Kraft Haus Technik [1984 KHT Nemesis]

[squidhead]

Niiiicceeee

Got any track times? The Boson GT has finally found a worthy opponent to aspire to defeat, which at this time it(my car) is no match for.

Nothing too special for now, as this is a bone stock base model, not a track spec
Airfield test track in 1:17.1
Automation test track : 2:10.9
Green Hell in 7:36.2

[Deskyx]

They are practically dead even.

Even though some how you are a second quicker in the 0-60. Must have been my aero.

[squidhead]

They are practically dead even.

Even though some how you are a second quicker in the 0-60. Must have been my aero.

Mine no downforce at all, all about the mechanical grip, theres that. And a 0-60 is just the sales point at power outputs like that. Also I got more torque earlier on, which allows me to sprint to 60 in 1st gear, leaving closer ratios for the higher speeds. I've done it to have more wheel hp at higher speeds to still push properly past 300kph. Actual downforce is available with the track package, aswell as lighter weight and slick tires, that alone will shave seconds off the laptimes, but will require extra 150hp to still be able to push 370kph. The Track spec hasn't been around the laps yet, but the AP1 prototype laps TG Test track considerably faster despite being some 200hp less powerful.

[Deskyx]

I look forward to your track package.

I am certain that it will be extremely quick... So will mine be.

[squidhead]

2015 Adelaide homologation special

As the 2015 AMWEC season came closer and closer, the fruitless chase for AGTE class car has been a downhill spiral for our junior engineering team, with many paths tested, all proving ultimately a failure. The inline 4 in the Adelaide could easily push 700hp, with acceptable responsiveness and reliability, but the appetite 4-5 times more than it would be deemed even close to acceptable. Many sleepless nights at the workshop, many blown engines, 3 complete AGTE mules later and our juniors had nothing to show for their hard work. Eventually at one of the staff meetings, an idea was proposed to Gerhard Wagner, CEO of Kraft Haus Technik. An idea ludicrous for KHT, rarely done, very difficult - we build our own engine, and release a limited edition of homologation specials on the market. The idea so silly, time consuming and expensive it should've been shot down on arrival. Meeting was adjourned. A few days later Wagner stormed into the junior engineering department and simply said "Make me an engine, build this car to spec".

With full freedom on their hands and only a handfull of regulations and restrictions within months a new test mules have been seen on the track, boasting a thundering soundtrack, lacking in pops and blow off whistles. Powered by an all new 3.9 liter v8, with 4 valves per cylinder, vvl and vvt, racing components, many of which were crafted in-house, the new car finally took shape, performance, setups, everything came together to bring the Adelaide V8 homolagation special.



While the exterior got the minor touches, most of which were there to remove the vents and replace them with active cooling, minor trim changes and a tiny v8 badge, most changes went deeper under the skin.
Powered by a 470hp bespoke Typ839 v8 engine and fed through a sequential 6 speed gearbox to the rear wheels, the 0-100 was dealt with in 3.7 seconds, with top speed reaching 315kph. Weighing in at 1070kg the car was no longer as nimble as it's i4 predecessor, but the laptimes still tumbled, the Ring now being dispatched in 8:05. On the inside, little was done to accommodate the driver, as some of the test drivers joked about the interior - "this is like being in the fastest army land rover". Naturally the car went up for sale with little enthusiasm, as most homologation specials do, but to much relief, at $70,000, all of them found their owners among the trackday fan community, a few of which got eventually converted into full blown racecars

[strop]

I like the clear vision of these designs, very sharp, very distinctive. And your photo manipulation skills are very good too, not many people can get the angle and perspective right, particularly with the funnier angles.

[TofuWarrior]

I like the clear vision of these designs, very sharp, very distinctive. And your photo manipulation skills are very good too, not many people can get the angle and perspective right, particularly with the funnier angles.

Amazing designs, nice to everyone, and flawless grammar. There is no justice.

[squidhead]

I like the clear vision of these designs, very sharp, very distinctive. And your photo manipulation skills are very good too, not many people can get the angle and perspective right, particularly with the funnier angles.

Thanks, For every good one there's 2 or 3 discarded ones Both in car designs and photoshops
Now I got to learn to make them fast enough, cause Im not really impressed by my laptimes

[squidhead]

2015 Sepang AMWEC AP1

On November 25th 2015 KHT held a small public event, where they presented their all new AP1 class race prototype. No direct information on performance specs was given, but KHT boss Gerhard Wagner was optimistic about it's future. In a small speech he thanked his senior race engineering team, complimenting them on a job well done, and promising to not let this opportunity go to waste and as "motorsport improves the breed" hinted on the street legal version of the racecar (revealed in 2016), before unveiling the car.

