BMW GINA concept

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You beat me by 3 minutes on the post.

This is by far the coolest car in recent times. I'm baffled by the aesthetic beauty of this thing. Here's some more info on the car.

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BMW Press Release
The key to affecting the development of tomorrow's mobility lies in our readiness to challenge what is established and in the ability to present new options. In order to meet these objectives, BMW Group Design taps into the potential of the GINA principle (Geometry and Functions In "N" Adaptions) which promotes innovative thinking by allowing maximum freedom of creativity. GINA produces dramatically different solutions that affect the design and functionality of future cars. The GINA Light Visionary Model is an optical expression of selective, future-oriented concepts which provide an example of the manner and extent of this transformation.

BMW Group Design is not just interested in answering the question of how the car of the future will look but primarily wishes to explore the creative freedom it has to offer. Both of these aspects are affected by the requirements that future cars are expected to meet. All ideas that the GINA Light Visionary Model presents are therefore derived from the needs and demands of customers concerning the aesthetic and functional characteristics of their car and their desire to express individuality and lifestyle. The GINA Light Visionary Model has an almost seamless outer skin, a flexible textile cover that stretches across a moveable substructure. Individual functions are only revealed if and when they are needed. With this model, BMW Group Design initiates a fundamental discourse about the characteristics that will affect the development of cars in future. It is therefore fundamentally different from concept cars, which reflect what is expected of them by implementing as many elements as possible in a future production model. In contrast, the GINA Light Visionary Model is a vision of future cars and serves as an object of research.

Full PR can be found here.

I'm ridiculously impressed, both from traditional design outlook and from a creative display of what the company can do. The dynamism in the lines, the actual fabric composing both proportion and graphic elements of the body. This is spectacular work.
 
Right. So now we know Bangle's new straitjacket is shiny and silver. :D

Every time I see new BMWs I think of the computer in Tron.
 
I have to admit – pretty cool. I mean, of course, it’s hideous, but the technology is cool. :D
 
It's fascinating, brave and utterly thought-provoking.

Think of how many ways this sort of vehicle may change things.

How much lighter can a car be without sheet metal and all the paint sitting on top of it?

Can the car change it's shape to suit aerodynamic conditions? How do high speeds affect the ability of the skin to keep it's shape?

If it takes 2 hours to 'skin' the car, would it be feasible to simply replace it whenever it blemishes? Tears? Or maybe just because you're bored of the color?

I gotta say, Bangle is nothing if not ballsy.


M
 
I am absolutely not going to badmouth the concepts in the car. There is much to be said about the application of ideas and basic presentation. Anyone who's ever seen a WWI aircraft will find at least one of the ideas familiar, however.

Practically, it isn't looking good, until you consider what materials might work to bring this to reality. First chav with a knife and a grudge and this BMW's leotard would be round its lugnuts.

I think a flexible Kevlar weave, carefully manufactured, would be a very practical material for this idea. Bear in mind, any fabric could be thought of as a composite without a matrix, in which case Colin Chapman was doing this 40 years ago, he just decided to pour a hundredweight of molten plastic over it. :D
 
Any determined vandal can inflict thousands of dollars in damage to a conventional sheet metal car. Someone with a screwdriver or hammer or even a pair of keys, etc. having a go at a Z4, can ring the register up in the 4 digit range without much time or effort. Such a car would end up spending days in a paint shop.

Whereas apparently, this thing can be recovered in a few hours.


M
 
Any determined vandal can inflict thousands of dollars in damage to a conventional sheet metal car. Someone with a screwdriver or hammer or even a pair of keys, etc. having a go at a Z4, can ring the register up in the 4 digit range without much time or effort. Such a car would end up spending days in a paint shop.

Whereas apparently, this thing can be recovered in a few hours.


M
Tell me about it, my mom had an incident where a window a truck was carrying blew up and glass shards scratched her 530i from bumper to bumper. It was about 10 grand to fix, and took a week and a half to get it fixed, with this it should take a day or two and way less money.
 
