Stealth Pictures of Palomar

[randyd]

Just Discovered!!!

Through extensive research and not a small amount of bribery, a leak has been uncovered in the Aptera veil of secrecy hiding Palomar prototypes. Many hours of research on the WWW, extensive personal expense, and physical travel has uncovered design drawings, early photographs, and even a full size, prototype vehicle of the 4-wheeled Palomar:

180

Other, older photos and drawings of the early, 3-wheeled prototype (probably based on the Typ-1 chassis) are posted here (http://www.washedashore.com/projects/dymax/pictures.html).

Note the many similarities between this Palomar Prototype and the image from the recent newsletter:


Sleek aerodynamic shape
external side mirrors
no solar panel on the roof
no (obvious) rear cameras
small, rear quarter panel windows

[hyo silver]

But that's a four wheeler. Are you sure this one isn't the 'real' Palomar? :rolleyes:

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi,

The Palomar will have 4 wheels and 4 seats; or so we have been told.

[TheAeronut]

Cool car - a little reminescent of the BuckyMobile. Now, there was a guy and a car ahead of their time. I wonder what Buckminster Fuller would say about the Aptera? My guess is that he would like it, but probably have a number of points of contention.

J.P.

[gkra]

Through extensive research and not a small amount of bribery, a leak has been uncovered in the Aptera veil of secrecy hiding Palomar prototypes. Many hours of research on the WWW, extensive personal expense, and physical travel has uncovered design drawings, early photographs, and even a full size, prototype vehicle of the 4-wheeled Palomar:


Nice. But I think your humor was a little too subtle. :) You got a link for what that car really is?

[randyd]

OK. ok.

The car pictured above is in the Royal British Columbia Museum (http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/MainSite/default.aspx) in Victoria, Canada (on Vancouver Island). It dominates the foyer and includes the following descriptive text:

The Spirit of Tomorrow

This unique car named "Spirit of Tomorrow" by its designer tells a story of BC ingenuity and faith in the future. Inventor H.B. "Barney" Oldfield (1911-1978) loved mechanical challenges. From his Prospect Lake welding ship on West Saanich Road, Oldfield produced remarkable designs, from aircraft to massive logging trucks. He lived in a house that roatated once an hour on a geared mechanism that he designed.

Completed in 1942, the Spirit of Tomorrow car has travelled far and wide, attracting many comments. in 1967, Oldfield restored the car, and installed a Ford 289 V-8 engine. It weighs 1400 kg (3000 lbs) and has a top speed of about 180 kph (110 mph)

The Oldfield design

Barney Oldfield began building the Spirit of Tomorrow car in 1938, using a ten-year-old Chevy to create he prototype. His radical design shifted the engine to the middle of the car to improve handling. By 1940, using a Dodge frame, he had a road-licensed mid-engine chassis. He then carved a scale model of the body and dipped in a nearby creek o study its aerodynamics by watching the flow of water around it. Finally, with J.H. Norton, he assembled the aluminum frame and body panels, completing the car in 1942.

This page (http://bc150.eciad.ca/museum/09_09.html) reports that Barney was influenced by the Dymaxion Car (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dymaxion_Car). This page (http://www.washedashore.com/projects/dymax/) also mentions both the Dymaxion Car and the Spirit of Tomorrow.

What's old becomes new again. :)

[gg222]

It looks like it would has less drag if you drove it in reverse.

[hyo silver]

I didn't know that was in Victoria. I think I'll have to go see it. Any idea when it went on display, and how long it will be there? (The link took me to the museum site, but I didn't see anything about Barney Oldfield's car.)

[randyd]

We were there for one day on vacation. I have no idea when it went on display.

A google search for "Barney Oldfield" and "Spirit of Tomorrow" finds this (http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/cars/story.html?id=30e6fcdc-4a56-4a16-9ecd-3d9c8f7cabbf) from the "Times Columnist":
The Spirit of Tomorrow will be on display at the RBCM until January 11, 2009.

Go take a look. The outside (at least) is really well restored.

[AndyH]

It looks like it would has less drag if you drove it in reverse.

The most aerodynamic natural shape is a falling drop of water - a teardrop. Note that they fall big end first.

[KarenRei]

The most aerodynamic natural shape is a falling drop of water - a teardrop. Note that they fall big end first.

Well... actually, water droplets only have that shape right as they're dripping. The stereotypical "teardrop" shape isn't how water droplets actually fall, thanks to surface tension; small ones are pretty spherical, and larger ones are more like a hamburger bun:

http://i.usatoday.net/weather/resources/askjack/photos/rain-drop-big.jpg

But yeah, something like the stereotypical teardrop is a close to optimal aerodynamic shape in terms of internal area over wind resistance.