Full carbon chassis featured a full carbon bodywork, no interior to speak of and advanced aerodynamics. The design heavily inspired by the earlier Adelaide sportscar mixed well with the bigger body of the Sepang, and had a few distinct features of it's own. Powered by the bespoke Typ854 R54N2 Engine, reaching (Edited due to NDA) Hp at (Edited due to NDA) RPM, with 80% of it's torque available as early as (Edited due to NDA) RPM the (Edited due to NDA) kg racecar proved a quick runner, it's final testing taking place on the Nurburgring nordschleiffe, which took almost 2 months to finalize.

Lastly, KHT Managers could strike a deal with a few companies, such as Eibach, Brembo and Michelin to provide some components and expertise in exhange for sponsorship decals. Seibon Carbon was contracted to produce the shell and the chassis for the car, ZF provided the gearbox, and an american company created engine blocks, which were then modified to exact spec in house.

Racecar livery was not debated, as KHT proudly displayed German national flag colours finished off with the sponsorship decals.

[squidhead]

1955 Targa Florio MK1

Vintage era time I am just getting a rough idea on what a classic car should look like, so comments on design would be a great help. Thanks.

In the year 1954 a group of close friends and amateur racers from Germany finally decided that it was time to stop dreaming and start achieving. Working nights and weekends in a shed a car was soon designed. The chassis was engineered and put together by Kaspar Becker, and body designed and hand crafted by Ralf Hoch. Engine came from Viktor Kruger's own URV Lynx that he agreed to sacrifice for the project, updating the ancient 1946 4 liter OHC V8 as he saw fit. Unbeknownst to the the three departments of KHT have been created with their taks separation, and this was the beginning of a company that would last far longer they ever anticipated. But on to the car. In 1955 the vehicle was complete and ready, a ladder frame, covered in hand crafted aluminium body sported pretty advanced suspension setup, and the 210hp v8 fed the rear wheels through a 4 speed manual transmission. 0-100km was reached in 6.3 seconds, with top speed of 235kph. This was to be the Targa Florio road rally competing car (even though it was nowhere near competetive), but since this was quite some time away Viktor used it as his daily driver, since he was left car-less to make the Targa Florio MK1.



As luck had it, the car was flashy enough to get quite a bit of attention in town, eventually resulting in one of the interested people leaving a telephone number note on the car's windscreen. And as it turns out - he was interested in purchasing the car, and later that year became the first ever owner of a Kraft Haus Technik vehicle. The car then gained minor publicity in the local small and medium sized buisness owners scene as it graced a golf course parking lot regulary, resulting in more people wanting to own one. Production held from 1955 to 1957 with only 7 cars ever created. To this day questionably only 4 remain, with only 2 still being maintained by KHT specialists and 1 standing still for the past 10 years in a motor museum in Riga, Latvia.



To this day the chassis information is as follows

#001 - Now in a possession of a car collector, Houston Texas, USA.
#002 - Crashed in London UK in 1982
#003 - Crashed in Malaga Spain in 1961
#004 - Museum piece in Riga Latvia
#005 - As of 2015 - in progress of being restored for a client at KHT factory
#006 - Lost track of the vehicle in Russia in the early 90's, still missing
#007 - Crashed in Kiel Germany in 1976

[Oskiinus]

This car looks great!
I need to design a racer for my company in category of Porsche 550 Spyder.

[squidhead]

This car looks great!
I need to design a racer for my company in category of Porsche 550 Spyder.

Thanks! I didn't know if I fit the 50's euro era with these looks.
As I recall you had one in the works a few weeks ago Still waiting to see the released version.

[Oskiinus]

This car looks great!
I need to design a racer for my company in category of Porsche 550 Spyder.

Thanks! I didn't know if I fit the 50's euro era with these looks.
As I recall you had one in the works a few weeks ago Still waiting to see the released version.

Oh, the Mirage? It's more like luxury 356. And it's finished, I remember about our little "deal" that you wanted to create one of first KHT vehicles co-oping with Airborne. I'll PM it when I will get my hands on PC.

[squidhead]

1957 Monaco

Surprised by their moderate success with the Targa Florio KHT trio understood that they had to capitalize on it, so by 1956 company was put into priority, with Kaspar, Ralf and Viktor leaving their day jobs to work on cars full time, with a few friends and family helping out, increasing the company size to a total of 7 people. A new chassis was designed soon afterwards, once again a ladder chassis with full custom milled double wishbone suspension all around. Ralf's brother, boating enthusiast Claus helped with some fiberglass know how and the project took shape. Most difficult decission was the engine, and it was decided to either go big, or to go home.



