The Hornet is a Lotus Seven copy created as a kit car by T&J Sportscars to use components from the Ford Cortina Mk3 and later Mk4 or Mk5. This allowed a choice of 1300/1600 OHV pushrod Ford Kent engines or 1600/2000 single overhead camshaft Ford Pinto engines. All the running gear is sourced from the Cortina, although T&J-manufactured front wishbones were an option to replace the Cortina pressed-steel items. Parts needing modification are the propshaft, which needs to be shortened, and the alternator that needs to be repositioned.
The body tub uses the same concept as the earlier version known as Locust, and is built from ¾" plywood, to plans supplied. The wooden tub is then skinned with thin gauge aluminium-sheet. The tub is fitted to a ladder chassis supplied by the manufacturer. Unlike the Locust where most other Seven-style body components will fit, the size of the Hornet meant that the builder is limited to items provided by the manufacturer.
Specification
*Donor vehicle - Cortina MK3,4,5
*Chassis - Twin rail ladder in Rectangular Hollow Section with suspension points, body outriggers and roll bar plinths
*Front Suspension - Cortina wishbones with optional tubular wishbones allowing full castor/camber adjustment
*Rear Suspension - Cortina four-link suspension using donor springs and shock absorbers
*Engine - Normally Cortina, but other RWD engine/gearbox combinations could be accommodated
*Build time - Estimated 360 hours
The Hornet was manufactured by BWE Sportscars and like the Locust can be built using Ford Sierra components. Bev Evans of BWE died on Thursday 10 April 2014. BWE Sportscars is no longer trading.
The body tub uses the same concept as the earlier version known as Locust, and is built from ¾" plywood, to plans supplied. The wooden tub is then skinned with thin gauge aluminium-sheet. The tub is fitted to a ladder chassis supplied by the manufacturer. Unlike the Locust where most other Seven-style body components will fit, the size of the Hornet meant that the builder is limited to items provided by the manufacturer.
Specification
*Donor vehicle - Cortina MK3,4,5
*Chassis - Twin rail ladder in Rectangular Hollow Section with suspension points, body outriggers and roll bar plinths
*Front Suspension - Cortina wishbones with optional tubular wishbones allowing full castor/camber adjustment
*Rear Suspension - Cortina four-link suspension using donor springs and shock absorbers
*Engine - Normally Cortina, but other RWD engine/gearbox combinations could be accommodated
*Build time - Estimated 360 hours
The Hornet was manufactured by BWE Sportscars and like the Locust can be built using Ford Sierra components. Bev Evans of BWE died on Thursday 10 April 2014. BWE Sportscars is no longer trading.
MK Sports Cars was founded by Martin Keenan and has recently moved to Rayne, Essex. It offers the Lotus Seven style kit car MK Indy. The MK Indy is available in four different designs - these are the Indy, Indy R and Indy RR and more recently the RX-5. The kits offer the option of various engines from cars and motorbikes.
The term "Indy" comes from the independent rear suspension which in its design was cutting edge at the time of inception.
The vehicles models can be identified in the following differing characteristics;
Indy - This is the original iconic design which features outboard front shocks and a square box section space frame chassis. Based on the Ford Sierra, this model used the steering rack, front uprights, steering column, diff, driveshafts and rear uprights from the donor car.
Indy R - Designed for the road and track, this model designed in 2008 using CAD simulation features inboard push rod front suspension and a combination of rounded and square tube for the space frame chassis. Based again on the Ford Sierra, this model also uses the same donor parts as the Indy.
Indy RR - Designed for the race track, this model is the inboard front suspension Indy R model, but differs by having fully rose jointed wishbones for granular adjustments for camber, caster and toe. This is also based on the Ford Sierra.
Indy RX-5 - The latest model in the range, this model was CAD designed in 2017 by Dave Flavell. Based on the Mazda MX-5 or Miata, this model uses all the running gear from the Mazda. The RX-5 features inboard front suspension and a space frame chassis constructed of rounded and square tube. Designed for the road and track, this model uses poly bush fixings for the wishbones rather than the rose joints of the Indy RR. Out of the box, this model boasts 6 degrees of caster and coupled with a 2.4 turn lock to lock "quick" steering rack, a very adequate feel on the tarmac.
Dimensionally, all models are the same and share the same fibreglass bodywork panels, however, the suspension and donor vehicles make each of the models unique.
The term "Indy" comes from the independent rear suspension which in its design was cutting edge at the time of inception.
The vehicles models can be identified in the following differing characteristics;
Indy - This is the original iconic design which features outboard front shocks and a square box section space frame chassis. Based on the Ford Sierra, this model used the steering rack, front uprights, steering column, diff, driveshafts and rear uprights from the donor car.
