Courtesy of the Mad Rocket Scientist, we learn of BMW's new concept car: the GINA.
According to Winding Road magazine:
The GINA concept has done away with the traditional rigid metal skin, making use of a spaceframe covered with a collection of metal and carbon fiber wires, in turn covered with a taut textile fabric cover. Those wires are able to move and change shape under the skin of the car, allowing for a multitude of morphing shapes. The concept’s most dramatic applications seem to be in the human eye-like way the headlights are revealed, and the equally living manner in which engine access is granted.
There's a video on YouTube giving more details. I have to admit, watching it is almost creepy, seeing a car change shape in seconds - even appear to wink at you!
As the Mad Rocket Scientist asks in conclusion: "But would you wash it often, or just Scotch-Guard it every few years?"
Peter
3 comments:
WOW! That's actually kind of freaky. What I want to know is, with cloth and wires, how on earth do you survive if some dork on the freeway hits you?
I guess survival isn't high on the priority list for a one-off concept car.
(Perhaps it makes no 'material' difference?)
:-)
The guy kind of says it in the video. You can have structural members under the skin providing the strength. The actual skin in most vehicles doesn't really provide much strength (if any). Remember the Fiero? It used plastic body panels that were purely cosmetic. The car was roadworthy without them.
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