Radford Motors: custom car manufacturing with 3D printing
Radford Motors produces small-batch, highly customized, one-of-a-kind cars. Additive manufacturing is part of the company's recipe for success – its flexibility, special materials, and tool-free manufacturing capabilities.
Radford Motors builds exclusive luxury cars with a focus on high-end craftsmanship, limited edition production, customization and performance. The company's history dates back to the original Radford Motors, a British coachbuilder founded in 1948, which built custom bodies for car manufacturers such as Bentley, Aston Martin and Austin Mini Cooper.
Challenge: small-batch, cost-effective production
Radford Motors’ first model series, consisting of just 62 units, did not allow for traditional manufacturing methods that rely on the economics of mass production. A faster and more cost-effective means of prototyping was needed than the traditional method of CNC machining foam and clay. Installing a full factory tooling kit would have involved costs and logistics that were not feasible for this highly customized, limited-run business model.
Solution: additive manufacturing
To create and produce the prototype of the Radford Lotus Type 62-2 production vehicle, the company relied on additive manufacturing, which allows for a flexible development and manufacturing process. Radford uses large-format Stratasys F770™ and Stratasys F900™ printers, which offer a spacious build volume. Thermoplastics such as carbon fiber ABS-CF10 and ASA offer the right strength-to-weight properties for tooling and production line parts.
Result: economically viable business
The combination of Stratasys 3D printing capabilities and strong, yet lightweight materials allows Radford Motors to design, iterate and build custom vehicle tools and components much faster and more economically than traditional manufacturing methods. The capabilities offered by additive manufacturing help make Radford Motors’ business model of building small, highly customized vehicles economically viable.
Learn how additive manufacturing can bring new momentum to the fixture manufacturing process while increasing time and cost savings!
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Solution Guide in Hungarian!