That is a very cool and great looking car.

However, it seems that door dings and such are far less likely, but what about somebody with a blade or keys? If the fabric was ripped, wouldn't it take far more time and money to fix because of the required materials and the fact that you basically have to reskin the whole car.

I really like the flexible body and some of the things it provides. Definitely a car I wouldn't mind driving.
 
Any determined vandal can inflict thousands of dollars in damage to a conventional sheet metal car. Someone with a screwdriver or hammer or even a pair of keys, etc. having a go at a Z4, can ring the register up in the 4 digit range without much time or effort. Such a car would end up spending days in a paint shop.

Whereas apparently, this thing can be recovered in a few hours.


M

You know what, that's a good point. However, I suppose the flipside is often that because a thing is easy to do, it gets done a lot. :(
 
You know what the best part is? NO MORE DINGS AND SCRATCHES!!! :cheers::cheers::cheers:
Hello, knife cuts, darning needles, and blowout patches. I can see that as so much better.
 
How much lighter can a car be without sheet metal and all the paint sitting on top of it?

Can the car change it's shape to suit aerodynamic conditions? How do high speeds affect the ability of the skin to keep it's shape?
Imagine hard-top convertibles, or just convertibles in general.

No more oversized rear-ends, and the car will litteraly change shape to be more optimised for either shape. A "hard-top" convertible will now change shape from a roadster to a coupe/fastback instead of just having a "bubble" on top of a convertible body, as a lot of the cheaper HTCs do it.

I can see a car like this "grow" a roof whenever its needed. That would be heaps better than anything there is today.
 
That is...uhm...

It reminds me of...a REALLY hot girl in skintight clothing...

That car is SEXY.

Granted...I think cloth covering is for WWI aircraft, but, hey, little sports car in spandex looks hot..

okay, I'm done.
 
The issue of vandalism is valid, but any material that went into mass use would have some sort of way of preventing large tears (sp?). Be it wire that is difficult to cut running ever cm/inch etc or just a damn stronger material.

At the moment however, materials technology is a rapidly growing area with advances in carbon, nano and sintering (less relevant here) technology leading the way.

I reckon within 5 years there'll be a material capable of all this and no more expenisve than todays carbon fibre.

An incredible concept, idea and the design is bloody amazing.The aerodynamicists are going to have a great time with the flexibility this offers :D
 
For issues of fabric durability: I am rather sure that the car, should it ever go to market, would be covered in a fairly tear-resistant fabric. The car itself is eccentric, however the choice of materials is certainly interesting.

WWII had a few oddities which were covered with fabric (Hawker Hurricane).
 
The more I look at it the more I want it.

The idea of a car that flares its nostrils, flexes its muscles, squints its eyes, and reaches out to embrace me is just incredibly awesome.

Wonder what the fabric feels like when it's running, damn shame it would probably never see production, because I love this car.
 
Bangle comes across as a tool in that video, but there's no getting away from the fact that that is one stunningly sensual car.
 
I was reading through the press statement and they have designed every BMW since the Z8 this way. They just changed the bars and put a cover on, then make it out of clay and then metal. This one they just showed the potential of what they can and have been doing for a while.
 
Not coincidentally, I was wondering about that myself – when I saw this, it occurred to me that the “flame-surface styling” seemed to fit the textile-use perfectly (and is kind of unnecessarily difficult with metal).
 
Getting my car washed. If they’re looking at all towards mass-production, that’s the sort of thing that needs to be taken into account.
 
Meh. Its cool in the "hey that's different!" sense, but otherwise that gets a resounding "meh" from me. BMW has been really hit and miss with their concepts for me as of late, particularly these more fanciful things. Granted, more grounded concepts that make vehicles like the X6 are just as horrible in their own right, but yeah, no less... I'm not a fan I guess.
 
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