We’ve covered a lot of motorcycle powered cars on The Kneeslider but here’s one I’ve missed made by the Malone Car Company. These 3 wheelers are powered by a variety of motorcycle engines and this listing on ebay caught my eye. It’s called the Malone Skunk Max powered by a Yamaha Vmax.
The Malone Car company is a small firm located in England started in 1997 by Jon Malone. Their first prototype was powered by a Yamaha XJ 650cc which yielded performance of 0 to 60mph: 5.9secs. 0 to 100mph: 12.3 secs. and a top speed: 124mph. I would imagine the Vmax engine could do considerably better.
The Yamaha Vmax engine is one of my personal favorites, it has the right sound to go along with great power output and putting that engine in a 3 wheeler just seems so natural. I’m not aware of any other motorcycle powered cars using it. I wonder why that is. Current motorcycle engines put out more horsepower than the Vmax these days which may be the reason but with lots of interesting power adders available, superchargers for instance, this combination would make huge power and sound right, too. Interesting.
*This car is no longer available.
Link: Malone Car Company
The Kneeslider: Motorcycle Powered Cars
The Kneeslider: Yamaha Vmax motorcycles for sale
speed racer says
I’ve thought of using the Vmax engine in a light weight kit car but didn’t know the weight and overall dimensions of the engine. Can you provide any info on that? and can a Vmax engine be easily tuned to produce 200 horsepower?
Dodgy says
The Morgan is back…
coho says
Mmm…bargain TRex.
chris says
look at this suski
[URL=http://img140.imageshack.us/my.php?image=carjh1.jpg][IMG]http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/3776/carjh1.th.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
OK, Suzuki is now officially the ultimate tease automaker. The GSX-R/4 Concept Car is yet another sensational driver’s car that will never see the light of day.
Yet another Suzuki teaser, the ultra-light scf-fi GSX-R/4 will never see the light of day.
What makes it so special? Its ultra-light curb weight, racing car suspension system, high-tech motorcycle engine and windshield-less speedster profile make it one of the most powerful go-karts ever made.
Looking like something out of a sci-fi movie, Suzuki’s new concept is sensationally styled. Its exoskeleton aluminum frame, detachable recycled-plastic panels and naked mechanicals make for a technological showcase, exactly what the Japanese brand was looking for. The GSX-R/4 pulls design cues and its name from the brand’s series of GSX-R race replica motorcycles, the 4 designation making reference to four wheels instead of two.
The mid-mounted engine in the GSX-R/4 is derived from the fastest mass-produced street bike in history, the GSX1300R Hayabusa. It’s capable of reaching 11,000 RPM before hitting the redline.
Those four 20-inch alloy wheels riding on 185/45R20 front and 195/45R20 rear performance tires, combined with its low center of gravity, light aluminum frame construction and tuner-friendly, height adjustable double wishbone suspension sporting exposed spring and damper units, should help it manage corners at even greater speeds than its two-wheeled sibling.
At 640 kg (1,411 lbs) its four disc brakes will hardly be taxed unless coming down from hyper velocities, which of course will be easily attained due to the roadster’s motorcycle derived 1.3-L 4-cylinder engine. The bike the motor comes from, however, isn’t just any scooter. The GSX1300R Hayabusa is the fastest mass-produced street bike in history, capable of 312 km/h (194 mph) top speed and about 9 seconds for the quarter mile (0.4 km). Its engine makes a total of 173-hp at 9,800 rpm. In case you think such revs are high, and granted they are for a car, the engine is capable of 11,000 rpm before spiking redline.
found at http://aol.auto123.com/en/info/news/prototype,view,Suzuki.spy?artid=13492&pg=1
chris says
bad image click the link