“GIBBS Quadski to launch in U.S. next month”
After existing only in prototype form since at least 2006, the GIBBS Quadski is finally about to become a commercially-available product. The amphibious vehicle can be driven like a regular 4WD quad while on land, but it draws in its wheels and becomes a Jet Ski-like contraption upon entering the water – all within five seconds. At a press conference yesterday in Detroit, GIBBS founder Alan Gibbs and chairman Neil Jenkins announced that the Quadski will be available in select U.S. markets starting next month … priced at about US$40,000.
From the Mid-Week Pictorial, this experimental “Zeppelin on wheels” (or Schienenzeppelin) arrived at a station in Hanover, Germany. It went into service in 1931 and that June set a railway speed record. Safety and reliability concerns prevented it from being mass-produced, however. It was dismantled in 1939. Photo: The New York Times
#EsIstGut!
(via bbook)
![“Porsche Panamera wagon concept is real, looks better than five-door [UPDATE]”
With the 2012 Paris Motor Show kicking off tomorrow, Porsche has already dropped what could be the biggest bombshell of the show with this Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo Concept.
Aside from giving the polarizing Panamera five door hatchback much sexier lines, this long-rumored cargo-friendly concept obviously has the Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake dead in its sights.Judging by these leaked pictures, the Panamera Sport Turismo Concept is somewhat of a hodgepodge of current Porsche models, looking like a chopped Cayenne with headlights similar to those of the new Boxster and taillamps derived from the 911.
While the rump of the current Panamera is, by far, the car’s most controversial design element, the Sport Turismo Concept puts that all to sleep finishing off this car with an exclamation point. This concept car probably also foretells a refreshed face that could be on the way for the three-year-old Panamera as well as an updated cabin that might actually do away with the overabundance of buttons in favor of some high-tech gadgetry.We can’t help but daydream about a production Panamera Sport Turismo in Turbo form, but the Concept is propelled by a plug-in hybrid powertrain wearing the “e-Hybrid” designation. Details are scarce about this system, but it looks like it will add a trunk-mounted battery pack and a single drive motor to the rear axle of the rear-wheel-drive V6 Panamera.
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I liked the Panamera since it was first introduced but can admit its looks were uniquely different; typical words that tend to polarize opinions but had it looked like this from the get-go, I believe sales may have been more favorable.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_maz3w0hng41qa8o5mo1_1280.jpg)
“Porsche Panamera wagon concept is real, looks better than five-door [UPDATE]”
With the 2012 Paris Motor Show kicking off tomorrow, Porsche has already dropped what could be the biggest bombshell of the show with this Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo Concept.
Aside from giving the polarizing Panamera five door hatchback much sexier lines, this long-rumored cargo-friendly concept obviously has the Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake dead in its sights.
Judging by these leaked pictures, the Panamera Sport Turismo Concept is somewhat of a hodgepodge of current Porsche models, looking like a chopped Cayenne with headlights similar to those of the new Boxster and taillamps derived from the 911.
While the rump of the current Panamera is, by far, the car’s most controversial design element, the Sport Turismo Concept puts that all to sleep finishing off this car with an exclamation point. This concept car probably also foretells a refreshed face that could be on the way for the three-year-old Panamera as well as an updated cabin that might actually do away with the overabundance of buttons in favor of some high-tech gadgetry.
We can’t help but daydream about a production Panamera Sport Turismo in Turbo form, but the Concept is propelled by a plug-in hybrid powertrain wearing the “e-Hybrid” designation. Details are scarce about this system, but it looks like it will add a trunk-mounted battery pack and a single drive motor to the rear axle of the rear-wheel-drive V6 Panamera.
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I liked the Panamera since it was first introduced but can admit its looks were uniquely different; typical words that tend to polarize opinions but had it looked like this from the get-go, I believe sales may have been more favorable.
“Kymera powered body board gets electrified, approaches commercial release”
It’s been over 20 months since we last looked at the Kymera jet-powered body board and it’s great to see that its creator, Jason Woods, has stuck with his dream of developing a compact and lightweight personal watercraft. In the time since our last story, Woods has continued to plug away in his garage refining the Kymera, which now sports a new hourglass shape, has made the switch from gasoline to electric power, and has attracted the interest of search and rescue (SAR) teams. Most importantly, the Kymera is nearing commercial availability, with Woods aiming for a release in 2013.
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Future waterborne drone.
Bus Roots is a living garden planted on the roofs of city buses (NY). It’s an effort that rose out of New York City designer Marco Antonio Castro Cosio’s graduate thesis at the NYU
Coming soon…
The CanniBus?
(via 30casterlyrock)
Anyone want to do this to a Royal Enfield?
