Local Motors Showcases Second New Car This Year: The SF-01 Street Fighter


Local Motors Showcases Second New Car This Year: The SF-01 Street Fighter

The last time I was at Local Motors’ Chandler factory, the only car they were producing was the so-insane-it’s-awesome Rally Fighter. Except for one little tube-frame design that was powered by a rear-mounted Honda engine ripped from a mid-1990s Civic and for all intents and purposes, resembled a two-seater Indy car without the fancy bodywork. During the autocross session of that open house event, that contraption whipped ass all day long on the track. I asked a couple of people who were close to the project if that was a one-off or if they were going for it and at the time the responses I had received were vague and uncommitted.

Earlier this month LM rolled out the Strati, a 3D printable car that used the drivetrain from the Renault Twizy electric vehicle. Now, it appears that hasn’t been the only project on the table, as the open-source design company has unveiled plans for a track-day stomper known as the SF-01 Street Fighter. Designer Greg Thompson submitted the winning design and on first look it appears to be a winner. The Street Fighter is set up as a tubular-framed track car that can take a four, six or eight-cylinder engine using a mid-front mount. Inboard suspension is utilized and the wheelbase is projected to be relatively long to both accommodate the variety of engines as well as keep passenger comfort a priority. This is more than a study in a track day only car, but an absolutely useable bare-bones vehicle that can be suited to each individual owner. The body panels can be easily manufactured and customized depending upon the needs or wants of the owner. Commercial off-the-shelf items will feature on the Street Fighter just like they did on the Rally Fighter: flipped Dodge Dart taillights, Hella Bi-Xenon headlights and LED turn signals from a current motorcycle are slated to be used.

The project was recently accepted for production and currently Local Motors is doing the research and development on the project. Expect to see a preliminary vehicle within a year, if not sooner.

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(Images courtesy of Local Motors)

 


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6 thoughts on “Local Motors Showcases Second New Car This Year: The SF-01 Street Fighter

  1. BeaverMartin

    I love what these guys at Local Motors are doing. I see them continuing to grow slowly until it’s the future of car design for everyone. Power to the people. I can’t wait until they need a specialty engine, I designed a modular engine in college that would be perfect.

  2. ColoradKid

    I’d be impressed except for the fact that its nothing more than a variation [ more like a cut & paste Xerox copy ] of the Ariel Atom and KTM X-Bow with a bit of a C6/C7 snout grafted onto the front . Which is to say .

    Who cares ?

    Come on Local Motors ! All that so called ‘ talent ‘ and the best you can come up with are Cut & Paste pastiches ?

    Yeah . Power to the People alright ! More like Tyranny of the ( clueless ) Masses !

    1. vich

      I’m convinced P38/Speedy/GuitarSlinger and this guy are all either one very lonely person or a spam virus that became self aware and rather than take over the world like skynet it just wants to let the entire world know it sucks.

      Go try to do something with your life… that way we can simply ignore it rather than wearing out our fingers scrolling through your endless invective.

    2. BeaverMartin

      It’s light weight and can take a bunch of different engines. Who gives a Rat’s A*& what it looks like. I bet it will go like stink. If you want to impress someone with something original go get a Tesla or Aztek or something. The rest of us are happy to have more options for gear heads.

  3. Texlenin

    See, I see more BMW Z-1 thru 4 in that upper deck, with some Suzuki Cappachino thrown in for taste. Gluteous maximus is a utter mess, tho….

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