I thought all the wackiness was out in Tokyo?
You were wrong. The Los Angeles Auto Show starts in mid-November and for the past three years has run a design contest to see what cars could look like in the future. This is the fourth year of the Design Challenge and this year contestants were asked to envision the ‘RoboCar of 2057’. And we’re not talking teenage wannabe designers either, but the major design studios of southern California. Audi, General Motors, Mercedes and Volkswagen took part, as well as the majority of the Japanese car manufactures. The winner will be announced at the LA show. Above is the GM OnStar Ant. The OnStar technology allows vehicle-to-vehicle communication to eliminate accidents and improve traffic flow while the three wheels allow easy manoeuvrability, and it’s no bigger than an average family saloon. But click ‘Next’ to see something a lot more wacky…
So who had the wackiest design?
We’d give it to Mazda because what it has designed doesn’t even look like a car. It’s called the Motonari RX and apparently ‘integrates the driver with the vehicle allowing the driver to experience the road psychosomatically’. Basically you experience the drive on a deeper, mental level. The wheels allow 360 degree horizontal movement and the whole car is formed around your body. Mazda reckons the driving position is akin to street luge, but to us it looks more like you have to lie on the ground, legs akimbo…
So something more practical then?
Something from Honda perhaps? Called the 124, it’s a solar-hybrid, robotic commuter. It’s four cars in one and thus allows commuters to use the HOV (high-occupancy vehicle) lanes. When you get near your destination the car splits apart to allow the occupants to go their separate ways: basically the Fantastic Four’s Fantasticar for your average punter.
The future should include robots. Any robots?
Above is the Nissan OneOne (pronounced ‘won-won’), which is apparently a ‘friendly pet’. It’s a robotic servant, but in the shape of a car, and does everything from the school run to picking up dry cleaning. We also think it’d be good after a night out to eliminate drink driving. There’s only one small issue, because the OneOne propels itself by ‘skating’ the rear wheels, which might cause a little bit of sickness…
If GM were there, surely Toyota were competing as well?
There were, and the company has shown something called a Biomobile Mecha. Looking a long, long way into the future the car is designed to run on pollution, thus cleaning the environment as it goes. The car itself is made from nanotechnology, meaning the wheels can adapt to allow the Biomobile Mecha to move vertically and horizontally. The same nanotechnology also allows the vehicle to expand or shrink, so it can be a compact commuter, a performance car, or apparently a ‘temporary dwelling’. Talk about living in your car…
Do you have a favourite?
We’re quite partial to this offering from Audi. The Virtuea Quattro has hydrogen power and a solid core (above, centre), but the exterior is holographic so you can be seen to drive everything from a classic racer (above, left) to a 2050s sports car (above, right). When you park up you can leave it looking like a tree, or anything for that matter, and the car goes about converting CO2 into oxygen.
If the Audi is good, is the VW merely a cheaper copy?
Not a bit of it, and the Slipstream resembles the GX3 concept from 2006 – slightly. But rather than three wheels, the Slipstream has just two, and an elongated tail for balance. VW reckons that the solar-powered vehicle could reach 250mph on motorways before flipping upright in congested areas, thus taking up less space on the road.
Is that a futuristic Caterham?
Nope, it’s a Mercedes SilverFlow. Merc says it was inspired by historic Grand Prix cars. The low shape and tall, thin wheels help to minimise drag. The car is made from micro-metallic particles that can, via magnetic fields, change their shape. That means you can have a tall city car, a passenger vehicle, a motorway speedster, or store the car as a small metal lump. CAR Online will be at the LA Auto Show in November to bring you the winner, and all the other news, new cars and gossip.
If the Audi is good, is the VW merely a cheaper copy?
Not a bit of it, and the Slipstream resembles the GX3 concept from 2006 – slightly. But rather than three wheels, the Slipstream has just two, and an elongated tail for balance. VW reckons that the solar-powered vehicle could reach 250mph on motorways before flipping upright in congested areas, thus taking up less space on the road.
Is that a futuristic Caterham?
Nope, it’s a Mercedes SilverFlow. Merc says it was inspired by historic Grand Prix cars. The low shape and tall, thin wheels help to minimise drag. The car is made from micro-metallic particles that can, via magnetic fields, change their shape. That means you can have a tall city car, a passenger vehicle, a motorway speedster, or store the car as a small metal lump. CAR Online will be at the LA Auto Show in November to bring you the winner, and all the other news, new cars and gossip.