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I pondered this question before, when I created the short wheelbase Cadillac Fleetwood:
What if downsizing the US land yachts went a little different?
Every car enthusiasts knows that the oil crisis in the early 1970’s eventually spelled the end for the gas guzzling land yachts. Cars from Europe and Japan with much better fuel economy flooded the US market and created a situation the big three had to face. They tried frantically to build something suitable. However, most cars they came up with were great achievements horrible miniature caricatures of the bygone era of dinosaurs. You fondly remember the downsized barges and new designs like the Ford Pinto, AMC Gremlin amongst others. Especially the shrunken Cadillacs and Lincolns put a sad expression on most peoples faces. But hey… what if they had approached the whole downsizing trend with a little bit of humor and left the interiors of the cars full-size and only compromised on the outside of the body and the drivetrain? They might have come up with something like this Pontiac Bonneville 2-Door Hardtop Shorty concept.
08
A friend of mine came up with the idea of converting a Nissan Skyline GT-R35 to transport a motorcycle in style. And hey, why shouldn’t you want to do do just that? All you need is a GT-R35, right? Measure the motorcycle, in this case a Kawasaki Ninja H2R, and figure out how you want it to sit once loaded. I prefer to have it flowing with the lines of the car, so I located it rather low. It should still clear the rear axle, though. Now just get the cutting tools out and have fun slicing this fine sportscar into various pieces. Extend the wheelbase, fabricate some panels and you’re almost finished. This is what I thought and the result didn’t please me one bit, to be honest. Therefore I went to the additional trouble of adding a set of butterfly doors à la Mazda RX-8 and a set of overfenders for the rear wheels. So far so good – but the conversion wouldn’t be complete without lowering and a set of nice Forgiato wheels and Pirelli P Zero tires. And while we are at it, we might as well add brakes from the Liberty Walk Lamborghini Murcielago for good measure to slow it down properly. Do you think Kato-san would approve?
Now load up your sportsbike, strap it down securely and have fun! 🙂