Indy R - Designed for the road and track, this model designed in 2008 using CAD simulation features inboard push rod front suspension and a combination of rounded and square tube for the space frame chassis. Based again on the Ford Sierra, this model also uses the same donor parts as the Indy.
Indy RR - Designed for the race track, this model is the inboard front suspension Indy R model, but differs by having fully rose jointed wishbones for granular adjustments for camber, caster and toe. This is also based on the Ford Sierra.
Indy RX-5 - The latest model in the range, this model was CAD designed in 2017 by Dave Flavell. Based on the Mazda MX-5 or Miata, this model uses all the running gear from the Mazda. The RX-5 features inboard front suspension and a space frame chassis constructed of rounded and square tube. Designed for the road and track, this model uses poly bush fixings for the wishbones rather than the rose joints of the Indy RR. Out of the box, this model boasts 6 degrees of caster and coupled with a 2.4 turn lock to lock "quick" steering rack, a very adequate feel on the tarmac.
Dimensionally, all models are the same and share the same fibreglass bodywork panels, however, the suspension and donor vehicles make each of the models unique.
Joseph Alexander Smith is a freelance journalist, and former electoral candidate originally from the United Kingdom, now based in Tbilisi.
His articles have been published by Deutsche Welle, The Guardian, Commonspace.eu, Globalvoices Online, Raddisson Blue Magazine and The World of Interiors. He has also produced radio pieces for Deutsche Welle's Living Planet programme. Smithwas a regular reporter for Georgia Today, Georgia's leading English language newspaper and blogs on conservation issues for the Caucasus Nature Fund, a conservation trust fund working throughout the South Caucasus.
Smith also makes appearances as a studio guest or respondent on Georgian TV and Radio shows, and has appeared on Jako FM, TV3, Tabula TV, Radio Palitra, Obieqtivi, GDS, Georgian Public Broadcaster (1TV) and Georgian Public Radio. In 2015, Smith also collaborated with Cinemani Films to produce a series of short documentary films on Georgia's maternal healthcare transition for the Jon Smith Institute.
His articles have been published by Deutsche Welle, The Guardian, Commonspace.eu, Globalvoices Online, Raddisson Blue Magazine and The World of Interiors. He has also produced radio pieces for Deutsche Welle's Living Planet programme. Smithwas a regular reporter for Georgia Today, Georgia's leading English language newspaper and blogs on conservation issues for the Caucasus Nature Fund, a conservation trust fund working throughout the South Caucasus.
Smith also makes appearances as a studio guest or respondent on Georgian TV and Radio shows, and has appeared on Jako FM, TV3, Tabula TV, Radio Palitra, Obieqtivi, GDS, Georgian Public Broadcaster (1TV) and Georgian Public Radio. In 2015, Smith also collaborated with Cinemani Films to produce a series of short documentary films on Georgia's maternal healthcare transition for the Jon Smith Institute.
Newton Crosby is a secondary character in the 1986 science fiction film Short Circuit, played by Steve Guttenberg.
In the movie, Crosby is a programmer at Nova Robotics and the main designer of Johnny 5 and the other robots in the SAINT prototype series, alongside his friend and co-worker Ben Jahrvi. He is a somewhat naive scientist who is very vocal in his disgust over the use of his projects for violent military use, and is a constant foil to the movie's antagonists, Dr. Howard Marner and Captain Skroeder. Like them, however, he at first does not believe eventual love interest Stephanie Speck's claim that Johnny Five is sentient, instead believing the wayward robot to be malfunctioning. It is only until he is 'kidnapped' by Johnny and places the robot through a series of rigorous technical and emotionally based tests that he is convinced. He is, sadly, unable to convince the paranoid and hell-bent Nova of this fact, and is forced to watch them destroy Johnny. He later (after he is fired) learns to his relief that the destroyed robot was just a copy, made of spare parts. As of Short Circuit 2, he has given up trying to get his old job from Nova and is living with Stephanie in a family ranch in Montana.
In the movie, Crosby is a programmer at Nova Robotics and the main designer of Johnny 5 and the other robots in the SAINT prototype series, alongside his friend and co-worker Ben Jahrvi. He is a somewhat naive scientist who is very vocal in his disgust over the use of his projects for violent military use, and is a constant foil to the movie's antagonists, Dr. Howard Marner and Captain Skroeder. Like them, however, he at first does not believe eventual love interest Stephanie Speck's claim that Johnny Five is sentient, instead believing the wayward robot to be malfunctioning. It is only until he is 'kidnapped' by Johnny and places the robot through a series of rigorous technical and emotionally based tests that he is convinced. He is, sadly, unable to convince the paranoid and hell-bent Nova of this fact, and is forced to watch them destroy Johnny. He later (after he is fired) learns to his relief that the destroyed robot was just a copy, made of spare parts. As of Short Circuit 2, he has given up trying to get his old job from Nova and is living with Stephanie in a family ranch in Montana.