44 SHAKERONLINE.COM | SUMMER 2017
While we think of our cars as being
built by the likes of Mazda, BMW, and
Ford, in reality these companies assemble
the car from components supplied by a
number of vendors such as TRW, Bosch,
and Eaton.
The largest of these components are
the chassis and the body panels. These
are often made by the car company
because the testing, engineering, and
regulatory considerations require a lot of
attention, resources, and time.
A small manufacturer could purchase
the components from a vendor like
TRW, and could purchase the engine and
chassis from a car company. But the body
panels are not as easy. They are formed
in stamping plants that require large
presses and lots of labor. The presses are
expensive to buy and operate, and the
molds used in them are also expensive
and unique to each body panel. So why
not just buy these too?
For two related reasons. The first is
that a small, innovative manufacturer’s
goal is to build something new, different,
and better. That would be impossible to
do with the same front and rear ends of a
car already in production. The second is that Ford or Ferrari don’t want anyone else to
build their cars, which they also support with millions of dollars of advertising. So they
are not typically willing to sell someone else their body panels.
The advent of rapid prototyping has spawned innovations like 3D printing. While
originally limited to small parts and materials, the capabilities of these machines has
expanded as costs have dropped. It is this disruptive innovation that now allows a
determined designer like Carlos to pull all of the pieces together. He can custom 3D print
the body panels in Akron, bring the chassis and engine from Europe, and source seats
and knobs from any number of suppliers, many of which are in Ohio and Michigan.
Even highly custom parts, such as the hand-formed aluminum body panels for the
C1, are being produced a short drive east of Shaker by Pete’s Custom Coachbuilding
in Newbury Township. So while this process could conceivably be done anywhere,
our region has an advantage due to our long history of automotive engineering and
manufacturing. It’s part of our culture.
Design sketches of
the SALAFFDesign
C1 supercar (top
and middle).
Design sketch of
the SALAFFDesign
C3 supercar
(bottom).
Work in
progress on the
SALAFFDesign C1
supercar (opposite).
Photos: Downie
Photography