Kirkham At Sema 2006

[bnewell]

Ran into Tom Kirkham today at the SEMA show..........another beautiful ride from the brothers Kirkham

[quickjack]

That looks like fun! What is it?

[ENTDOC]

ariel atom replica

[David Kirkham]

The Kirkham Motorsports
“RUSH”
Opens a new class of
Extreme Vehicles.

The first thing you notice as you slide into the racing seats, grasp the Momo steering wheel, and dream about a canyon drive or hitting that perfect apex in your new Kirkham Motorsports “RUSH” is there are no traditional gauges in the dash--in fact, there is no dash. All gauges are mounted in the steering wheel with a STACK system--the very same people who make them for Formula 1 race teams. In fact, the entire focus of the “Rush” is directed toward making the driver feel like he is in control of a race car--on the street.

The innovative chassis design allows for the open cockpit to be extremely rigid yet exceptionally light. The chassis is made from polished, tubular stainless steel. Advanced CAD design allows the Rush chassis to weigh in at just under 200 pounds! The chassis is designed with a venturi tunnel under the chassis to feed the radiator. The radiator fans then suck air from under the chassis through the tunnel and exhaust it behind the car to enhance down force.

Over the years Kirkham Motorsports has had many customers who are 6'5” or taller want to purchase our cars--but they don't fit. We are lucky enough to have a good friend who is 7'1” tall who graciously agreed to be our model and we built the “Rush” around him. Finally, there is a true “Chariot of Fire” for men both big and tall.

The suspension was meticulously modeled with the latest, most sophisticated, CAD software available--to give the ultimate roll centers, absolute minimal bump steer, and near perfect camber gain. The suspension was carefully modeled to WORK--unlike many designers who seem to endlessly compromise their suspensions to follow Colin Chapman's famous saying, “Any suspension will work--if you don't let it.” Our exacting design allows the RUSH to use very soft 95 pound springs in the front and 200 pound springs in the rear for a nice, comfortable, yet very sporting ride.

The push rod suspension design allows for a 1:1 wheel rate. This is very advantageous as it allows the shocks to move considerably more than a conventional design. Shocks work much better if they are allowed to move as far as possible compared to wheel movement as even very subtle suspension movements can now be more easily controlled.

Finally, taking a strong lesson from our small block cars, the car was designed to be as light and as nimble as possible. The final weight of a car is very dependent on wheel, tire, engine, brake, and transmission combination (all customer choice). The car was designed to weigh in at around 1300-1500 pounds. Regardless of the customer choice of engine, the power to weight ratio will be staggering.

The first ones have already been sold to previous customers who came by during construction and decided they had to have one. We are still working out final pricing and options, (the car was only finished for the show on Monday).

SEMA RUSH Specifications: (production specifications will vary due to customer preferences.)

BRAKES:
Massive 13 inch Brembo vented, cross-drilled rotors grace all 4 corners

ENGINE
Ford 3.5 liter Duratec-Forced induction, Vortech Supercharged

TRANSMISSION
Ford 6 speed automatic--with paddle shift

CHASSIS
2 inch tubular stainless steel.

SUSPENSION
Front: Independent, Push Rod
Rear: Independent, Push Rod

SHOCKS:
Penske, double adjustable, racing shocks...cockpit adjustable with Hyperco Springs

DASH:
STACK instrument cluster mounted on the steering wheel.

WHEELS:
Ford Motorsports Racing part number M-1007-F500B

TIRES:
Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3
Front: 255/35-YR18
Rear: 275/35-ZR18

David

ps. now you know what we have been doing for the past few months and why we have been so quiet. I can't wait for next year.

[Lew Ledyard]

David:

Very cool. I am glad that you are looking after us tall guys. Any idea about how much hp and tq a supercharged Duratec makes? I can't tell from the photo, but are there lights on it?

[David Kirkham]

Lew,

A good rule of thumb is you can double the horsepower with 15 psi (1 atmosphere) of pressure. The Ford 3.5 puts out 270 some horsepower so we figure we can get 500 hp out of the motor with 10-15 psi of boost. Ford engineers tell us we can get 500 out of the motor...so we will see! I am not sure about the torque numbers but I will let you know.

You will find LOTS and LOTS of room in the car; we built if for TALL guys.

There are no lights on the car at SEMA, but we are making the car so it can be driven on the street. We have PIAA lights on the shelf at home, but we didn't get a chance to get them on yet.

The car should be unbelievably fast.

David

[mattr762]

Can we see more pictures please?

HOW MUCH? HOW MUCH?

[kris-kincaid]

Matt, I took some on Tuesday: http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74110

[computerworks]

Here's a little photo essay of the vehicle dubbed the "Rush"....

[computerworks]

[computerworks]

[mrmustang]

Ron,

Did they have a projected price when you spoke with Tom? Looks like it would make a great autocross car.

Bill S.

[BT SNAKE]

Ron,
Great photos! It was good to see you at SEMA. I spent a bunch of time there with the Kirkhams because I really liked this design. I have been drooling over the Ariel Atom for a long time but just could not justify the cost for a toy. The Kirkhams have not worked out a cost for it as yet. I'm interested but I wait with anticipation in hopes that is is in my range.
This car will be a blast to own and drive.

Hersh

[Jamo]

Well, one thing's for sure...it'll fit REAL sized folks. Bob "Shorty" Evans was the target for fitment after complaining about the size of the Atom.

Some extra shielding, bracing and correct tires and wheels, and I could see this thing making a Baja run or doing the dunes at Glamis.

[David Kirkham]

Ron,

I didn't know you were there! You should have given me a call!

