J.S.C S.p.A - exclusive sports cars ['91 Predator updated]

[ArtyomRanger]

The Brutale looks really good

[squidhead]

What did you use on the bonnet, to either side?

Looks like "countach side vent"

[TurboJ]

Well, that's certainly eye catching. It also has some unique techniques (I see you are a fan of the longitudinally aligned vents, which not many users at all use). What did you use on the bonnet, to either side?

While the car is certainly quick in a straight line I can't help but notice it's not geared to take corners as hard as it might be. I'm not sure what tyres you're using, but in theory that body is capable of pulling a bit more even on the small circle test.

The bonnet vents are VMO's "Non-Gallardo" side vents.

About the suspension tuning; JSC is an engine specialist and perhaps not world leaders in suspension tuning - but I wasn't trying to go for maximum G - instead tried to get as high drivability and comfort as I could without killing grip.

The Brutale looks really good

Thanks for your kind words sir!
And thanks everyone for commenting! I always like to hear about people's reactions.

[Starfish94]

JSC the mother of vents , freaking awesome bro !

[TurboJ]

JSC the mother of vents , freaking awesome bro !

Thanks LOL Yeah I know, I have a bad vent addicition... My processor is really struggling in the "paint" window when all the fixtures are in place!

[TurboJ]

Something for the family, sir?

In the 2000s JSC was focusing more and more on series production and on expanding its road car lineup. Following what they started almost 30 years ago, in 2008 a new sports saloon was intruduced, called JSC Veloggio. The name was an amalgam of Italian words "Veloce" and "Viaggio" roughly translated to fast travel. The car was marketed as an alternative to Mercedes' and BMW's more expensive mid-class products. What JSC brought into the game was an elegant, high quality grand tourer that could sit five people in comfort but deliver enough speed to still be interesting to even hard core drivers. There were two model variants available, the Veloggio 8S and the Veloggio Turbo. Using their "customer spec" engines JSC was able to provide plenty of unstressed V8 power without breaking the bank.


Intruducing the 2008 JSC Veloggio



The 2008 JSC Veloggio offered a premium grand tourer in a very compact size. Low drag coefficient helped the Giancarlo Zotti -styled GT reach speeds of over 280 km/h.


BODY

High-strength steel was used for the Veloggio's unibody frame. On the sheet metal, it was steel again but with aluminum doors, bonnet and roof. The structure was very strong but not the lightest body seen on a sports saloon - total weight was 1717 kg despite all the aluminum parts. Only 4.5 meters long, this was definitely a compact family GT. The styling by Giancarlo Zotti achieved a very low drag coefficient which helped performance immensely. Styling language implied power, prosperity and classical elegance.



The radiator grille was a heavily influenced by 1966's Predator 3750 C. Headlights had a new design with xenon projector full beams and led half beams.


CHASSIS

The suspension layout was an evolution of JSC's "Tempesta" grand tourer design introduced in 1983. At the front there were double wishbones and rear had semi-trailing arms. The system was simple and relatively light while providing enough sporty feel for enthusiastic drivers. Progressive coil springs were utilized with anti-roll bars. The shock absorbers were adaptive according to road conditions. Brakes came with Brembo's new 3-piston calipers in the front and all-round ventilated discs. Altogether the Veloggio offered high speed stability and ample comfort. It was not a sports car but what it did was combine the needs associated with family sedans and grand tourers. The simple suspension layout also made sure the upkeep costs would be reasonable.




There was adequate cargo space available for family touring. The rear seat had a folding mechanism and the shock absorbers had a load-sensing function to improve handling when fully loaded.


POWER TRAIN

Engine was straight from JSC's customer lineup, the 8C35. Fitted here in its 2004 iteration (or Generation V) specification the 3.5 liter all-aluminum V8 made 350 horsepower normally aspirated. Although the redline was a supercar-like 8200 rpm, that was just variable valve system saying we've got power in the upper register too. In fact there was a minimum of 285 Nm available from 2000 rpm all the way to redline. At 4800 rpm the "sports" cam timing came on giving sports car performance with it but below that rpm the engine was docile, smooth and extremely responsive. It ran on normal 95-octane fuel and had no special service requirements. Together with the slippery body a fuel consumption figure of 9.4 liters /100 km was achieved on the combined cycle.



See JSC's customer engines on viewtopic.php?f=34&t=9311


The Veloggio was rear wheel drive only, like all JSC's grand tourers. By fitting the engine as far rearwards as possible, almost touching the firewall, a near-perfect 51/49 weight distribution was achieved. The rear differential featured a viscous coupling for increased grip and naturally there was also traction control and ESP. Gearbox was ZF's 6-speed double-clutch sequential system. To emphasize the car's grand touring nature the gearbox was used in fully automatic mode exclusively. Manual mode with paddle shifters was available as an extra. 19-inch alloy wheels had 235 mm tires all round.



