2005 SUB G1
Set up by three individuals Niki Smart, Jay Brett and Nick Mynott, SUB is a small company in southern California that caters to clients who want individual specialised vehicles. Their first vehicle, G1 a three wheeler is an evolution of work done by Niki Smart years earlier on the "One-up" that sat in London's' Millennium dome. G1 is a ground up build, demonstrating the company's ability to produce, not just one, but a series of fully functioning, innovatively packaged vehicles that are road legal and that could be used in a day to day scenario as well as being pushed hard on a track.
The original One-up concept was 'An Engineering Aesthetic'. The project was about the design beauty that purely engineered forms posses from their focus on performance and efficiency. Smart looked a lot at castings and fabricated suspension parts as well as WW2 battleships and especially submarines. The idea was to be as minimal, without being a bike: one seat, three wheels and a small engine. His original used a 600cc Honda CBR located behind the driver. The resulting longer wheelbase (2.7m) made for a rear biased weight distribution. The track was 1.6m. While similar in concept, G1 makes use of a tight packaged V-twin to reduce the wheelbase to 2.3m (same 1.6m track) and to achieve a 50/50 weight distribution. The 50% on the rear wheel and 25% on each front creates a dynamic, stable platform.
A major aspect of the project was to design and build a vehicle with aesthetic appeal - a single seat, lightweight, high performance machine ideal for quick runs through canyons. The project was never about straight-line speed or acceleration. More important was to create a vehicle that handles predictably and controllably and is engaging and fun to drive, while keeping the project within a manageable budget and time frame.
More about this via: www.sub3wheeler.com
Text and photos: www.cartype.com
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