Thread: Electrathon - A Different Kind of "Hotrod"

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Here is a series of pics showing one of the cars I built that took a nasty flip. I originally built this car to order for the Electrical Engineering group at the University of South Florida (Tampa) [Pic 1]. The car was an instant winner.

Then they let an inexperienced person drive it in a "celebrity and sponsors" race. When the idiot ran into a turn at full throttle, the car "bicycled" up on two wheels, hooked the chain link fence, did an end-over-end somersault, landed on the roll cage, and then flipped side-over-side and came to rest upright. The damage was extensive [Pic 2]. Fortunately, the driver was totally unhurt. If you look closely, you can see where the paint is scraped off the roll cage.

The car was brought to me the day after the crash (Sunday); it was scheduled to leave the following morning for a trip to race in Pensacola and then Alabama. The full weight of the car and driver had landed on the cage and, according to my measuring tape, it only moved 1/4 inch! I cut the damaged rear body and supports off, trimmed the rear section off the broken canopy, and set about straightening the front of the frame. After pushing the frame back into shape with a hydraulic post jack, I cut off the right half of the front axle and fabricated a new piece. Five hours after the car arrived at my shop, it was ready to race again [Pic3]. The USF team took the car to Pensacola and Alabama and won their class (Advanced Battery) at both events. The car still looks like this today and is still competing.