The Veloggio Turbo had widened wheel arches and larger front intakes to allow airflow to the intercooling system. Wheels were now in 20-inch size with 265 mm rear tyres. 450 horsepower provided sufficient performance.


PERFORMANCE

The Veloggio didn't have a top speed limiter so it went all the way up to 282 km/h before running out of steam. 0-100 came up in 5.5 seconds and quarter mile took 13.7 seconds. Braking from 100 km/h to zero was accomplished in 34 meters.



The rear differential was upgraded to electronic control in the Turbo. Paddle shifters were standard as were sports tires. The Turbo would run a standing kilometer in under 23 seconds.


Veloggio Turbo

The 44VT450 version of the 8C35 V8 engine was used on the Turbo variant - basically it was simply the same 3.5 liter unit used in the 8S but with different pistons and twin turbos. Liquid intercooling allowed running a 10.0 compression ratio which translated to excellent low-rpm responsiveness. Max power was 450 hp /7700 rpm and max torque 441 Nm /6600 rpm. Top speed rose to 293 km/h and the improved rear differential helped the Turbo accelerate to 100 km/h in 4.6 seconds and a quarter mile in 12.8 seconds. Bigger brake discs were fitted and the suspension was re-tuned. The Turbo could still do 10.7 liter average consumption on the combined cycle.


SPECIFICATIONS - VELOGGIO 8S

[Sillyworld]

10/10 would buy.

Everytime I see good designs like yours in the forum I think: "damn, that seems so nice and simple! how come I don't come up with something similar?"

[TurboJ]

10/10 would buy.

Everytime I see good designs like yours in the forum I think: "damn, that seems so nice and simple! how come I don't come up with something similar?"

Thanks mate! I get the same feeling watching all of you guys' designs and then I feel a bit awkward whether I dare use the same ideas myself

Thanks for commenting - much appreciated!

[squidhead]

You got that unique "Italian with aviators, great hair and a moustache" vibe going on in every car you make. As in that sterotypical "Italian cool guy" would definetly be seen in one of those

[TurboJ]

You got that unique "Italian with aviators, great hair and a moustache" vibe going on in every car you make. As in that sterotypical "Italian cool guy" would definetly be seen in one of those

Nicely put! The CEO of the company indeed has been known to wear a pair of gold aviators when driving

Thanks for the comment and very glad you like the design!

[squidhead]

Bring a Quattrocorsa to the Geneva motor show too, to present it along side the Brutale, as a "generations" type of show... wink wink wink... that picture....

[TurboJ]

Bring a Quattrocorsa to the Geneva motor show too, to present it along side the Brutale, as a "generations" type of show... wink wink wink... that picture....

Hoping you won't confirm the rumor to the press, we intend to do just that - we even plan to show a retro review of the Quattrocorsa done by a well known auto reporter But this is all hush-hush you see.

[TurboJ]

J.S.C Automobili Early history

Jean Seli, CEO and founder

Jean Seli was born in 31.7.1920 in Bergamo Italy, as an only child to a middle-class family. His mother was a shool teacher of French origin and his father was a Milanese engineer so Jean was brought up bilingual. His father worked on research and development at an industrial steam engine company and young Jean would often receive technical lectures and demonstrations from his father.

In 1926 young Jean haf to leave his childhood surroundings as the family was forced to move to France. The political tension in Italy left its mark on the family as they were labeled "unpatriotic" by Mussolini's regime for whatever reason. Jean's mother's contacts in her home town of Montpellier secured her a teaching job there but his father was left without a job. Eventually he founded his own machine shop where he started developing and manufacturing steam engine components under his own name, Acciaio de Seli. Young Jean was very enthusiastic about all the machinery and it wasn't long before he begun playing around with all the shop equipment doing various "experiments", much to the annoyance of his father.

At 11 Jean astounded the family by secretly repairing his father's Peugeot automobile at night. The car had overheated and broken down the day before and was due for extensive engine work. To everyone's surprise, on the next morning the car was running like a dream. Henceforth Jean's father had a changed attitude. Jean became his apprentice and was allowed to continue his experiments with all kinds of engines he could get his hands onto.

