Having run roadsters for a number of years, my opinion is that there
isn't a lot you can do within the rules to help a "brick". I have seen
the controversy of removing the windshield post come and go and at least
one roadster has been disqualified for streamlining.
My understanding of the grille shell discussion is, at speed, the air
parts and goes around the shell well before it reaches the closed in
surface. That is why you see air scoops extend well ahead of the grill
surface.
The roadsters running today are, by the rules that I ran under,
streamlined, and the speeds have increased, but I wonder how much the
streamlining has to do with the speed that they have attained. The
fastest roadster to date, Perris-Eaton, (the mid-290's, I believe) is a
real roadster of yesteryear. So much for streamlining!
Happy Holidays!!!
Tom, Redding CA 7:30 AM PST
ardunbill@webtv.net wrote:
>
> Hi Folks. The recent chat about aero made me ponder the '32 Ford
> roadster body like mine and how it fits into the scheme of airflow
> things. The body is vaguely like a slightly tapered brick with a
> slightly rounded grill shell. One wonders what it would show in a wind
> tunnel. Not that I'm going to volunteer mine for Langley.
>
> I imagine that filling the '32 grill shell with a metal panel is an
> improvement, rather than just trapping all the onrushing air inside it.
> Whatever the aerodynamics are, cars like this run in the 250 range and
> over at Bonneville.
>
> Any observations about this topic from the Bonneville veterans??
>
> Holiday greetings from ArdunBill in Chesapeake, VA (The Great Dismal
> Swamp)
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