Body Kits — The Roots
I have been fiddling with the thoughts of sharing my insights and views on dressing up automobiles. So, I decided to set this blog up to express my insatiable lust for car aesthetics. To start with, let me drive back to some historical briefs.
Body kits and other aesthetics have long been regarded and popularly used to add muscle and looks to the vain auto enthusiast’s ride. It is also through this procedure that an owner could inject filthiness and personal style to his boring sedan, shy hatchback, or timid SUV.
But do you know that body kits started from a fairly simple goal of improving race time using Mechanical Engineering 101’s aerodynamics? Regarded as the pioneer in applying this science to cars was aerodynamicist Jim Hall. Earlier, the technology had been used exclusively for planes.
The project started in 1961, but it wasn’t until 1970 that Hill was able to take his concepts and develop a car that could actually provide a formidable competition, especially in many Formula One races. By employing ground effects — now popularly known and used "lowering" the springs — Hall had put as little room between the pavement and his car as possible. By forcing the car downward, the air is forced to go up and over the car in a more efficient manner.
Despite the obvious advantage of the newly-recognized technology, Hall met numerous humps along the way. Formula One organizers initially banned such cars because of the inherent advantage that it could have in the future. There were also too many complaints about Hall’s car.
Aside from Hall, there were several other designers (Peter Wright, Tony Rudd, Gordon Murry, among others) who took on the challenge of completing a car that could make its opponents eat the dust. After the death of prominent racer Gilles Villeneuve from an accident in a similar car, the "lowering" of race cars was banned. But even though the ban has been held to keep drivers at a reasonable speed on the track, it has not discouraged street racers from tinkering with their own “race cars.”
Since the time of Jim Hall, street racers and enthusiasts have worked to build their cars from the bottom all the way to the roof with aerodynamic designs to give them an edge. Whether that edge means winning a street race or getting just the looks and admiring stares, it seems to have worked wonders.
