the form of a Pinto can be easily approximated in flat-panel design. The Tellurian Pinto II will be a great first car for twentysomethings, or indeed for any single person, or empty-nesters who fondly remember the fun of the original. Both hatchback ('glass-ass') and coupe versions will be offered.


Want a Jeep, but dismayed by how large the Wrangler has gotten? Behold the electric Tellurian 4X4, yet to be named. Its proportions mimic the venerated CJ3B, and yes it is a very basic off-roader. Removable hardtop is an option, but removable doors are standard and attach to a door bar, just a bit of safety-related bullshit for the insurance adjusters... The fold-down windshield is a given, but it will be frameless. Full rollcage, yes, and in square steel tubing, of course...


Last is the 5-door. At this point I have to give props to Giorgio Guigaro, who penned the original Volkswagen Golf/Rabbit and Scirocco, along with the Lancia Delta and countless others (including, while he was with Bertone, the Lamborghini Miura). For that matter I have to recognize Marcello Gandini, who did the Lamborghini Countach, Corvette Ramarro, and many other Bertone creations -- and William Towns of Aston Martin Lagonda and Aston Martin Bulldog fame.

I am, it must be said, influenced by my predecessors. No one can escape that. Yet, here I am, adapting the angularity that was in vogue in the 1970s to a simplistic construction technique...

The 5-door is a family car, or something for a single person who is considerate of passengers, perhaps a carpooler. It has a hatch and fold-down rear seats, for cargo capability. It is all-wheel-drive, with the front motor only being called upon when more power and/or traction is needed. It is relatively boring to look at, within the Tellurian Motors stable, but may outsell all others due to its practicality.

It may be called Omicron (a Greek letter somewhere in the middle of the alphabet, and a nod to the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon or 'Omnirizon', the nearly identical Chrysler responses to the Rabbit -- be assured that it will be more attractive).


All of these vehicles will be (relatively) easy to prototype...

Now you're wondering what HAL 9000 is doing here. He/it is the inspiration for exterior lighting. Taillights, turn signals, headlights and driving lights. When you see it, you'll get it. Circles will offset the angles, in beautiful juxtaposition...



Phil Smith
August 18, 2007

_____