How would one get to where I need to be?

crimson_menace

crimson_menace

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Lost in thought.
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GTP_crimson
For years I've been infatuated with a car. And I've since made some serious modifications (mechanical and cosmetic) to a particular model and I want to get ahold of the manufacturer to see if I could bring the changes to light with a new model.

How would I go about doing this?

I.E.:

* Applying for employment so's I could be a part of their design team?
(I'd really like to do that, but I really just want to see the car made, and me acquiring one somehow. I'm not looking for employment.)

* Buy the car, and apply said mods, and show the company a working model? (Unlikely, due to the massive amount of cash involved.) If I were to acquire the car somehow, what kind of Customs shop would even do that kind of work? Besides, the car in question is roughly $150,000 used, at best. I don't think they can be purchased new anymore.

* Getting ahold of someone already on the design team and showing them my idea? (Ha! I'd have to get a patent before that...)

I'm really stuck on what to do, but it make a ton for the company, if they ever bought the idea....if it even got to that point.

EDIT: Longest post ever!
 
What car did you modify that costs approx £75,000 ($150,000 USD). You have said that you made some serious modifications (cosmetic/mechanical). Do you actually own the car in question?

Do you have an engineering/design background?

Do you have proven figures on performance etc?

I've got a feeling that you modified a car in Gran Turismo and think that you could apply these modifications in real life.
 
Is the car you are talking about the XJ220 by any chance?

If so, neither Jaguar or TWR (who designed and built the car) have anything to do with it any more.

There is, however, a specialist who both races and maintains/upgrades the XJ220 and is generally thought of as the expert on the car these days.

If you want to make a suggestion about how the car can be improved, he's the guy to contact.

http://www.donlawracing.com/
 
Mark T
What car did you modify that costs approx £75,000 ($150,000 USD). You have said that you made some serious modifications (cosmetic/mechanical). Do you actually own the car in question?

Do you have an engineering/design background?

Do you have proven figures on performance etc?

I've got a feeling that you modified a car in Gran Turismo and think that you could apply these modifications in real life.
Click to expand...

EDIT: Thanks, cracker.


The type of car doesn't matter. It's the actual situation I'm having an issue with. The problem is how I'd get ahold of someone to mod it.

And a used one is $150,000. I don't own one, because they're far too expensive for a guy like me.

I don't have a degree in engineering or design, but if I can find the right kind of CAD program, and a proper computer to run it on, my mods would be that much more attainable.

Proven figures at this point in time aren't attainable...again, lack of proper tech stuff.

It's true this car is in GT, along with a handful of other games. The types of mods that are pending aren't possible in any game I've seen.

I'm just looking to get ahold of someone, or to find someone with the proper stuff I'd need, to get these mods on a car, and off paper.
 
crimson_menace
EDIT: Thanks, cracker.


The type of car doesn't matter. It's the actual situation I'm having an issue with. The problem is how I'd get ahold of someone to mod it.

And a used one is $150,000. I don't own one, because they're far too expensive for a guy like me.

I don't have a degree in engineering or design, but if I can find the right kind of CAD program, and a proper computer to run it on, my mods would be that much more attainable.

Proven figures at this point in time aren't attainable...again, lack of proper tech stuff.

It's true this car is in GT, along with a handful of other games. The types of mods that are pending aren't possible in any game I've seen.

I'm just looking to get ahold of someone, or to find someone with the proper stuff I'd need, to get these mods on a car, and off paper.
Click to expand...

So it is an XJ220? Can you stop being so vague, please?
 
I think unless you've got some serious background in engineering/automotive design they will find holes in your design and alerations. And I don't mean opinions, big gaping holes.

Are your mechanical alterations theoretical? Have you looked at the whole picture or just thought "that'll make it faster"? Have you considered the economical issues? You surely must realise that any manufacturer can boost the power on X model, but there's plenty of good reasons that they don't.

Untill you give more detail this seems abit of a "dreamers" question IMO.
 
I work at Ford in the car design business. I work on CATIA, which is Ford's CAD program.

As for an XJ220, I don't think anyone I know has ever worked on the car, as it is designed by Jaguar for Jaguar - and in Dearborn we work on Fords/Lincolns/Mercurys.

If you would want my job, the first thing to do would go to Kettering University as a ME and come in as a co-op - that's how I got in.

Edit: I searched the Ford Intranet and our Teamcenter Engineering Portal and I can't find anything useful. I don't even think translated cad data exists for this program - as we did not use Catia/Ideas in 1992 when the car came out; much less a few years before that to develop it.
 
You've got to remember that the people who built this $150,000 car spent hundreds of thousands, if not millions on R & D. They had top engineers checking every last nut & bolt. If your saying you've found something which could significantly improve the performance of that car then it had better be good.
 
Thousands in R&D? Millions, if not more. Engineering development for a new platform can run to a billion dollars.

I know you're in love with your idea(s), and they may even be good ones. But you have to realize that there are hundreds of thousands of professional automotive/mechanical engineers who are educated, trained, and experienced in exactly this kind of thing. They make their livings doing this, so they spend a lot of time at it, and they think about it a lot, and they try a lot of things in real life and see how they work.

There's no substitute for paying your dues - going to school, working on stuff by hand, gaining experience. Put yourself in the other side's shoes - if you owned a $150,000 car, and some kid came up to you saying "Hey, I've got this really cool idea; let's add all this stuff to your car - and by the way, I'm broke, so can you pay for it?" What would your response be?
 
Duke
Thousands in R&D? Millions, if not more. Engineering development for a new platform can run to a billion dollars.
Click to expand...

That was meant to be hundreds of thousands. But millions is probably more accurate.
 
The problem is crimson_menace, without any idea of what you have planned, it is fairly hard to give you advice on what to do, the general consensus is that this is a crazy proposition, now I am not going to write this off as a bad idea since i haven't heard what plan you have for the car, so i just can't help you, not that i consider myself an expert but at least a second opinion would be useful. I know you want to keep the cards to the chest so don't give any details but at least outline the design or idea. Firstly start by answering why you think it is such a great innovative idea and will it work, then take it from there.
 
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