The first Sprite prototypes have been made with the help of Materialise
http://cn.newmaker.com
4/5/2010 12:31:00 PM
佳工机电网
Gérard Périssel, a 63-year-old designer, came up with the idea, and after four years of research, the Sprite has come to life, exists and can get you from A to B. It's a small car for urban use, available in two versions, for drivers with or without a licence. It is a successor to the legendary 2CV, the extremely famous Méhari and the unforgettable Austin Mini Moke.
Gérard Périssel's intention, along with his partner, Guy Meniscus, a motor vehicle engineer, was to revive the concept of a small pleasure, useful and fun car for less than €9 000. This Sprite is equipped with a Lombardini 2-cylinder 5.6 hp diesel engine for the version without a driving licence and a 21 hp petrol engine for the version requiring a B1 driving licence. This version goes up to 90 km/hr, can carry 2 or 4 people and consumes around 4 l/100 km. An electric version is already planned, but has not been built for the prototype. There's no gearbox, but a speed variator giving a smooth ride, disc brakes, and heated windscreen. Window-free and door-free, it's very easy to climb aboard for a Sunday outing or for going to work with the wind in your hair.
And although it may seem pretty modest, this little city car is quite ambitious, as Gérard Périssel explains:
It stands out because of its versatile design. It can be adapted to suit all countries, all climates, all uses and all state-approvals. It's a niche market, but which is topical with the idea of freedom conjured up by this type of vehicle.
The first prototypes, of which two have been assembled, were made with the help of Materialise.
Materialise is specialised in making prototypes and small series of parts, and provides a full range of innovative solutions for developing projects.
Materialise was chosen by the inventors of the Sprite project, in order to manufacture the body parts. These were made in one piece by using stereolithography thanks to the Mammoth machines. These machines, developed and built by Materialise, are unique throughout the world due to their dimensions: 2100*700*800 mm.
Once Materialise had made the 7 parts making up the bodywork, in a very short period of time, Mr Périssel used these prototypes to validate the shapes and build the first composite parts.
Gérard Périssel, a 63-year-old designer, came up with the idea, and after four years of research, the Sprite has come to life, exists and can get you from A to B. It's a small car for urban use, available in two versions, for drivers with or without a licence. It is a successor to the legendary 2CV, the extremely famous Méhari and the unforgettable Austin Mini Moke.