I think this would be great if it could be driven from inside the cockpit of the fuselage with no rider on the motorcycle.
“Unintended Consequences, or a Lack of Design? One-Sided Sun Exposure for Vehicle Drivers”
Since being posted in the New England Journal of Medicine, the shocking photo has been making the blog rounds as an example of what they’re calling “photoaging,” or the clearly negative effects of prolonged sunlight exposure. With all of the truck drivers in the United States alone, I’m surprised we don’t see more of this. But it does make you wonder if designers of vehicles meant to be driven for long stretches, as a career, ought take into consideration that more sunlight is coming in on one side. I doubt anything can be done for this man’s face, but surely future generations of truckers deserve some sort of well-designed protection from assymetrical UV exposure.
“BMW M 135i : 2012”
The sporty and elegant design of the new three-door BMW M 135i are distinguishing features that sharpen the unmistakable profile of the BMW 1 Series as the recognised standard of sheer driving pleasure in the premium compact car segment.
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Small, blu3 car p0rn with a little bit of class and a lot of 320 horsepower! ^_^
AND it’s a hatchback!
#Mmm
“2012 Mercedes-Benz Concept Style Coupe”
“The almost production-standard Concept Style Coupé sets a new benchmark for avantgarde design in the executive segment”, emphasised Gorden Wagener, Head of Design at Mercedes-Benz. “Its breathtaking proportions, sinewy fluid surfaces and sculptural lines are the physical expression of our dynamic design idiom.”
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A couple of sketches to convey some kind of human emotion.
This is basically all it takes to establish the progress from automotive concept to manufactured reality.
“Classic Toyota 2000GT turned into solar-powered EV (w/ video)”
The engineers behind the exercise ditched the standard 2.0-liter inline six-cylinder engine in favor of a 161-horsepower electric motor. A 35kWh lithium-ion battery provides the system with power, and the hood has been covered with photovoltaic cells to help keep the car going. Likewise, the back glass is covered in a transparent solar panel. All told, the system can propel the vehicle to around 124 mph.
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Can you imagine what it was like to transition from animal-based transportation (i.e. horses) to automobiles around the turn of the century?
As dwindling resources challenge our own guilty desires tied with our love of automobiles (speaking mostly about myself), we have to accept the inevitable that something has to change for the better when it comes to the century-long reign of fossil fuels.
So when I read about projects like this, I can appreciate that the technology shift from one energy resource to another has a “familiar face”. Mostly because consumers in general tend to become polarized when presented with a concept that may be too foreign even if it’s well intentioned.
As the saying goes in the world of transportation design, it would be more likely for people to get aboard a car that could hover versus one that could fly.
And retrofitting classic cars with the latest innovations in renewable energy do just that.
“2012 Fiat 500 Abarth priced from $22,000*”
I *love* small cars! I actually consider them less as small cars and more as big armor.
And for people who instantly claim, “I’d hate to see what happens if a tractor trailer hit that thing.” A person in a small car would fare significantly better than someone hit by a semi-truck while on a motorcycle.
#TrustMe
“KOBOT City EV Concept Vehicle Transforms With The Push Of A Button”
The Kobot is developed by Kowa Tmsuk, a new company formed by Kowa, a medical instrument manufacturer, and Tmsuk, a robot manufacturer. Kowa Tmsuk isn’t just developing vehicle hardware, they are also proposing new ways of using their technology for communal car sharing in urban areas.
![“electric dolorean [sic] goes back to the future”
a DC-type electric motor with front-weighted battery achieves 0-60mph (0-100km/hr) in 4.9 seconds, with an alleged top speed of 125 mph (201 km/hr). DMC plans to offset the extra weight of the electric system by manufacturing the vehicle’s underbody with a lightweight resin-infused composite.
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If there’s any car that could pull this off, a DeLorean is certainly appropriate to be retrofitted as an electric vehicle.
At least from a styling-perspective it was already, ahem, slightly ahead of its time.
As the price of gasoline makes its steady increase in price, which it has continued to do since the 70’s, the trend for cars originally manufactured with internal combustion engines to become hybrids or strictly electric vehicles will only gain in popularity.
The effect, hopefully, will be that the 100 year reign of fossil fuel terror will slowly loosen its grasp of this planet. It may sound like hyperbole but the truth of the matter is that we do need to let go of this archaic energy source and transition to more renewable methods for the energy we need. Especially considering that crude oil also goes into every manufactured thing we use.
It’s very unlikely that the future supply of oil will meet the demands of a growing global population. Think Occupy Wall Street with a billion more people being screwed over by the companies responsible for extracting, refining, and distributing the oil from the earth.
