Chris Bangle, head of design at BMW and his team are pushing the boundaries of appearance and materials as well as functions and the manufacturing process with GINA. Instead of the steel or aluminum bodies of traditional cars, this beauty has a body of seamless fabric stretched over a movable metal frame which the driver can change at will. Theoretically, you could do things such as adjust your bumper inward to maneuver through a tight space.
GINA (Geometry and functions In ‘N’ Adaptions) has been in development for six years. It’s designed on the Z8 chassis and has a 4.4-liter V8 with a six-speed automatic transmission. The fabric skin is made of polyurethane-coated Lycra which is resilient, durable and water resistant. This sexy skin is translucent, allowing the tail lights to shine through the back. In the front, the headlights are revealed in a way strikingly similar to a cat opening its eyes, giving the car a stunning anthropomorphic quality.
We love the fact that BMW has conceived a car with a fabric exterior, but it begs a few obvious questions. What happens when it gets hole in it? What happens when we scuff it with the heel of our shoe? How well does this hold up under the sun after several years? Our guess is it would still be cheaper to replace Lycra than an aluminum siding with paint. This is a concept car, so you’ll probably never actually see one of these anywhere outside of a car show. That said we appreciate any ideas that show innovative thinking in automotive design and there’s certainly some potential for parts of this concept to translate into production.
In an increasingly crowded marketplace product customization has become the catch phrase of the day. If Gwen Stefani and J-Lo can “design” their own clothing lines why shouldn’t we be able to pick a few color swatches and make our own products? Now you can take your bling to a whole new level by designing your own tailor made Ferrari through the company’s Ferrari Atelier program.
This new effort will allow you to have your new Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, made just the way you want it. You can take a trip to Maranello, Italy where they’ve been handcrafting these babies since 1947. In their salon, you will sit down with a specialist to discuss your specific needs, look at leather samples, check out different seating styles, choose your matching handmade luggage, & much more. At the end of the process you will drive off in your one of a kind roadster and since you designed it yourself you might as well use your name as the model plate on the back. In fact, Ferrari Tumino has a nice ring to it.
I’m sure the last time you rolled through Silver Lake you hit Intelligentsia for some espresso while you were shopping for kicks…but if you are shopping for a moped there is a far better espresso waiting for you at Choke. I’m privy to the Cappuccino myself. Serious.
Choke is a straight vintage motorcycle shop where bikes are fixed in the back, mopeds are sold out the front, and espresso is served from the counter. Adorned with an old soda pop machine, a community pack of Lucky Strikes, and a signed Evil Knievel poster, this mom and pop joint is the spot for the moped packs on the Eastside. No Mom & Pop tho – Jeff & Nick opened the place about a year and a half back and cater to the serious moped enthusiast. Their bike of choice is a TOMOS, which originated with the Puch 250 SGSS, a racing bike manufactured in Slovenia back in the early 1950’s. TOMOS evolved rapidly and developed several trophy-winning racing bikes in the 60’s and 70’s in the up to 50 cm3 class. These racing mopeds transformed into two-wheelers for the average biker and hit big in the US in the late 70’s when gas prices soared and people desired an alternative ride to their high gas consuming four-wheel vehicles…anyone hear an echo?
Choke stocks an assortment of bikes – a Sprint or two usually, and on some days there may be a Streetmate R to see. TOMOS are quality machines that have a long history of reaching and exceeding EPA standards and sport a modern look while not compromising comfort. They do have off-road lines, and a few years back even made a deal with BMW to have them produce some component parts for some of the bikes. Visit Choke for an awesome portal to these European classics and a great ol’ school neighborhood vibe.
This three-wheeled wonder is absolutely rocking our world. The Aptera Typ-1 is compact, but has enough space to fit two people, 15 bags of groceries or even a couple of seven foot surf boards, all while being extremely fuel-efficient. The Aptera’s engineers have developed the most aerodynamic body shape possible to reduce drag and maximize fuel efficiency. According to their website, the Typ-1 can run on battery power for approximately 120 miles, and if you run out of electricity the gasoline hybrid engine will kick in which gets a stunning 230 miles per gallon.
Aptera has scheduled the Typ-1 to hit the streets sometime in November. For a sticker price of $26,900 for the electric version and $29,900 for the hybrid model. To get on the waiting list, click here.