Target price for the car is $29,990 for a complete "roller" less engine, radiator (should come with your engine), transaxle, 1/2 shafts (should come with your transaxle) wheels, tires and exhaust. This is only a target price and it is not yet set in stone. We are still chasing down numbers. Why didn't we figure it out earlier??? Well, we made the car in about 10 days. We waited for some time to get all of the parts from Ford. When they finally came through it didn't leave us much time. As you all know, they have had bigger problems lately and they did help all they could.

The engineering CAD for the chassis and suspension was done over the past year, but you can only go so far when you don't have all of the engine/transmission pieces. 10 days before SEMA the car was nothing but a bare chassis. 3 weeks before SEMA there wasn't even a chassis except in CAD. We just had too many normal orders to keep up with to get started any sooner. Ford wanted to see pictures of the car 3 days before the show and I wouldn't send them any--I figured they'd never believe it was going to make it. I actually called in 4 of our former employees who are still in the area to come and help and they did. They were a tremendous help.

Anyway,

We had FAR more interest in the car than we thought we would. I was very surprised there were always people around the car. 2 Guys Garage came and filmed us and afterwards the camera man turned to me and said, "Every year for the past 4 years we have filmed you guys. You are the only ones we film EVERY year. You must be doing something right. This car is unbelievable!" Sam Mamolo told me it was the "wildest car in the show!"

Blackie Gegian came by and invited us again to the Fresno Autorama. He said he saw the car clear across the hall and knew he had to have it so he motored over and gave us an invite. When he saw us there he just laughed. He said, "I should have known I'd find you here."

The last day of the show, the head of Ford Show Vehicles called me up and thanked me for making the car and said, "Everything you guys do turns to gold! Well, or copper or aluminum or stainless!" It was a very kind comment.

Because of all the interest, we are very seriously considering a CNC tube bender and some other very sophisticated equipment to make them as quickly and as inexpensively as possible. (This is good news for our other cars as well as we will now be able to offer stainless steel side pipes as an upgrade).

The car will be set up for both generations of buyers. 4 cylinder engines for the younger crowd and 6 cylinders for those of us who still think "Big Blocks" rule.

As for Jamo and Glamis...well, the car WAS designed for dual or even triple use. We have wings in the works for track days (coming soon), lights for street use, and paddle tires for jumping the dunes. Remember, we are all Utah boys here and "Sand Mountain" is calling our name. All we need to do is adjust a few suspension parts, add a little more ground clearance and time to jump into the sand blaster.

The inspiration for the car was actually not the Atom, it was the Radical and the Super 7. A couple of years ago I saw a Radical at Willow. Dave Dralle (somewhat depressively) told us the Radical could spank a Cobra by 10 seconds at Willow. (I may be remembering the seconds wrong--it may have only been 5 but who cares, they are fast). I got to discussing the car with Thomas and he told me all about Colin Chapman, the Super 7, and his "add lightness" philosophy in life.

Thomas told me he had always wanted to do a modern Super 7. Well the Radical charged me up and I wanted to go...but, the Copper 40 Ford slowed me down. So, we started engineering on the car in January of last year. Everything is done with CAD. At that time I hadn't even seen an Atom.

The car was engineered in a very strange order. Thomas and I decided the most important thing to do was to get the suspension right and then we would figure out how to cover it and make it look cool. Thomas worked for months on the suspension--camber gain, bump steer, scrub angles, Ackerman, wheel rates, spring rates, you name it. He has more books and subscriptions to race car magazines than a library. He was constantly printing out graphs, making plots and arguing with our engineer in manufacturing. I told them, make it right and we will figure out how to actually make it later.

The tubular chassis is Thomas' idea. It seems a tubular space frame is almost impossible to beat in terms of lightness, stiffness, and ease of manufacture. The suspension is completely Thomas' baby. You should have seen Thomas and our engineer fighting over 0.005 of an inch in the suspension--Thomas always won, but it made some parts quite difficult to make. They worked and worked to get it right on paper (well, actually, the computer screen).

In the midst of the battle between engineering and manufacturing (notice there were and are no bean counters in the fight) Thomas emailed me the link to the Top Gear video of the Atom. There were things we really liked about the car and there were things we really didn't like about the car. Everything was finally coming together.

The shape of the car is largely dictated by the constraints of manufacturing and the geometry of the suspension. The final body shape was mostly determined by manufacturing--with a few of my suggestions thrown in to sharpen things up. JMHO

We hope to have it running in 4-6 weeks. We have already sold the first cars.

It's going to be cool. I can't wait to drive it.

David

[CSX 4027]

[quote=Jamo]Well, one thing's for sure...it'll fit REAL sized folks. Bob "Shorty" Evans was the target for fitment after complaining about the size of the Atom.

I think the best advertisement for that car would be you and me in the car on a Baja run.
Oh Ollie

[David Kirkham]

Steve,

I think that would throw the weight distribution off significantly! I would have to take the springs off of your side and put them up on Jamo's!

David

ps. just don't let him drive you up Squaw Peak...I am sure he is still looking for revenge.

[Jamo]

No...revenge, served ever so sweetly as it should be, will involve ME driving your personal Cobra up Squaw Peak with YOU strapped into the passenger seat screaming at the top of your lungs.

This will come to pass...your family is not as loyal as you think they are.

[Jamo]

Steve...assolutely!

Another idea...David, position one of those cockaroaches down at Spring Mountain for the exclusive use of KMP owners and friends who join the Club. Bob and I would like to match it up against an Atom post haste.

[David Kirkham]

Jamo,

How dumb do you think I am? After cleaning up your seat after that drive, I KNEW I could NEVER let you drive me ANYWHERE!

David

As for matching up with an Atom, (or anything else for that matter), patience grasshopper, patience. Thomas and I are working on that RIGHT NOW.

Oh yes, I will be happy to give you a ride in the Rush when it is done...How about Squaw peak...or Nebo?