DI: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
PT : To create new category of recreational vehicle by putting the customer in charge of the design and configuration of their vehicle, to lower costs to the customer by a target 70% or more, and remove planned obsolescence from this product cycle
DI: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
PT : We have 6 principles 3 for the customer and 3 for the product system in addition to our 1st design principle
for the customer
1 safety
2 configurability
3 low cost / high value
For the system
1 light weight
2 downforce
3 power
DI: What are your future plans for this award winning design?
PT : The system is entering production toward the end of 2016
DI: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?
PT : 4-5 years
DI: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?
PT : The parent company sold a portion of its intellectual property in 2008, after a period of discovery the company decided to pursue 2 ventures, 1 in habitat and the other, this one, in automotive
DI: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?
PT : The system is manufactured by us
DI: What made you design this particular type of work?
PT : We saw an opportunity to add value and create a new product category in the automotive space
DI: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?
PT : many inspiration and many designs and designers from automotive but especially non automotive fields
DI: Who is the target customer for his design?
PT : Track day and recreational automotive enthusiasts aged 25-55
DI: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?
PT : Currently cars are fixed, our system is 1 car that provides endless configurations, incredible play value without requiring special skills or an engineering degree to enjoy
DI: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?
PT : We specifically wanted a generic descriptor, a blank canvas so that the customer could imprint themselves on their product. We feel Supercar System does that well and is additionally a fairly perfect description of the product.
DI: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?
PT : Solidworks, Keyshot, Alias, Cadkey, CFD, Stress analysis, Wind tunnel modelling, Dynomometer, Shock dynomometer,
DI: What is the most unique aspect of your design?
PT : The fact we have a system and not a product and that the system is assembled into simple modules that non technical that people can understand use and enjoy. The fact we have no planned obsolescence and therefor are sustainable, and lastly the fact that the sytem creates a community of like minded individuals to share, trade and enjoy together.
DI: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?
PT : Amongst the basic team members we hold masters degrees in mettalurgy, industrial systems, industrial design, and mechanical engineering. The named team also has a multi year winning national automotive track champion and former employees from Radical and Koenigsegg 2 pre eminent automobile manufacturers.
Outside sources are too myriad to mention here but include wind tunnel testing, MIRA, the FIA, CFD etc
DI: What is the role of technology in this particular design?
PT : The product is not possible without technology that has recently dropped substantially in price, the single word is lasers, not the Dr Evil kind, but rather in 2 key areas, laser cut tubing and laser cut sheet without which we cold not have achieved the necessary precision.
DI: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?
PT : Yes, we have to be governed by metrics as well as art and instinct. Although this is a recreational system it is a 200 mph recreational system so we are first and foremost concerned with the safety of our customers followed by the pleasure of our customers so everything is analysed, measured, compared and studied endlessly
DI: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?
PT : The largest challenge by far was finding the right supply partners, we have traveled the world and inspected countless companies to find the right supply partners, Italy for wheels, South America for glass, Pacific rim for carbon fiber, UK for technical expertise and assembly, Germany for drivers and racetracks.
DI: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?
PT : A competition such as this is another metric by which we need to be judged, we require the most amount of people to like what we are doing. 'Supercars' are not just for the owners they are a celebration if you like the puts a smile on everyone's face. to see, or do of feel something extraordinary is uplifting for everyone. This is another way for us to be judged to help us improve.
DI: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?
PT : we all approach designs and challenges from our on perspective and experience, its not a good or bad thing it's just how it is. For me personally I always admire those things in others I do not know how to do. because Supercar System is a varied and multi-disciplinary product it has been a special kind of joy to work with such a diversity of talent
DI: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
PT : Thank you for your time