To see more photos of the interior and exterior of the Aptera Typ-1, click read the rest of this entry below. Read the rest of this entry »
We found the new Cafe Racer Super Naked bike designed by Philippe Starck through our friends over at Dezeen. This is still in the prototype phase at French manufacturer Voxan
and there’s still no official release date.
While we love cafe bikes, Philippe Starck, and anything naked, we’re still not 100% sold on this particular concept. While we like the metal plate over the headlight instead of a windshield, it looks like the top of it holds a tiny digital instrument cluster. Having to squint to see your RPM’s while dodging traffic sounds more difficult juggling act than we’d like. The seating position looks like it puts the rider leaning slightly forward right into an angled gas tank which again, sounds like no picnic. We’re still undecided on the wrap around tail pipe idea, only because it’s so different from what we’re used to looking at. Given, this is one of those ideas that looks odd know, but in five years this could be the new craze and Starck ends up being ahead of his time.
Over all, we like that Starck is taking chances, trying something a little different, and challenging himself. This maybe one of those instances where if he really likes designing bikes and does a few more we could see something really special in the future.
Many more photos of this bike when you click “Read More” below.
As the price of gas continues to sky rocket and we spend more and more time sitting in traffic that moves no where fast, we often think to ourselves that there has to be a better way. As it turns out, so did a group of designers, engineers, city planners, and industry leaders, who have founded an annual summit focusing on rethinking how we get from Point A to Point B.
Hosted by Art Center College of Design, one of the worlds foremost schools for car designers, the two day Sustainable Mobility Summit begins tomorrow with a keynote speech from entrepreneur, environmentalist and author Paul Hawken.
What is sustainable mobility you ask? In a nutshell, “Mobility” means getting people to embrace the idea of “Transit” rather than “Cars”, making it faster and cheaper to get from one place to another. The sustainable part involves doing this in a way that doesn’t harm the environment, creates a minimum of waste, and doesn’t suffer supply and demand issues.
We will be attending this conference, so look to Neu Black for updates in the coming week to find out what the leading industry experts have to say about the future of car design, transportation systems, and how your city will look in the coming years.
Tata Motors has revealed their design of the world’s cheapest car. What is amazing is that this car, a production car to be sold later this year, sells for $2500. Described as a People’s Car (the parallel to Volkswagen of Nazi ideals was perhaps unnecessarily drawn). The Nano features a 33 horsepower engine and is capable of driving at 65 mph. While designing the car, every component was scrutinized for cost. Details such as the use of a single windshield wiper and no tachometer made the car possible. What is perhaps most significant is the car as a symbol of a shifting emphasis in commerce and design to emerging markets even at a lower price point. Photo by Money Sharma/European Pressphoto Association. Via The New York Times.
The ultimate bling mobile this year, the Lamborghini Reventón is a symbol of extreme exclusivity. Only 20 are being produced with a scant 1,000,000 Euro proce tag ( about $1.5 million US). This work of art on wheels boasts a mid-mounted 6.5 liter V12 engine that will get you from 0-60 in 3.4 seconds.
Sweden just went up a notch in our book. Supercar maker Koenigsegg has created a biofuel powered car with even more performance than the their standard CCX. The ethanol in biofuel cools the engine and provides a higher octane value. This translates to boosting performance to 1018 hp at 7200 rpm and the torque to 1060 nm at 6100 rpm. At 10.7 mpg of E85, it’s probably not saving the planet but it does contribute to a changing perception of environmental cars as having moved from hippy to rock-star status. -Via Jalopnik
11.13.07 | Posted in: Tech
| By: Alex Jones
Tags: Automotive
Choosing a color of a car is a difficult process. First you are limited to a handful of options. Then you inevitably make the safe decision and go with a color you can live with. Imagine if you could change the color of your car with the push of a button - whenever and as often as you want.
Nissan has figured out a way to do this with its cars. A polymer of ‘paramagnetic’ iron oxide is sits beneath the paint. Applying electric current affects the light reflection of oxide’s crystals, changing their color. Look for it in commercial applications as early as 2010.
While changing colors periodically is nice, it would be more interesting to constantly shift the color either through waves or flashes. This technology opens the door to having all products change color. Perhaps someday color palettes will be downloaded, saved and rippled through our homes just as easily. -Via World Car Fans
