Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Engineering Bizzarrini BZ2001 Bizzarrini BZ2001 When you’re to look upon the Bizzarrini BZ-2001, you’d see that there are no bounds to the imagination of Italian car stylists. The BZ-2001 is the work of Giotto Bizzarrini whose portfolio includes many past exotic cars. Right now, the BZ-2001 rides on the tubular chassis of a Ferrari Testarossa, and is powered by the Ferrari’s 380-horsepower flat-12-cylinder engine. But true to past Bizzarrini designs, plans are afoot to switch to American small-block V-8 power, and to discard the Ferrari’s frame for a chassis built solely of carbon fiber. With more power and less weight than the car has now, performance should be phenomenal. Many people might think that this is an all-Italian automobile, but it’s not. It was first started when Berry Watkins, who is a resident of California, sketched a few crude line drawings of what this dream car could look like. He then showed these drawings to Ing. Giotto Bizzarrini at the Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance event. At this event, Berry Watkins was displaying his Scaglietti Berlinetta Corvette, which was considered by many that attended to be one of the most beautiful Italian bodied sports cars at Pebble Beach that year. Ing. Giotto Bizzarrini was very impressed with Berry’s work. Giotto Bizzarrini and Mr. Watkins exchanged ideas about what a future sports car or super car would look like. It was evident that Giotto Bizzarrini was very interested in the ideas Mr. Watkins offered. While all of the sketches and drawing were being exchanged, an agreement was signed in May of 1991 between Giotto and Giuseppe Bizzarrini and Mr. Watkins whereby the concept automobile would be the responsibility of Bizzarrini, and the construction, finance and development would be the responsibility of Mr. Watkins. In April of 1990, Luis Romo was elected to be the BZ-2001 project manager. Luis had been the Project Manager for the Dodge Viper Prototype at Metal Crafters. He was also on the Mazda Miata design team and was the Project Manager for the Plymouth Speedster and many, many other exciting development projects. To realize Bizzarrini's concept drawings and sketches, Luis translated them into a 1/5 clay model which was then compared to the original 1/8 plastic model presented to Bizzarrini; and there was basically very little similarity in proportion or style. There were many designers that came from all parts of the world to work on the CAD (Computer Aided Design) part of the project. In August 1991, Luis first started packing and shaping clay on the project, and only two months later the car was rolled out of the shop onto the viewing area for its review. Color photos were taken of the brown-clay full size car and air brushed in red to see what the car would look like. The full size clay car was then cast into a multi-piece full size mold. Upon the disassembly of the cast mold the clay was destroyed, the mold was cleaned up and the team started casting the body of the car. The body was mounted on the chassis of a Ferrari Testarossa, and the team started developing the geometry and engineering of all moving parts: door openings, trunks, hoods, etc. In July of 1992, the car was once again rolled out for another review. Changes were made as necessary and so began the final stages of the prototype body. Headlight and taillight openings were formed and plaster molds were made for the headlights, taillights and the rear side-marker lights. Luis Romo, the project manager, spent a month inside of the car shaping the clay interior. Molds for the interior pieces were made along with the interior doors and trim, and parts were formed in carbon fibre for the dash, side door panels, the floor pan and the seats. The feeling that was expected for the interior was one of sporty elegance, an emotional experience behind the steering wheel second to none. There were many times in the development process at which major decisions had to be made as to which products to use, especially for a car that was going to represent styling into the next century and carry the Bizzarrini name. The goal was to create a car that is unique and something that will create design cues for the years to come. There were several considerations that were presented to Goodyear about the advantages and disadvantages of 17,18,19 and 20-inch wheels and tires. Their tests consistently concluded that a 17-inch tire and wheel combination provides the best overall performance. So the team put the BZ-2001 on 17-inch wheels and low profile tires. The fronts are 235/45 ZR 17's that have an 8-inch tread width. The rears are 335/35 ZR 17's with a 12.2 inch tread width. Bill Jongbloed built a special set of his three-piece modular wheels with magnesium center sections that weigh only 17 pounds. This compares to a 26-pound cast aluminum wheel and a 22-pound cast magnesium wheel of the highest quality. For the brakes, the team used Alcon/Hyperco lightweight aluminum calipers with 12.5-inch vented and cross-drilled cast iron rotors mounted on aluminum hats. The performance of the brakes proved to be phenomenal. Tilton Engineering developed a prototype 9 1/2-inch carbon-carbon clutch that replaced the existing 46-pound clutch-fly-wheel combination for a unit that weighs only 16 pounds. This results in about a 200% reduction in inertial weight. The engine revs much quicker and the transaxle shifts much quicker. For the shocks, the team chose Penske Racing double adjustable lightweight shocks. Penske supplies similar shocks to almost every team on the Indy/Cart Series and Formula One teams. For the springs that will accompany the shocks, the tech chose Eibach Springs for the fact that their quality is unparalleled in the industry. Borla