Hear me out here...

"bhtooefr" (bhtooefr) 01/27/2018 at 04:31 • Filed to: Truck Yeah, Trucks, Truck, ox, gordon murray, kit cars, diy

2

13

OK, so are we all familiar with the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ? If not, it’s a low-cost flat pack truck designed by Gordon Murray ( of course it’s middle drive), using some Ford Transit FWD 2.2 diesel hardware, meant for developing nations.

It’s definitely a real truck ... and somewhere, I’ve seen suggestions that maybe it could work as a kit car. (In the US, you’d need a different engine for legal reasons, but I believe the Duratec 2.3 or 2.5 would work fine, and carry US certifications.)

...however, the damn thing is huge. Very lightweight for its capability, but huge. It’s about as wide as a modern full-size pickup, and significantly taller. (Length, OTOH, being a cabover helps a lot there.)

But, really, why couldn’t you just go... smaller?

Here’s my basic idea here. Reduce width to just enough to have a 4 foot wide bed. (Basically, I think this won’t be *THAT* much bigger than a Gator.) Reduce height through a lower engine and have the seat closer to the engine. (It’d be best if you could cant the engine over to an extreme angle, but finding a FWD drivetrain that supports that is likely difficult nowadays unless you go electric. Using a donor platform with an electric variant available isn’t a bad idea, but I think you’d want ICE options, at least.) Shorten the bed to 8 feet long (or maybe even less). Build it as a kit.

I think you could basically end up with something along the lines of a UTV in terms of size and maneuverability, yet as it’d be a kit, it could be registered on the street. Design it right, and while the freeway would likely be sketchy, 55 mph roads could be reasonable, with good payload.

I wonder how this would do, honestly...

pip bip - choose Corrour > bhtooefr 01/27/2018 at 04:42

0

why not import it,as is, as a kit and fit an LS2 or LS3?

or Ford V8 / mopar V8?

bhtooefr > pip bip - choose Corrour 01/27/2018 at 04:45

0

I mean you probably *COULD*, but you’d have to modify the frame a *LOT*.

I suspect the 2.3 EcoBoost could bolt up, though...

pip bip - choose Corrour > bhtooefr 01/27/2018 at 04:48

1

that’ll do i guess.

try it out and report back

8)

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > bhtooefr 01/27/2018 at 05:30

0

Nope. Not at just four foot wide. No way. Be like a sailboat with no keel.

The Ox solves a problem that doesn’t exist in the developed world and even the BRIC nations. They have plenty of cheap cab over trucks.

North America would not normally be a target market for the Ox but give it another four years and you never know.

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > bhtooefr 01/27/2018 at 08:02

1

A Northstar swap be possible.

boxrocket > The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock 01/27/2018 at 09:18

0

Possible, but awful.

If we want a FWD V8, find an abandoned ‘90s Continental with the V8. Less complex and doesn’t have the tendency towards oil leaking. Long shot would be the V8 in the bubble-Taurus SHO, but the Continental one shares more bits with the other FoMoCo V8s.

bhtooefr > The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock 01/27/2018 at 09:25

0

Not really:

I mean, I guess you might be able to modify the floorpan to handle a LS4, but it’d be damn tight even with that.

404 - User No Longer Available > bhtooefr 01/27/2018 at 09:40

1

That engine design must’ve been based on this theory:

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > bhtooefr 01/27/2018 at 09:54

1

Put a small flat engine as a generator under the cab, a la Toyota Previa, with an electric fwd drivetrain and batteries in a VW Eurovan type nose.

HammerheadFistpunch > bhtooefr 01/27/2018 at 10:49

0

The obvious question is why? You can get a used pickup for less and it would do more. Not that I don’t think this is cool I’m just having a hard time picturing a buyer. It would cost, like, 8 Grand with an engine? Surely you can find a used truck of your liking with plenty of life left for that.

bhtooefr > HammerheadFistpunch 01/27/2018 at 13:14

0

Ultimately, the answer I guess is “why not” - there’s a lot of stuff where there’s no sensical reason to make it, because you could get something used that works just as well (and really, an old Ranger will do most of what my idea does, almost as well).

HammerheadFistpunch > bhtooefr 01/27/2018 at 13:48

1

From a “that’s awesome” perspective. Hell yes. From a business perspective, probably not so much

Mailbox Cancer > HammerheadFistpunch 01/29/2018 at 20:21

0

I’m in line with the OP, but for a different reason. I think I’m so curious and enthusiastic about driving SOMETHING different than other assholes on the road that this OX, despite being a big gamble and a possible complete waste of time on my part, tickles the right spot for me.