Intro to Vintage Race Car Chassis Design

A look at the different types of race car chassis and why they are the way they are.

[carsonwilkins]

This channel is far and away my favorite automotive channel. Every video is extremely high quality without feeling corporate and soulless, which in the automotive sector is surprisingly hard to come by. Usually it’s either huge budget channels that feel off or some guy in a garage with an ancient iPhone and the personality/content is better but it’s unwatchable. This is the best of both worlds. These videos are always full of great information. Highly slept on channel.

[ernied]

Thanks Ben. You’ve explained it so well. I’m really looking forward to this series. Cheers from Australia.

[AlfaElaborazioni]

You have a gift for teaching you know? You can deconstruct the thinking behind complex stuff in simple steps. I love this!

[odizcvw]

Awesome. This was the most enlightening video I have seen about chassis design. I will see a whole new universe unfold before my eyes when I look at sports cars and race cars. I hope my comment and like helps YouTube to spread this series far and wide.

[daleskidmore]

Look forward to the next vid. I used to have breakfast on race days at my local circuit in the scrutineering bay, checking out the cars before going out on post as a marshal. The single seaters would have bodywork removed, showing all you have talked about here.

[gustavototi]

Thanks for taking the time to disec the intricacies of chassis building..

[squierf]

Graye video, I enjoyed watching. I'm looking forward for next one 🏎🏎

[Lester.M]

Excellent video, thank you for sharing. Looking forward to this series.

[DSshooter]

Thanks man, I do race and have a vested interest in your approach on chasis building..

[russtuff]

Good stuff. I came across your channel a while ago while searching for info about the type 49 (I love that era). You just popped into my feed again, so subscribing 👍

[dennisferron]

Thanks for this intuitive explanation behind tube frame / space frame chassis. I have both of Kurt Bilinski's books (Kimini, Midlana), but I had exactly that reaction you described of finding the mess of tubes to be inscrutable. The beginning of your video also answers something important. My brother had described to me an idea of making a completely flexible chassis, so that the whole car becomes the "suspension". I could tell him THAT it's the opposite of what you normally want, but I couldn't say WHY that is the case. I think he'll be pleased to know actually some racecars did have flexy chassis, it's just as you said it makes tuning it a moving target.

[SuperDriver]

Looking forward ot the next video, really enjoy your content. I played around making balsawood chassis years ago with paper skins. I think I would 3-D print them now for proof of concept type stuff.

[TheJagjr]

I am super psyched I found this channel, have been wanting to learn more about moncoque construction similar to the old LOLA's.
Subscribed and liked!

I bought the same book at a garage sale when I was 7 years old.... I would read it, not really understanding what I was reading for many years, then one day after college I found the book again. With an engineering degree and a couple of years building racing engines, it ade much more sense, 45 years after purchase, it is still one of my favorite books, which I refer to multiple times a year..

[Skyguy]

I'm flabbergasted that this video and this channel has so few followers likes and comments... Absolutely top notch content Good sir. Being in the automotive industry myself I find it hard to find car channels that I like and content that isn't boring cringe or just overplayed, I often feel jaded seeing cars on YouTube thinking that I don't know what the hype is about but your lotus your GT40 and the upcoming tunnel car blow my mind keep on going man!

[PeteLarsen-bl]

Great synopsis/overview of vintage chassis design evolution however you neglected to credit the designers of the D-Type Jaguar for the "monocoque" type center bay in that wonderful race car which preceded the Lotus 25 by nearly a decade.

[PatFarrellKTM]

Back when I was racing motorcycles in the 80s, the bikes were moving to aluminum tube frames. For racing, we had to add material to make it stiffer. The fancy teams used sheet aluminum that was bonded and riveted. They said that the aircraft bonding glue was the real strength, the rivet just held it in place until it set.
When you were building your cars, you mentioned you just used rivets. Did you consider using aircraft bonding glues?

[bingbong-lz]

Trever ( TVR )use to send his cars / chassis with engines to the USA back in the 50s look up tvr open tops on the Net...

[nickyz]

build it and they will come. The subscribers I mean

[amraceway]

I think that is a Ford Mirage in the book you had. They were trialed at Le Mans but never raced there.

[Celtics]

Ben, do you have an Instagram? Would love to follow if you do