VEHICLE
DEVELOPMENTS

This basic vehicle is quick to make and gives you the opportunity to use it as a platform for more ideas.

Building a narrow chassis or frame means that when wheels are added, with steering perhaps, or even some kind of suspension, you end up with a vehicle with proportions similar to a normal road vehicle. The beam steering on our vehicle doesn't really work on a wide chassis unless the wheels can turn underneath. When the axle is turned the wheels are likely to rub against the chassis.
A better, though more complicated, arrangement is to have each wheel turn on a short stub axle so that when steered they don't move back and forth - like all the vehicles on our roads today.

Have you noticed that this vehicle could make an interesting 3-wheeler?

BATTERY POWER

In spite of the narrow frame there is still plenty of room to fit a couple of batteries and a small electric motor. Remember that if you if you use the motor to drive the back axle then the wheels must be locked onto the axle so they turn with it. If you want the vehicle to drive round in circles this isn't a good idea. When a vehicle does this the wheels on the outside of the circle have to travel a greater distance than the wheels on the other side of the car. If they are fastened to the same axles this isn't possible. There's a problem for you!
You may notice that the pulley on the lower model is outside the frame, just behind one of the wheels, Having this configuration allows for the rubber band to be replaced without dismantling the axle.

Building bodywork from light card is fun. This is a slightly different chassis design but it gives you some idea of what is possible.
Don't try to make a body by drawing and cutting one large net. It's much better to build a body from several small sections. Not only will it be easier to make and fit but the smaller card surfaces will be stiffer.

How about . . . .

*a land yacht with back axle steering
*a 3-wheeler with the single wheel doubling as a pulley
*sprung suspension [rubber bands or plastic foam perhaps]
*gravity power [other than rolling downhill!]
*battery power but with automatic switching if it comes to a wall - or the edge of the table
*a propeller driven by a rubber motor [or electricity]