At 15 Jean built his first functional racing engine. Based on an old Fiat 4-cylinder he went on fitting it onto a hacked-up Ford frame and went "racing". In reality his mother had to bail him out of jail the next evening after Jean had been caught powersliding his contraption around the city square. Against his parents' wishes Jean still went racing for real as soon as he had earned enough money to buy a beaten-up old Alfa Romeo. He was never very succesful as a driver but his mechanical genius was widely noticed. One time Alfa Romeo factory racing team manager came to him after a race and gave him a hard time. How on earth was he able to overtake the factory racers on the back straight with his old piece of junk car? (before crashing and retiring of course) Why, he had just machined 2 mm off the cylinder head and then squirted water into the chambers using a hand pump and some nozzles and rubber hose to stop the engine from detonating.

In early 1938 Jean once again crashed his Alfa Romeo practicing for Targa Florio. He severely injured his right knee and ribs. The knee injury led to his racing career ending completely. During longer driving stints his accelerator foot would start shaking and trembling from pain and he simply couldn't finish a race anymore. Then disaster struck as all of Europe was drawn to war in 1939. In February 1940 Jean's father died on a bombing raid while working at an armored vehicle factory. Jean and his mother were devastated and the time until the end of the war was all just a blur for Jean. Perhaps fortunately Jean himself wasn't drafted to the army because he simply couldn't walk for more than a couple of miles at a time. At least he survived the war. But his mother, weakened by depression succumbed to her illness in early 1944 and never got to see the liberation of France.

After the war Jean was penniless and disturbed. He needed to make a living somehow and finding work as a crippled Italian in Montpellier wasn't easy at that time. He was able to sell his father's machine shop for a small sum to a local business tycoon and the next day he jumped onto a train and traveled all the way to Turin. There he had heard all kinds of new industry was growing and some people had even started racing pre-war automobiles.

It was a humble beginning indeed for Jean Seli Competizione. On a back street in Turin he rented a small shop were he started repairing customer automobiles. But his quality craftsmanship eventually reached the ears of some local racers, and J.S.C as we know it today was established in late 1946 on the basis of Jean Seli's race-tuned Alfa Romeo engines. Little by little Jean was able to grow his business, aquire new machinery and eventually hire some help. In 1949 he begun the development of his first compeletely original engine design. By the time the "750 Corsa" engine was released in 1950, J.S.C Motori Speciali had moved to new premises in the Lingotto district, not far from Fiat headquarters. Jean still owned the auto repair shop too but it was now operating under his uncle Umberto who would later become the sales manager of J.S.C Automobili.

By 1952 racing engines were J.S.C's main business and later in 1959 the world would see the first road car under J.S.C Automobili brand, the Predator 3500 GT. In 1960 Jean Seli married to Azzurra Gabriela of Piemonte whom he had met at the Monaco Grand Prix two years earlier. They would have two children: son Giuseppe and daughter Jeannine both named after Jean's parents who had been lost to the war.

Fun fact:

As a child Jean Seli often sneaked in to see local racing events. One time he was watching a sports car race in Montpellier with his friends when they decided on a playful bet. They would play "dare" by each child taking turns to run in front of an approaching race car and draw a line onto the ground with a piece of chalk. The winner would be the one who would get the closest to a car before jumping off to safety. Not surprisingly the young wild child Jean won the contest clearly. He jumped in so late that once he had finished drawing his line, a closing-in Alfa Romeo racer had to brake violently and take an evasive maneuver. The car spun out of control and came to a stop. The driver angrily shook his fist to the young rascal who was smiling back at him with the chalk piece still in his hand. The racer then accelerated off and continued his race. Young Jean couldn't wipe the smile off his face the whole day. Little did the children know that the Alfa Romeo driver was one Enzo Ferrari.

[TurboJ]

JSC's first original engine design: The 750 Corsa from 1950.




It was a simple iron-block alloy head OHV four fit for racing in the international 750cc class from single seaters to grand tourers.
The engine was designed for club racing and its dependability and ease of maintenance made it a favourite among lower budget racers.
With careful port and manifold design, twin carburettors and 9.8 :1 compression ratio it made 50 horsepower at 5600 rpm and weighed less than 77 kilos.

This was the humble beginning of J.S.C's illustrious engine building dynasty.

[TurboJ]

Dug up from old photo archives, let us show an example of J.S.C early racing ventures:



This is a 1954 Borelli Speciale. They were one of the small racing teams using J.S.C's "750 Corsa" engine in the early days. This particular car achieved a sixth place in class on the 1955 Carrera Panamericana.
Lightweight aluminum bodywork and functional aerodynamics gave the "Speciale" 168 km/h top speed even if the engine only made 50 horsepower. Sprint from 0-100 km/h took 13 seconds.
Borelli campaigned the '750 Corsa" engine for three seasons in '53-'55.