Tech | November 07, 2008 | 7 comments

BMW's fabric car body!

source: http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/1075-bmws-fascinating-gina-light-visionary-model-design-s...

amypoo
BMW presents GINA, a new take on car design, materials, and flexibility. The GINA replaces the traditional metal/plastic skin with a textile fabric skin that’s pulled taut around a frame of metal and carbon fiber wires. Even the shape of the car can change. Fascinating and creative design study.
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7 comments // BMW's fabric car body! // Video

  • purplefox
    • 0
      purplefox  

    • very cool. i wonder if this could also be applied to aircraft, which could also save on fuel and efficiency - back to canvas-covered biplanes!

    • 3 years ago
  • amypoo
  • necrotized
  • Ryland
    • 0
      Ryland  

    • Pretty amazing concept. Hopefully it doesn't get canned like most other amazing concepts. I wonder how it stacks up for crash tests.... And how easy it can be cut/torn. You know, the people that key peoples cars. Imagine if that would happen in GINA.

      Either way. I want one just for the "eyelid" headlights :-D

    • 3 years ago
  • fisheye
    • 0
      fisheye  

    • This isn't just about sexy car design. Imagine, anything that needs a skin, super light boats and planes for fuel efficiency. Shape-shifting vehicles for changing aerodynamic conditions. Wow, the future looks different. At last, a flying car?

    • 3 years ago
  • PressCore
    • 0
      PressCore  

    • Sounds innovative all right. But what I wouldn't give for a BMW-5 electric drive in the mini Cooper design...As in the cars they used in the movie "The Italian Job" but with an even better innovation: a rust proof stainless steel alloy body like the DeLaurean they used in yet another movie "Back to the Future" Can you immagine what it would be like to drive your beamer all winter long, parking it in an unheated garage, then simply washing it whenever it's convenient for you to ? A car you could drive in central New York (the rust belt) that would still look like it was driven in New Mexico-20 years later.
      Even if BMW made an electric car (and they do now-a 2 seater mini Cooper style) whose body was made of composite materials that could not rust, without metal,it would still be providing people with what they need-something to preserve their investment. Calling
      cars made to rust out "durable goods" is fraud. Because there's nothing durable and nothing good about that.

    • 3 years ago
  • amypoo
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