Eventually a daring project took shape as 2 badly used 1955 GSI Wyoming pickup trucks were brought into the factory, their engines removed and taken apart. Two L6 3 liter engine blocks were combined via a custom crankcase. Custom ordered crankshaft, camshaft, oil pump and many more minor parts were combined in a 6 liter v12 OHV behemoth. Complimented with tripple carburettors and a custom exhaust system the power reached 280bhp with 460nm of torque pulling strong and smooth from as little as idle, reaching over 400nm at 1500 and never dropping lower. Viktor, now lead engineer was pleased greatly with his Frankenstein, dubbed "Typ126", first in-house engine KHT Ever produced.

The car could reach 0-100 in 6.1 seconds with top speed reaching 232kph. A Luxury interior and a very high tec trim included a phonograph, which put the car into a very prestigious GT category, with the car being equally sporty and comfortably driveable, it was another surprise hit.


One of the restored first generation Monaco's

In 1957, as all of the money ran out KHT Monaco coupe stood in a shy corner of Paris Motor Show's "44th "Salon de l'Automobile". The gamble paid off, and orders started coming in. To be able to build the Monaco KHT had to take pre-orders, at a hefty sum of $45,000, which proved to be enough to actually afford a small facility and first actual work-force to hand build the cars. Each car had to bring the company forward, always progressing and becoming larger and stronger, and Monaco did exactly that.

[squidhead]

1957 Monaco Roadster

The laurels of KHT great success in 1957 with the Monaco Coupe soon proved to be a curse. Rare examples lasted past 20,000 km. Gearboxes shed their teeth and let go regulary, and the problems did not end there. Horror stories of a Monaco sending a piston to the crank case or worse yet - through the hood were alarmingly common. First engine ever built by KHT turned out to be a disaster at worst of times. At best of times, however oil leaks were common, as well as clutches starting to slip at as little as 1000km of normal driving. Problem with the transmission was caused by the fact it was the same pickup truck unit found in the Wyoming, which never was intended for the torque of the 6 liter v12. Solution was needed, and fast.

Kaspar secured a contract for replacement engines from IMP automobile, the gloriously daft and powerful BL12-NGH, a 7.3 v12 producing just under 400hp. To much surprise of the team, which still was a very ambitious, but quite rubbish enterprise, the colossus did not fit the engine bay and had to be shelved. A V8 was proposed, but no suitable engines were found, and using URV units found in the Targa Florio was out of the question due to shear rarity of the Lynx it was found in, after all, the production of Targa Florio was halted only because KHT could not find more engines.

Having experience with the GSI 6 cylinder unit, it was proposed to exclude the KHT's v12's problems by going back to basic design, and the engine was dropped all together after only 7 months of production, replaced by the 3 liter engine which was just a heavily modified Wyoming unit, still OHV, it now featured a more efficient carburettor, exhaust and a re-furbed camshaft, finished off by aftermarket pistons and conrods, chugging 98 petrol, still mated to the 4 speed manual. Now boasting a moderate 173hp at CR of 9.5:1, the performance drop was devastating.

0-100km now took 9.2 seconds, with top speed plummeting to 210kph. The car has lost all it's sportscar ambition, becoming a simple coupe. The rich and successful of this world lost interest in Monaco as v12 was no longer an option, so luxury was also dropped, replaced by premium quality interior and a basic radio. With simple modifications and add-ons a 2 seat drop top body was introduced as an option, and some of the fine exterior detail also being removed. Away went the chrome trimmed rear spoiler and front lip, along with the foglights in the grille, the hood bulge also was removed as it was no longer needed to house the engine. A promising supercar up-start became a salvage of a sports-car, but almost 1/3rd more affordable, now costing $32,000 instead of $45,000 for the 1st gen, Monaco gen2 enjoyed a moderate success both in Europe and USA, where most of them were converted to Chevrolet v8's. This was a very close call for KHT, and a backup strategy was introduced, as a medium sized car repair shop was opened to support the tiny factory in financially troubled times.



Eventually GSi company figured out who and why was ordering their parts by the boatload, and pressed charges. KHT managed to plead not guilty by providing a massive list of changes done to the engines that arrived to the factory as not much more than bare engine blocks, but still, it was clear this could not continue and in 1959 last Monaco saw light as the production was stopped.