fabricated the lightweight, stainless steel exhaust system. It incorporates four total silencing chambers with performance and sound second to none. The high performance driving lights that are featured in the front lower driving light panel, were designed by Piaa to provide safe high-speed vision at night. After that, the team selected a battery that weighs just 22 pounds as opposed to a standard automotive battery that weighs 48 pounds. The purity of the lead provides ample cranking amps and it recharges much quicker than a conventional automotive battery. The pair of aluminum radiators with very compact dimensions and weight of only 6 1/2 pounds each were engineered by Griflfin Radiators. When the car was ready to paint, the team chose the brand new deep rich red, called Kosmos Red, from a Company called The House of Kolor. Santa Ana Plating handled all the plating for the special parts. Plating has seen the advent of many technological advances, and these new techniques are used for gold cadmium, black anodizing, and gold anodizing. The reason why the team wanted to have some plating done was because they had several very special parts that they wanted to show off, such as the engine deck hinges and all of the grills on the car, which were machined from a solid billet of aluminum. A Company called Obus Forme, based in Toronto, Canada, makes orthopedic seat products. The team incorporated their system to the Bizzarrini seats, and created very comfortable high performance seats. As other parts on the car, the seat frames are made of carbon fibre to reduce weight. The Bizzarrini prototype uses the Ferrari Testarossa’s engine—a flat, 12 cylinder, 5 liter, 4 valve, 4 cam power plant, which produces approximately 380 horsepower. Development is underway for a prototype 60 degree V-12 of 5 liters with four valves, four cams and a very sophisticated intake system with individually mapped electronic fuel injection for each cylinder. Alan Lockheed has developed a software package called the "Engine Expert." He and Bizzarrini are experimenting with all the engine design variables so that while the team tweaks and plays around with the Ferrari’s engine, they will be very close to their ultimate horsepower goal of 450 horsepower from their new 5-liter V12 engine. While the team works on the BZ-2001, they are at the same time, designing their own production chassis using Bizzarrini's own chassis development software package. They had also used William Mitchell's "Racing by the Numbers" software package which allows experimenting with an infinite number of suspension parameters, gear ratio changes and setting up an entire car on the computer to yield an incredibly close idea as to what the finished product will perform like. Berry’s background in racing has given him the experience to know the small, but very important details in sports cars. One such a detail has been to use a set of racing car scales to weigh all four corners of the car and balance the cross corner weights so that the car is as reasonably balanced as possible. Designing a sports car for the next century takes a tremendous amount of resources, research, creativity and ingenuity along with problem solving ability. And it takes a tremendous amount of outside help to be able to create such an accomplishment. This prototype is the first step in a project that will be completed over time. In April of 1993, Giotto Bizzarrini flew to the United States to see the completed BZ-2001 and introduce it to the world. The Long Beach Grand Prix was the site chosen for the occasion. Giotto Bizzarrini was amazed how positively the public reacted to the BZ-2001. Time after time he was told by hundreds of people who saw the car that it was one of the most beautiful cars in the world. Ing. Giotto Bizzarrini has been extremely pleased with the project, so much so that he suggested that the team that designed the BZ-2001 should form a company to design projects and to build models and prototypes for other companies. That being done, the company that had been formed is called Disegno di Bizzarrini Co. This will give the small but creative team the ability to share their services of design, styling, and prototype construction with other companies and corporations who like the type of projects that Disegno di Bizzarrini Co. build. The manufacturing strategy for the BZ-2001 is scheduled to be a revolutionary process to take advantage of the team’s momentum and developments. The first BZ-2001 is a prototype from which a production line of cars will be developed. The prototype was derived from a Ferrari Testarossa in which many improvements were made. This will be the starting point for the BZ-2001 manufactured specials, which will be built similar to the prototype. It will also be the beginning of the evolutionary vehicle which will be developed into the higher production, called the Phase II vehicle. Versions of the BZ-2001 will be sold to specific customers on a custom order basis as specials. They will have drive trains as requested by each customer and will be sold according to the rules and regulations of the country to where they will be sold. These cars will be specialty-manufactured vehicles. As the process continues, Disegno di Bizzarrini Co. will refine its chassis, suspension, etc., and will develop one or more drive trains (engine and transmission combinations) for the next stage of specialty manufactured cars. During the process, the chassis and components will be developed to fully meet all U. S. DOT/EPA standards. This will take approximately 18 to 24 months and the company will seek additional funds to capitalize this portion of the operation. This will establish Disegno di Bizzarrini Co. as a manufacturer with the goal to produce a minimum of 200 cars per