A little more than a year earlier, Honda flaunted its absolutely cool Project 2 & 4 concept. The incredibly bare-bones two-seat sports car with a motorcycle engine is in lots of ways more detailed to a go-kart than a conventional automobile. That’s not a problem either, since it seems like a blast. At the time, we presumed that it was simply an outlandish concept with no grounding in reality, however a new patent from Honda has us second-guessing the tail end.
The company filed a patent for a vehicle utilizing a cast-aluminum foundation chassis. The first illustration in the patent reveals simply the chassis with a set of seats, suspension, and four wheels. Although the patent says the frame might support just 3 wheels, or more than four. The layout reveals an engine simply behind the seats with power going to the rear. It’s a setup that sounds enjoyable by itself, and sounds much more enjoyable when seeing that figure 4 reveals a very little body shell like that of the Project 2 & 4.
There are more fascinating bits here, too. The cast-aluminum chassis is referred as very light, stiff, and fast to produce. Everything else on the vehicle is linked to it as well. Extra members for the seats, steering wheel, pedals, and gauge cluster, among others, all connect to this center point. The patent notes a number of benefits to this plan, and it allows for various seating configurations for either left- or right-hand-drive markets, or for simply a single occupant. The frame even includes arrangements for inflatable roll-over security, revealed by products 110a, 110b, and 110c in figure 2.
The chassis is cast with particular areas for mechanical elements. The spine that runs between the seats is hollow so a fuel tank could be put there. At the back, the frame curves around a location for the engine, and it’s formed to allow cooling air to run over the powerplant. The patent states that it would not need to be an internal combustion engine either; it might use an electrical motor. We picture the area for the fuel tank could easily be altered to accommodate a battery pack. The entire chassis is suspended by a double-wishbone suspension setup, though the patent again informs that this arrangement isn’t needed.
Precisely what this chassis might result in is difficult to say. Definitely a mid-engine Honda sports car isn’t impossible, specifically considering that the company currently builds a little one by the name of S660 for the Japanese market. However, this doesn’t seem related to the small roadster. Odds are we’ll likely see technologies based on the patent show up in less apparent places. Perhaps more cast aluminum components will be discovered under the skin of future Hondas. But if this theoretical sports car did show up as a production car, we ‘d love to see it appear in the United States as a three wheeler, a la the Polaris Slingshot. It could be categorized as a motorbike and offered through Honda’s powersports dealers. Regardless, it will be fascinating to see what, if anything, comes of this patent.
