La Bala Gets a Hardtop! It's actually a 3 piece targa with removable center section.The photo below shows the current state of progress, which is to say; it's not finished, but the shape is getting close to what I want.
General Specifications:
Weight (dry) - 1,500Lbs
Length - 126"
Wheelbase - 98"
Width - 67"
Front Track - 57" (hubs)
Rear Track - 57" (hubs)
Ground Clearance - 3" - 5" (Adjustable)
Engine - 1.6L 16V 4AGE (160Hp) - or whatever FWD drivetrain you want!
I built this website to show what can be built by an average guy in an average garage.
On my videos page there are some nice videos of the car without body being driven around the neighborhood. They stream from my high-speed 'edge network'. Don't miss them!
I'm a hard working guy, but I can't afford any of the cars that I would like to own. I am just keeping afloat saving for my kids' college tuition, retirement and keeping up with the demands of day to day living. So one day I just said 'Bugger it! - I'll build my own dream sports car!' -- and there you have it. I am living my dream. La Bala is a low-compromise, from the ground-up, new car. It is built using an early model Toyota MR2 powertrain. The reality is that there are many other donor choices available that may actually be better suited to lightweight vehicle construction. At this point though, construction is far along and won't change in the original prototype. The idea is to make the car as inexpensively as possible and yet make it look like a million bucks and go like stink. I am doing this by thinking creatively and doing much of the work myself.
What inspired me to build la Bala? Ferdinand Porsche, when asked about why he started building cars said, "I couldn't find the car of my dreams, so I decided to build it myself." Well, I simply have not been able to find a car sold stateside that combines light weight performance motoring with good looks AND low cost. Light weight, looks good, costs little and goes like stink... Can you name one? Didn't think so.
It seems to me that lately that production cars are really suffering from "feature-creep". Every year the manufacturer assumes that they have to add more "stuff" to last years model so that the people feel that they are getting an improved model. Just look at the Mitsu Eclipse or the Miata... They are perfect examples of feature creep. You can certainly buy an economical car, but it's a slug in every sense of the word. You can't buy an economical car that provides what sport bike riders get doses of every day; Big performance with bare essential trimmings. I just want a car that looks good, is extremely light, has race level safety features and goes like stink. And while I'm at it, it should get close to 40mpg around town.