[AndyH]

I wanted to focus on the shape, not on water drop dynamics. Sorry for the poor example. Let's see if I can do better.

When a vehicle pushes thru the air, it has to move the air out of the way. The air wants to 'rejoin' and continue on it's original track after the vehicle passes. The more air is disrupted the higher the drag.

The shape with the absolute lowest drag is no shape...'nothing' moving thru the air will cause no drag. Silly, but it's a starting point.

If we have to move thru the air, we'd like to use a body shaped like an enlongated tear-drop shape that is five times longer than it is in diameter. (Engineers call this a 'body of revolution with a slenderness or fineness ratio of 5'.) This is the 'mythical' starting point used by aircraft designers before they're 'forced' to 'mess-up' the shape with stuff like wings and landing gear...

That shape works well in the air and water, but approaching the ground changes the best aerodynamic shape. Here's an example of the progression of shape (and change in drag coefficient):

http://www.zamslube.com/documents/aptera/aero_1.jpg

The Aptera designers left the main body of the car in the air and that lessens the affect of the ground on airflow around the car. (Look at the Sunraycer, GM's winner in the "World Solar Challenge" from 1987 for an example of a car designed to stay close to the ground (http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/collection/object_362.html).)

Similar to a 'glass half full/glass half empty' example to show two differing viewpoints, aircraft designers look at the design problem from an aerodynamic point of view. Traditional car design starts with the desired shape then tries to 'force' some aerodynamic cleanup after the fact.

Look at the GM Volt progression, for example - the concept car had the 'tough look', the 'haunches' and the other design cues designed to evoke an emotional reaction to the design. They had to change the shape to reduce drag for the production car - otherwise they wouldn't get 40 miles out of the batteries.

Drag is caused by the shape and motion of an object moving thru the air. There's a good summary of the nine sources of aerodynamic drag (http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Theories_of_Flight/drag/TH4.htm) for those that want to dig deeper.

We want to eliminate (best case) or reduce (compromise) any turbulence behind the vehicle. NACA (the organization that became NASA) found in the '40s (published in 1945 (http://naca.central.cranfield.ac.uk/report.php?NID=2176)) that air could stay 'attached' to a body at up to a 7 degree change in shape. Beyond 7 degrees the air would separate and cause turbulence - and drag. That suggests we'd like to have a 'cone' shape at the rear of a vehicle. This shape is normally 'chopped off' though, at least because designers don't want the the extra length and weight on the vehicle. That compromise in shape creates a vacuum behind a car that the air must drastically change direction to flow into. If we had a way to make a streamlined tail that was strong and lightweight we could eliminate the vacuum and drag from the rear of the vehicle...

http://www.zamslube.com/documents/aptera/aero_2.jpg

http://www.zamslube.com/documents/aptera/aero_3.jpg

The Aptera design pays attention to this wake after the car - to the point of injecting the cabin air into the rear of the car to help fill in the vacuum caused by the remaining flat surface of the tail lights.

Now we have to do something about those wheels...

http://www.zamslube.com/documents/aptera/aero_4.jpg

Bottom line is that the Aptera designers appear to have designed a car from an 'aircraft' point of view rather than a traditional auto designer's point of view. They don't have to compromise the design nearly as much - they can retain more of the efficiency.

By omitting the fourth wheel, for example, they don't have carry the weight of the wheel and suspension. They don't have to design and mount a fairing for the wheel and suspension. They don't have to then increase motor power to carry the extra weight and overcome the rolling resistance of the fourth wheel. Then they don't have to increase the battery pack to feed the larger motor required by the extra weight and drag...

The auto consumer has been so conditioned by the inefficient vehicle shapes that come from automakers that they think vehicles like the Prius and Insight are 'ugly' and 'don't look like cars'. I think this perception will be the largest obstacle the Aptera will have to overcome.

Here's something that gives the nature of the automotive designer mindset, and helps give a sense of how far the Aptera folks are away from the 'automotive design herd':

"For half a century, Detroit's auto stylists have done more to repulse the advance of streamlining than to make use of the aerodynamic knowledge available to them. Why this rejection of natural laws? Why this resistance to make use of a science that could - if properly applied - give some new model a true competitive advantage? The answer, in one word, is fashion. Not fashion in itself, but the car designers conception of what a fashionable car should look like. When styling began, in the late 1920s, fashion called for long hoods and tall radiator grilles. The idea was to create an image of power and speed, but curiously the stylists chose their inspiration in the steam locomotive of the past rather than in the airplane of the future."

J. Norbye, Streamlining & Car Aerodynamics, chapter 8, "stylists vs engineers", 1977


Andy

(Images borrowed from Aerodynamics of Road Vehicles, Fourth Edition, published by the Society of Automotive Engineers in 1998.)

