World Première at the 1998 Geneva Motor Show

Rinspeed E-Go Rocket – the Spirit of Egoist’s!

The idea

In the words of Frank M. Rinderknecht founder and owner of Rinspeed Inc.: "For me, the Rinspeed E-Go Rocket represents another means of widening one's horizons and a fresh challenge. My goal was to satisfy the demands of the law and the principles of good design at one and the same time. I wanted the Rinspeed E-Go Rocket to be a totally exclusive and innovative car, but one entirely suitable for road use. I also intended it to stand clearly apart from the work of tuners who merely convert existing products. It is a recollection of the great speed record setting cars of the Bonneville (Utah) salt flats of the 1940s, a revival of the courage for speed and the spirit of the pioneer’s, but also as an embodiment of state-of-the-art technology – and of course of Rinspeed's skills in these areas." Rinderknecht has a convincing explanation of the short period of time needed to develop the new project: "When the pressure's on, development results are often better than if too much agonizing goes into them!" In this case, certainly, this argument holds good.

One of the most remarkable features of Frank M. Rinderknecht's latest creation is surely the fact that the Rinspeed E-Go Rocket complies with valid European Union legislation and is a fully-fledged road-going design. "We wanted to build an exclusive car, but one that could be taken out on the roads as well as acting as a pilot project at exhibitions." This ambitious target has certainly been achieved by the Rinspeed E-Go Rocket – its luggage compartment, located above the engine, can for instance still easily accommodate a bag. What this mobile work of art is to cost has yet to be finalized. However, it is only built to order.

The development work

Frank M. Rinderknecht made use of the very latest techniques in the design and development of this project, including advanced CAD/CAM methods. The CAD/CAM Computer (which in terms of performance would not be out of place in a major automobile manufacturer's development department) processes all the details with such accuracy that very few changes are needed when the full-scale model is built. Rinderknecht: "By using CAD/CAM, linked to a five-axes-mill-machine, we achieve an unequaled standard of processing quality and can also implement our ideas far faster than ever before. This naturally helped us to get the Rocket project rolling in such a short time."

The partner-companies

The Continental company contributed the tires: as one of the world's largest manufacturers of tires for high-volume motor vehicles and also of high-performance tires, it possesses an immense amount of experience. The ContiSportContact stands out by its excellent cornering stability, its precise steering capabilities, its superior wet handling capabilities and its big safety reserves.

Antera took up the challenge of producing special wheels to carry these Continental tires. An Italian company, it is famous for its avant-garde wheel designs and for the unusual technical principles which it adopts. For example, the tire valve is hidden behind the hub cover made of titanium so that the wheel's overall appearance is not affected by the valve protruding from the rim.

In the running-gear area, Rinspeed was able to call upon the services of the Eibach company, the leading international manufacturer of suspension components. Eibach Suspension Technology, which as its name implies specializes in such matters and supplies the world's top motor sport entrants including the McLaren Formula 1 Team, undertook to develop the suspension struts and stabilizers for the Rinspeed E-Go Rocket. Eibach certainly justified its reputation: for the Rinspeed E-Go Rocket it designed competition shock absorbers with four adjustment settings. These hi-tech components were developed and manufactured at Eibach's R & D center in England, and utilized the company's experience as a global supplier, which extends back many years and entitles it to claim an equally significant position as a specialist running-gear developer on the markets of the future.

Austrian specialist company Remus developed an free-flow exhaust system for the Rinspeed E-Go Rocket. Here too, the Remus name is closely associated with both high quality and ingenious technical solutions to clients' problems. Throughout the motor sport scene, from touring-car racing and rallying to Formula 1 (Damon Hill), this exhaust systems manufacturer feeds its immense know-how back into its successful range of products.

The largest Swiss company Rieter Automotive Systems provided the floor carpeting, of truly magnificent quality, for the Rinspeed E-Go Rocket as well as the acoustic foams and the heat-shield components. Although this firm has a low profile among the general public, integrated noise and heat insulation materials and interior trims for motor vehicles are purchased by just about every leading automobile manufacturer throughout the world.

In order to optimize the interior and exterior design to a harmonic entity, Burg Design Automotive, as the specialist of vehicle components, has proved its competence by the use of their HI-TECH equipment as well as the ingenuity of their designers. This Austrian company concentrates on decor requirements for special-series vehicles and on high-tech interior applications in wood, aluminum and carbon fiber. Among the processes Burg Design Automotive has developed two products named EVOTEC and INOTEC which offer a large variety of applications for OEM- and After Sales-use of the automotive industry.

Deserving of special mention is the custom travel bag, which is made by the Swiss De'Shama company, a specialist in the field of luggage and travel goods systems.

Thanks to a hi-fi radio and CD installation from Philips Car Systems, the open-topped Rinspeed E-Go Rocket none the less achieves high standards of audio reproduction. Nor does the driver have to feel that he or she is alone in the wide, wide world: Carin is a sympathetic companion on the longest journeys. This is the name given to Philips Car Systems' first class navigation system. Carin guides the driver reliably, without stress, to the chosen destination. The Philips Car Systems Group, the giant electrical and electronics corporation, is among the leading original equipment suppliers to the automobile industry and was recently integrated in the VDO-Mannesmann-Group.

Last but by no means least, TLC Carossiers Inc. Took on the task of building up the complete Rinspeed E-Go Rocket. This company is situated in West Palm Beach, Florida (USA) and performed a similar task with great distinction when building the Rinspeed Mono Ego and the Rinspeed Yello Talbo.

The air-freight specialist Lufthansa Cargo carried out the safe, reliable and timely transport of the E-Go Rocket to make a flawless and on-time debut in front of the world press in Geneva.

The technical features

Under the wide engine cover, power is supplied in plenty by a 32-valve aluminum-block V8 engine; it is supercharged and develops no less than 410 bhp (maximum boost pressure 0.35 bar). This engine whisks the single-seater Rinspeed E-Go Rocket from a standstill to 100 km/h in only 4.8 seconds, with a top speed of 260 km/h attainable when conditions permit. The composite body gives the E-Go Rocket an exceptionally rigid structure and a gross weight of only 1’050 kilograms, with the result that its power-to-weight ratio would be the envy of many a driver of exclusive Italian sports cars. It has a 5-speed manual-shift gearbox sitting directly in front of the rear axle and independent suspension all round. The inclination of the windshield is adjustable to the speed driven. The interior presents itself also in a new way: The seat is covered in washed blue denim. The 18-inch wheels and tires of sizes (235/50 at the front, 255/45 at the rear) guarantee a perfect handling.