Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

My Daughter is involved in Soap box derby, and we rally, we drive a lot of distances. The fuel in my big pick up is annoying, and I have been on the lookout to find a trailer that could be towed behind my miata. I looked at "yuppie wagons" and they are hideous. But light and aerodynamic. Today i saw a "little guy" where I store my work trailers. and thought WOW I remember looking at tear drops at the IOLA car show, and they turn me on!

Now, I am really not looking for a camper, more a shell to haul her car, The back end would have to be fully accessable, to roll the car into it.

The factory specs on the miata say she cant pull a trailer of any weight, but i have enough race (I auto cross) buddys that say the miata can tow 1000 pounds easily. The payload of the soap box car will be about 3-4 hundred pounds tops. can a tear drop be built that is under 500 pounds?

I am a carpenter, but like everyone else, once its your "work" its no longer fun to build it. Although I probably "could build one, I guess I would love the oppurtunity to talk to some one that may have what Im looking for, at a reasonable cost

Willy

my size requirements?
at least 7' 5" long
at least 3' 9" wide
height as low as possable
weight under 500 lbs
Rear door that opens fully
minimum, or no cabinetry

I will also post this on the shout out, introduction page as well.. Thanks in advance for any advice/ leads

Oh yeah, forgot, I have a 1959 Austin Healey Bugeye sprite, and a 1973 Mg Midget as well. I wonder how the midget would do pulling this type of trailer??

Hey Willy,

Everyone will see your post. No need to post it twice...

Welcome to the forum. I suspect once you see some prices, you'll be interested in building your own.

Mike...

mikeschn wrote:
Welcome to the forum. I suspect once you see some prices, you'll be interested in building your own.

Mike...

had a sneaking suspician on that

Thanks for the welcome

Willy,

Welcome. I'm no use to you as a builder, as I'm on another continent, but I have a design that is almost what you're looking for. This is a low-riding trailer I did for a Brit that races scooters:



Before anyone gets confused, it's a metric design and those grid squares are 250mm (that's 9.84").

Sounds like you'd want it without the front galley as the 'cargo hold' is only about 6'6" long as shown - the racer was going to sleep in it once he'd taken the scooter out!

If you're not carrying much weight (are soap box derby cars ballasted?) then the lightest 8'x 4' (sorry, 4' x 8' in the US, yeah?) Harbor Freight trailer would be sufficient. Do you just pick up the car, or do you need to roll it in on its wheels? A rectangular ply box with a chamfered (see George Teague's Compact GT in the Hall of Fame - top left) or radiused front edge would take you a couple of hours to make and your daughter can do the paint to her taste.......

If she wins big time, do you get to come to the 'ultimate' soap box derby over here at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, with entries from Lotus, Bentley and McLaren? I was going to direct everyone to the Festival of Speed web site (click on 'The Action' and 'Soapbox Challenge') - but it seems they've decided to stop doing it. After carbon fibre cars started to appear, they stuck a $2,000 limit on the cost of cars, but maybe they couldn't control it.



Andrew

thats a great design!!

very practical.. Im liking the more retro true tear drop.

Where you live? wife and I did a tour Of the Uk last year for our 25th anniversary.

Love your country!

willy1959 wrote:Im liking the more retro true tear drop.

OK, OK, here is your own custom design! The body is 8' long, 4' wide and 3' high on a Harbor Freight 990lb or 1075lb trailer. Rather than get all complex with hatches and doors, it seems easier to build a teardrop-shaped box that is lifted up as one piece (with the streamlined fenders). I presume you can just lift the car out. It would be a good idea to build a raised floor for the car to sit on top and with storage underneath.



If you want this, with detail of the interior, construction, geometry, etc, let me know your email address.

Glad you enjoyed Britain - it's always a worry for me that our relatively low standard of service will put US visitors off. Basil Fawlty may only be fiction, but we have some people who think he's a role model.... I'm in the far North East, nearly in Scotland.

Andrew

WOW
thanks a bunch, I feel a little bad, that you went thru that effort, BUT I REALLY like the hatch idea. and the side doors are great as well. to be able to get at tools and supplies. Dont really want glass in em, but I think I will put a door on each side.

I think the trailer should be stronger, if the sides are attached to the trailer, but maybe im all wet on that idea???

The car is ballasted to about 150 pounds,




And putting it in my pickup, I lift the front of the car, put it on the bed, then walk around the back, lift it up, and roll it in.



My little girl is all excited about doing the ralleys out of the Miata, and she LOVES the tear drop look.

..

I took a ride To Horible freight the other day, the 1175 model (90154) was on sale to $229.00 and I had a coupon for an additional 20% off the price, unfortuantley they were out at the time, I just called and they have (ONE) in stock, so Im gonna take another ride For a net or $183.00 I cant really go wrong

http://thompsoncarpentry.com/personalgallery/album01 Many pictures of car and shop..

p.s.

The area up towards Scotland was one of my favorite parts of the trip. I think it was called "something ram" a golf course resort that we stayed at with the tour. The area was soooo pretty. On the other end of the tour we stayed by my pen pals city. in exmouth for a week. that was great as well.

Welcome aboard, What you are wanting is very doable...here is proof

this Tony Coopers rig, although Cooper's rig is a full on conventional tear, you could modify the plans to your needs...the design is called a cubby and plans are available from kuffelcreek.com
Madjack

angib wrote:Willy,




Andrew

hi, im new.

dumb question, how would this design seal on the roof? im having trouble envisioning the mechanics to keep me from getting wet or my stuff.

...howdy and welcome to our little group, keep on looking around and soon you will be as hooked as the rest of us. AS to your question...rubber seals between the hatches and the walls...a good over view would be to goto the "generic benroy plans" forum on this board and read thru them...they will give you a general idea of the design characteristics of all of these trailers...be warned...it can become very addicting
madjack

p.s. you can also goto anybodies(who has one) build journal, website or personal album and look at how doors and hatches are done

Willy, you might check with Len Daddona. Seems to me I saw one of his that is just what your looking for. He's a member of this board so you could PM him with your questions. His handle is Len19070 .

Have a good day.