California Commuter II

125 MPG at freeway speeds

Both the California Commuter II sketches and clay model were done entirely by Len Stobar for Doug.  It was their first car collaboration effort.  This vehicle was never prototyped because of other fun projects like Robosaurus that came along and interfered with the time commitment such projects require.

The name "California Commuter II" meant it was intended to carry TWO people efficiently. Doug realized that since most passenger vehicles are normally driven alone that this proposed super light weight composite vehicle would end up driving along tilted to one side while - IF typical side by side seating was used - because the driver is a significant part of the total system weight.  Doug's idea was to keep the driver located on the vehicle's center line. Because of the difference between human's hip width and shoulder width it was realized that by staggering the passenger's seats slightly aft that we could comfortably carry 3 people.

The final clay model was even more streamlined than the original drawings above.