Wet laps

What was supposed to be a design exercise, sort of escalated. The idea was, can I fit a big radial aero engine into a racecar, while making it nice to look at, and keeping it loosely in early 60's aesthethics. Then the part of the brain that thinks about functionality kicked in, and I got this driver pod design. No one would want to sit on the outside of that fan, not mentioning the potentially thrown rod from the engine itself... and so on. Then I needed an opponent - and this can go on and on like that ;). So, while not really visible here, I have the internal guts sketched out as well.
The inspirations are many, from old Alfa Romeos and Ferraris, Jaguars, to works of Luigi Colani and Chris Foss.