[JimmyDreams]

Is there gonna be a test on this??

:P

JimmyD

[AndyH]

Is there gonna be a test on this??

:P

JimmyD

Not from me! ;)

[basjoos]

That's some of the stuff I studied before I started reshaping my car.

[Danny]

That was good information. General enough to be interesting and detailed enough to have substance. Thanks.

[Spirit]

My name is Tim Lindsay and the Spirit of Tomorrow is owned by my wife's family. I will be bringing the car to Reno for the Hot August Nights event in the first week in August. If you would like a ride in the car, or you would just like more information just let me know.

[Eyelawdoc]

My name is Tim Lindsay and the Spirit of Tomorrow is owned by my wife's family. I will be bringing the car to Reno for the Hot August Nights event in the first week in August. If you would like a ride in the car, or you would just like more information just let me know.

Any chance you could post more pics of the Spirit of Tomorrow?

[Matthijs]

I found this here: Flickr Link (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecstaticist/2970416317/)


The Spirit of Tomorrow will be on display at the RBCM until January 11, 2009.

[randyd]

My name is Tim Lindsay and the Spirit of Tomorrow is owned by my wife's family. I will be bringing the car to Reno for the Hot August Nights event in the first week in August. If you would like a ride in the car, or you would just like more information just let me know.

Hi Tim!

Welcome to the group! A lot of us are in No. California. Reno will be about 250 miles each way for me. I have driven it many times in one ICE or another.

If I have my Aptera by August, (and if I can afford the extended battery pack) maybe I'll drive it to Reno on a lark. We can take pictures of the two cars, old and new, side by side. :)

[Spirit]

Thank you all for the warm welcome.

I am just in the process of building the web site spiritoftomorrow dot com. I had to write it that way as your forum will not allow me to include a link until I have posted 4 times. You know what to do.

If you visit the site please refresh at each new visit so you can see the new additions. I just put it up this morning so I have not got many pictures of the car up as yet as I am scanning Basil's old photos as I am building the storyline. Let me know what you think. You can also email me directly from the web page. Hopefully in a week or so I will be complete.

Thanks for your interest.

Randy, what is a Palomar?

Regards Tim

[Spirit]

Here is an old one to keep you going until I scan some more.

[Spirit]

I guess I am not allowed to upload pictures yet either

[KarenRei]

Thanks for dropping by, Spirit. What a great car to have in the family! :)

"Palomar" is the code-name for Aptera's super-secret followup to the 2e/2h -- a four-seat, four wheel car about which little has been publicly disclosed.

How did you find out about this site and about Aptera, out of curiosity?

[Spirit]

Thanks Karen. You are a very warm and friendly bunch here. I found out about your forum by Googling the "Spirit of Tomorrow" to see what was out there on the car while I was designing the web page. I was particularly impressed with the high level of knowledge that you share with each other especially that post about the drop of water and how the shape changes and then the response of drag coificient. I thought I would join and learn something.

Obviously I am interested about all things vehicle and especially design ideas that help make a greener planet.

Have you been to the website yet? I just posted a picture of when the car had no body panels.
Regards Spirit

[garygid]

The www.spiritoftomorrow.com
does not seem to work yet.

[Spirit]

Oops, There appears to be tecnical dificulties. I will post when it is up again. Thanks Gary

[Spirit]

I am new here so I am not as nimble as I will be. Hopefully you will see a picture of the car with an unknown male modle of the day. Ther is something wrong with my website. I will keep you all posted when corrected.

Regards Spirit

[garygid]

Spirit,
Your www.spiritoftomorrow.com site is now working.

Probably the old cached DNS entries ("pointing" to the "old"
domain-holding site) just needed enough time to expire and
become obsolete. They then get refreshed (replaced) with new
data that "points" to your new site's location (IP address).

[garygid]

Now, I am not reaching the "Spirit" site again.

Maybe the old holding-site's DNS server is still sending out the
obsolete IP address, and the "old" entry needs to be removed.

I will see if I can find the correct IP address and
post a "direct" link.

Ok, The Domain Name Server at ns1.active-dns.com (and ns2 there)
have BOTH the old IP address
http://203.142.19.81/ to the holding site, and
http://65.49.35.140/ to the "weebly" server that hosts the new site.

However the "weebly" server apparently requires a domain name to locate a hosted site's pages.

