SNAFU MOTOR COMPANY

If only I had realised what was involved before I started !!!!!!

I've always liked classic cars but also like to change things about - not always a good idea to do to classics, I suppose. So, I naively thought, why not build my own version of what I would like a classic to be?  It would have to be a straight six (just love the sound after having a Holden in NZ), some kind of open-top, big wings, manuel 'box, two seater, big headlights,  ...........  time to dreeeeam - so I did!

Started with a small block of plasticene on a piece of scrap oak floorboard and a small sculpting tool and just kept adding to it. Over many, many, many evenings I began to create the above sculpture - my wife calls it 'the brick', a triffle unkind I thought!
So what is it supposed to be?? Well .......
It was inspired by Art Deco 30's cars like Cords, Dusenbergs, Bugattis, etc. and the streamliner movement of the Thirties as well as cars like the SS100 (Jaguar), Riley RM, Jaguar MKII, Lagonda, Alvis and many more.
I needed a donor car for the engine and running gear and it had to be a six, so it came down to either a Jag or a Beemer. I chose a 1993 Jaguar XJ40 which came with a 3.2 ltr straight six and a manual gearbox. The Jag also donated it's front suspension assembly and chassis mounts, rear suspension/diff assembly and chassis mounts, brakes, steering components, front doors and frames, petrol tank and the engine wiring loom.
The chassis is semi monocoque i.e. it incorporates traditional chassis rails connecting the front and rear chassis mounts for the sub-assemblies, as well as monocoque construction around the rails consisting of floor, transmission tunnel, sills, front and rear bulkheads and windscreen frame. The body panels will be glassfibre (GRP).
The front end will be a one-piece moulding like an E Type - easier to mould and it will also make maintenance less of a pain in my back, the main reason for doing it this way - hopefully I'll be able to sit on the front wheel whilst I do the maintenance. There will be little fixed running boards below the doors to continue the body line to the rear wheels. By re-skinning the Jag doors in a re-shaped GRP panel I can save a heap of time and effort by using the doors, frames, locks, electric window motors, etc.
The roof will be in three sections - one above the driver, another above the passenger and a rear fixed section (like a Surrey top on the Triumph TR's), the two sections will fit in the boot and should still leave room for luggage.
The interior will be trimmed in Alcantara.
Next is the story in pictures and a few words .... so far, so good!

Thanks to the 'body squad' - my neighbours Andy, Nigel and Andy for many liftings of the front and rear body sections.
Thanks to Tony for transporting Snafu to the paint shop and back.
And to all my friends at the Derbyshire branch of the Jaguar Enthusiasts Club thanks for your support and encouragement.
I should say thanks to Sven for keeping an eye on me, to my brother Nick - without his malign influence on me as a teenager I might never have got to build this!     and my long suffering wife H - it's nearly finished darling, honest!    
                  
Jerry Climpson   September, 2020.