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The aftermath of World War II had a defining influence on the British motor industry up until the late 1950s. The imperative to repay wartime loans resulted in government incentives for motor manufacturers to encourage them to export the majority of their production. Concurrently, punitive levels of purchase tax were levied on those at home who had the will and means to purchase new vehicles: a very effective deterrent. A range of Ford cars classed as models ‘8’ and ‘10’ (based upon the Royal Automobile Club horsepower ratings [1]), had been in production in Britain, unchanged mechanically, since 1932 and would continue so until 1959. As a result, there was a combination of old cars available at ‘scrap’ prices plus the ready availability of low-cost, new spare parts with which to repair them.

This paper summarises the history of Rochdale Motor Panels and Engineering Ltd. (RMP), established in England after the Second World War, from its origins as a small car-repair business though to the manufacture of sports coupés utilising an innovative glass-fibre monocoque construction. The political climate which caused RMP and similar undertakings to develop and flourish in the 1950s and 60s is explained together with details of the three men who had the defining influence on the cars that were created. Products, including aluminium-bodied cars, produced primarily for racing, are described, leading into the introduction of glass-fibre construction which enabled a profitable transition into higher volume body and chassis manufacture, and ultimately completely assembled cars.

As the influence of electronic controls on powertrain systems continues to grow, there are increasing requirements for providing electrical connections to the transducers which are located within the crankcase and transmission. Where it is not possible to provide such interfaces conventionally, through connections directly to the external environment, it is necessary to implement an internal electrical distribution system (EDS). Although these are used extensively in transmissions, their application within crankcases has, to date, been less common. The development of an EDS for operation within the crankcase of a high-performance petrol engine is described, from the driving forces, through to the application, design concept and product realisation. Specific challenges associated with the development of a new connector system are explained in detail, together with the subsequent design solutions.

The presence of composite-bodied vehicles in the non-specialist marketplace is challenging the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and their tier-one suppliers (T1s) in terms of how best to replace a metal body structure as a means of completing electrical circuits. Alternative wiring topologies are considered, their key electrical and mechanical characteristics are compared and an optimum solution is proposed. Its performance is quantified by calculation and modelling and then compared with actual measurements taken from a vehicle simulator. These are benchmarked against typical values which are found in welded-steel body structures.

This paper considers the role of the Electrical Distribution System (EDS) in enabling the delivery of advanced electronic vehicle systems, particularly as they are applied to the active control of acceleration, deceleration, steering and chassis systems. The use of the “V model” is proposed to ensure that a full design verification process (DVP) is performed and that all lessons which are learned, are captured for potential future use. In order to highlight to the EDS engineer any system specific criticalities which should be addressed during the design process, a progression from a product design failure mode effect analysis (DFMEA) to a mandatory system DFMEA is recommended. However, because of the entrenched component based DFMEA philosophy of many original equipment manufacturers (OEM's), a move to a design failure mode effect CRITICALITY approach (DFMECA) is explored as an alternative first step forward.

The increasing use of carbon fibre (CF) material in vehicle structures is driven by its beneficial physical properties. To date, within the vehicle design process, electrical performance has been very much a secondary consideration. In this paper, the electrical parameters of CF are compared and contrasted with the more traditional alternatives, and approaches and solutions are proposed to address the issue of short-circuits through the body structure.