[garygid]

I reached the www.spiritoftomorrow.com site again, but ...

it will be intermittent until the "old" IP address (203.142.19.81) is removed
from both the ns1 and the ns2 DNS servers at active-dns.com

Cheers, Gary

[garygid]

While the DNS is getting fixed, use:
http://spiritoftomorrow.weebly.com/
Cheers, Gary

[Spirit]

Now I truely believe that this is not only a warm and friendly group, they are smart too. Gary I would have never figured that out with the dns thing, but I followed your advice and it appears to be working, so for those of you that want to follow the story go to www.spiritoftomorrow.com

Remember to refresh each time you go because I am scanning and adding old pictures daily.

Regards to all
Spirit (aka Tim)

[garygid]

Spirit (Tim),
Glad I could be of some help.

I like what you are doing with the website.
I will re-visit occasionally to see how it is growing.

I made a http://SolarSaga.weebly.com/ website for myself, at first just
to figure out what URL to use to get around your DNS problem.
Now, I will use it to host pictures of my Solar PV System installation.

Cheers, Gary

[Spirit]

I have ironed some of the lumps out of the web page. I still have a lot more work to do in order to scan and upload pictures and stories. At least we can all get to the page with your help.
Cheers Spirit

[NeilBlanchard]

Hello,

Here's some additional design models for the Palomar: the 1939 Maybach Stromlinienkarosserie with a Cd of 0.16, or 0.14 with curved windshield glass:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v417/MikeMariettaSC/80MPG%20Honda%20Civic/sw38-ds-01.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v417/MikeMariettaSC/80MPG%20Honda%20Civic/sw38-ds04.jpg
http://blog.goo-net.com/chez2007/img/163/inline_15.jpg

And the Pillbug from the same era, with it's Cd of 0.13 and seating for 6 or 7:
http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,1408871,00.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v724/NeilBlanchard/pillbug.jpg

These are both amazingly aerodynamic cars, and they should be inspiration for the Palomar. Notice the side cooling exhausts on the Maybach. The Pillbug has an aircooled rear engine.

[Spirit]

I wonder if anyone else has pictures or information on some of these earlier cars that seem to be ahead of thier time. Cheers Spirit

[NmGfan]

Here's a great place to see all the pioneering vehicles from the past...

1964 Messerschmitt:
http://microcarmuseum.com/tour/messerschmitt-kr200-roadst.html
:happy0025:

[DonC]

These are both amazingly aerodynamic cars, and they should be inspiration for the Palomar. Notice the side cooling exhausts on the Maybach. The Pillbug has an aircooled rear engine.
Nice pics. Where do the Cds for these cars come from?

[speculawyer]

What is old is new again. (Actually, both are kinda old.)

http://blog.goo-net.com/chez2007/img/163/inline_15.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/GMEV1serieshybrid.jpg/200px-GMEV1serieshybrid.jpg

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi Don,

Nice pics. Where do the Cds for these cars come from?

Here's my source on the Maybach:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/mass-produced-car-closest-teardrop-shape-5924-5.html#post74075

And for the Schlor Pillbug:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/german-experimentation-low-cd-automobiles-1930s-325.html#post24888

Also, some info on the Pillbug:

That "pillbug" was a 7-passenger car with a single driver's seat in front between the front wheel wells followed by 2 rows of 3-abreast seating with an air-cooled in-line 4 engine in the back. It was a research vehicle built on the frame of a Mercedes-Benz 170H W28 by Professor Schlör at the Technical university of Gottingen in 1937 and was lost during WWII. But it looks like the guys at that website are working on building a reproduction of it on a MB 170 frame that they have.

Another website with pics of German streamlined cars:
http://home.claranet.de/fachreporte/stromlinie.htm

On those sites they mentioned the book: Stromlinienautos in Deutschland by Ralf J.F.Kieselbach. Sounds like an interesting read.

[basjoos]

Unfortunately the website (www.design-classic-cars.de) where I got the info on the Schlor "pillbug" and the Maybach streamliner (the main inspiration behind the shape for my Aerocivic) is no longer online, but here is a link to a detailed model of Dr. Schlor's car. It would be nice if this shape could be used in a modern car design.

http://www.gtscalemodelcars.com/search.asp?show=detail&id=3829

[hill]

The Palomar went to great lengths to get a low CD, then they paste side view mirrors on it (shaking head) . . . ya gotta laugh. Btw, the drag formula? Actually it consists of TWO components, the second (after shape versus density of substance being traveled through) element is based off the size of frontal area. That's why the aptera beats the drag of a 747 hands down ... smaller area. Seems like a glaringly obvious thing, but it often gets left out.

[basjoos]

Nice pics. Where do the Cds for these cars come from?

Here's the source for the Cd of Dr. Schlor's car. Pull up the pdf file at the website below:

http://inter.action.free.fr/publications/auto-eco.pdf

Go down to page 12 where there is a timeline for low Cd cars and look for the Schlor 1935 car.