But, can we blame the oil companies, when the demand for change can barely be heard over the glorious screaming roar of an American, German, or Italian turbocharged V8 engine?
The sound that engine will make when it runs out of gas is the same sound of an electric DeLorean sitting idle at a stoplight.
When the light turns green, only one car will proceed into the future. And it won’t be powered by gasoline.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ltbscn8uJt1qa8o5mo1_1280.jpg)
![“electric dolorean [sic] goes back to the future”
a DC-type electric motor with front-weighted battery achieves 0-60mph (0-100km/hr) in 4.9 seconds, with an alleged top speed of 125 mph (201 km/hr). DMC plans to offset the extra weight of the electric system by manufacturing the vehicle’s underbody with a lightweight resin-infused composite.
____________________
If there’s any car that could pull this off, a DeLorean is certainly appropriate to be retrofitted as an electric vehicle.
At least from a styling-perspective it was already, ahem, slightly ahead of its time.
As the price of gasoline makes its steady increase in price, which it has continued to do since the 70’s, the trend for cars originally manufactured with internal combustion engines to become hybrids or strictly electric vehicles will only gain in popularity.
The effect, hopefully, will be that the 100 year reign of fossil fuel terror will slowly loosen its grasp of this planet. It may sound like hyperbole but the truth of the matter is that we do need to let go of this archaic energy source and transition to more renewable methods for the energy we need. Especially considering that crude oil also goes into every manufactured thing we use.
It’s very unlikely that the future supply of oil will meet the demands of a growing global population. Think Occupy Wall Street with a billion more people being screwed over by the companies responsible for extracting, refining, and distributing the oil from the earth.
But, can we blame the oil companies, when the demand for change can barely be heard over the glorious screaming roar of an American, German, or Italian turbocharged V8 engine?
The sound that engine will make when it runs out of gas is the same sound of an electric DeLorean sitting idle at a stoplight.
When the light turns green, only one car will proceed into the future. And it won’t be powered by gasoline.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ltbscn8uJt1qa8o5mo2_1280.jpg)
“electric dolorean [sic] goes back to the future”
a DC-type electric motor with front-weighted battery achieves 0-60mph (0-100km/hr) in 4.9 seconds, with an alleged top speed of 125 mph (201 km/hr). DMC plans to offset the extra weight of the electric system by manufacturing the vehicle’s underbody with a lightweight resin-infused composite.
____________________
If there’s any car that could pull this off, a DeLorean is certainly appropriate to be retrofitted as an electric vehicle.
At least from a styling-perspective it was already, ahem, slightly ahead of its time.
As the price of gasoline makes its steady increase in price, which it has continued to do since the 70’s, the trend for cars originally manufactured with internal combustion engines to become hybrids or strictly electric vehicles will only gain in popularity.
The effect, hopefully, will be that the 100 year reign of fossil fuel terror will slowly loosen its grasp of this planet. It may sound like hyperbole but the truth of the matter is that we do need to let go of this archaic energy source and transition to more renewable methods for the energy we need. Especially considering that crude oil also goes into every manufactured thing we use.
It’s very unlikely that the future supply of oil will meet the demands of a growing global population. Think Occupy Wall Street with a billion more people being screwed over by the companies responsible for extracting, refining, and distributing the oil from the earth.
But, can we blame the oil companies, when the demand for change can barely be heard over the glorious screaming roar of an American, German, or Italian turbocharged V8 engine?
The sound that engine will make when it runs out of gas is the same sound of an electric DeLorean sitting idle at a stoplight.
When the light turns green, only one car will proceed into the future. And it won’t be powered by gasoline.
“CAR DESIGNS BY CCS STUDENTS & GRADS: THE OLSEN YEARS 1987 - 2000”
From Core77.com:
Carl Olsen was the head of the College for Creative Studies Transportation Design program from 1987-2000. Having previously been Director of Style for Citroen, Director of Design at Ogle Design Ltd., and Tutor in Transportation Design Royal College of Art London, Carl brought a distinct flavor to the program, adding to its already established reputation as a transportation design powerhouse.
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For anyone aspiring to work in the design field, especially anything I.D. related, simple form sketching is probably the most valuable skill to have. It helps to know different CAD packages and other computer software but when it comes to quickly sharing an idea, even iterations of an idea, sketching will open many doors for you.
In fact, I’d say it’s easier to learn CAD than it is to draw what’s in your head. It’s a skill worth maintaining on a regular basis so keep those pens and pencils moving.
For those NOT in the know, Ralph Gilles who designed the Chrysler 300 and currently the CEO of the SRT brand and senior VP of design at Chrysler, went to CCS.