year. To accomplish its goals, the first thing the company has to do is to lease a facility. Then, they complete the development and tooling necessary to make a production run of BZ-2001 specials. Giotto Bizzarrini will simultaneously continue the development, based upon the layout of the basic BZ-2001. Some basic information will be engineered for compliance to U. S. NHTSA crash standards by an American team of engineers in coordination with Bizzarrini and Luis Romo. The compliance process will be processed, where applicable, through what is called "piggy-backing" (in other words, the items previously approved by other manufacturers that are part of the BZ-2001, will be taken into consideration). These items may be such items as the motor and drive trains that OEM suppliers have invested millions of dollars in the development and approval process. Upon completion and evaluation of a series of BZ-2001 specials and obtaining DOT and EPA certification, the company will direct its assets for the expansion of manufacturing and develop the status of an automotive super-car manufacturer. To keep momentum moving from the anticipated media coverage, an initial production run of 20 "specials" BZ-2001s will be built similar to the prototype for a price of $250,000. These will be collector cars for worldwide exotic car enthusiasts. Disegno de Bizzarrini Co. expects that it will take 9 to 12 months to produce the first units of the collector car series and a turn around time of approximately 4 months thereafter to produce each car. These cars will feature special lightweight carbon fibre/kevlar composite body panels. Phase I BZ-2001 units will continue at the rate of 1 per month to 12 per year after the first 20 units. These cars will be sold for racing purposes and most likely not be U. S. A. specification cars. Vehicles sold as completed vehicles in the U. S. are subject to the following regulations: First, an approval from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) for emissions and drive train durability. Second, Vehicles sold in California are subject to CARB (California Air Resources Board) emissions approval. And third, the car should meet Federal safety standards, which arise through FMVSS (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards), which are administered by NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). The Department of Transportation (DOT) enforces these regulations. During the Phase I period, the company will continue to produce the Phase II BZ-2001, which will be designed to meet and be ready for full governmental certification. Giotto Bizzarrini will design the initial chassis by specifications based upon a high performance mass-produced drive train. That chassis will be structurally designed for U.S. NHTSA crash standards and prototypes, and then it will be assembled. The priority is to evaluate all possible drive trains that fit into the production expectations until the year 2001 and design the chassis to fit the drive train and the automobile’s body. At this point of development, Disegno de Bizzarrini Co. will have a contract with one or more major automobile manufacturers. This will provide a dealer network for parts, service, and warranty work that will save the company millions of dollars of time and energy; and furthermore, it will allow Disegno de Bizzarrini Co. to focus its attention on manufacturing its products. The body panels will be tooled by specialists in low production and will result in complete car body panels costing the most reasonable price after the proper investment is made in tooling. The production of the Phase II BZ-2001 will build with major portions of the car being subassemblies by outside specialists with assembly at the Bizzarrini factory. The Phase II car would be designed to meet 1996 Federal standards and be ready for initial delivery at the end of 1995. Price target is $125,000, which will make it one of the greatest values in the world for this type of car. Weight will be safely reduced to the ultimate reasonable amount to increase performance and fuel economy. The goal will be exempt from Federal "gas guzzler taxes." Disegno de Bizzarrini is not interested in building a large overhead that could be highly vulnerable to economic cycles or downturns. During slow sales periods, rather than massive lay-offs, this philosophy will allow the company to contact suppliers and inform them that Disegno de Bizzarrini will withhold further purchases until sales improve to warrant additional purchases. Although Disegno de Bizzarrini is a very small company, it has achieved high standards in the super-car industry. They have created, considering my opinion, the most beautiful exotic car on earth, the Bizzarrini BZ-2001. Disegno has build an automobile that not only looks fascinating but also performs as good as it looks. They have built an automobile that can accelerate from 0-60 mph in just 3.9 seconds and has a top speed of 187 mph—that’s an extremely fast car for the buck. It is evident that the Bizzarrini BZ-2001 did not take off flying, but I am confident that this American-Italian automobile will fascinate many people in the near future when it comes out for sure. Even I am intrigued by this car, and hope to buy it and drive it one day. Bibliography: 1. “The Unofficial Bizzarrini Web Site.” *http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/1150/index01.htm* 2. Richard Owen “Supercars – Past & Present.” 3. *http://www.supercars.net/* 4. “Super Car Database” December 31, 1998 *http://www.drewlarson.com/database1.html* 5. “Car List” *http://sportscars.virtualave.net/en/carlist.html* 6. “eQUAY.com - Sports Cars - Makes & Models” 7. *http://equay.com/makes.htm* Word Count: 2768
Copyright © 2005 College Term Papers, INC All Rights Reserved.