Monday, July 21, 2008

Fabric-ated Auto




BMW and BMW Group DesignworksUSA threw out the auto building rulebook when they came up with the BMW GINA Light Visionary Model (their new concept car revealed recently in the BMW museum in Munich). According to Autoblog, "The outer skin of the auto is made entirely out of textile fabric that's pulled taut around a frame of metal and carbon fiber wires. The skeleton of the car is controlled by electro-hydraulic devices and can actually move and change shape beneath the fabric skin. For instance, the headlights of the concept can be exposed or hidden by the car's skin just like blinking eyes, and the hood opens from the center as the fabric parts to expose the engine. This idea extends to the interior, where BMW designers have made visible only those instruments that are required at a certain time....."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Cool....I've been looking at photos of GINA for a a month or so, but this is the first I've seen the video on Autoblog. Very neat...I might book a ticket to Berlin!