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As part of the LA Auto Show, the 2008 LA Design Challenge competition places some of the world's most creative designers into a steel battle cage with a cadre of vicious weapons d'arte, forcing them to battle to the death. Okay, we made that up, but the LA Design Challenge is a competition, although one which features creative designs all based on a central theme. This year's theme is the shape of racing in the year 2025. Letting designers run wild with ideas is as dangerous as it sounds and while there will be no bloodshed on the field of battle, madness might beset the eventual winner. Although we've already seen one of the entries — join us as we take a look at all nine incredibly crazy entrants in detail. More »
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A panel of experts consisting of car designers, robotics specialists, Art Center faculty and (presumably) Stephan Hawkings' wheelchair looked at all the entrants and decided that the Slipstream is the coolest dog in the window. To refresh your memory, around town the Slipstream rides upright on two wheels and occupies 1/5 the space of a conventional car. Once on a specially built freeway (also called Slipstream), the Slipstream lays down like a regular car, deploys rear fins and can hit speeds exceeding 250 mph. Jalopnik would like to point out that the Slipstream's top speed is a full 50 mph slower than the Vector A-WX-8. Just sayin'. In conclusion, Mercedes-Benz was robbed! congratulations to the VW team of Derek Jenkins, Ian Hilton and Patrick Faulwetter. More »
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Yet another prediction of dense population and saturated roadways in 2057 guides Volkswagen's design brief for its Slipstream concept. V-dub's Design Los Angeles entry is a two-wheeled, teardrop shaped pod that can tilt upward to occupy one-fifth the space of a normal car. Most notably, the Slipstream will ride on a special freeway lane, allowing the solar-powered vehicle — resembling an electric toothbrush with the head detached — to reach speeds in excess of 250 mph. And, naturally, that means a titanic municipal boondoggle could in the offing for the late 2040s. But all the bond-issue and construction headaches may work to motorists' favor, considering the Slipstream's potential to hearken a new era of personal, high-speed travel. And a desperately lonely populace. [Design Los Angeles] More »
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Now, this here is what we call next-level thinking. Imagine a car in which the driver is indistinguishable from his conveyance. Where the two entities merge to become some manner of cyborganic motoring organism that allows the driver to experience the feel of the road as if the car was an extension of his own cells. That's the idea of Mazda designer Matthew Cunningham, who named the Motonari RX concept in honor of a Japanese warrior. Controls are projected to be manipulated by way of a driving suit containing millions of microscopic actuators. Under the hood is a 427 ci Chevrolet rat motor. Just kidding. [Design Los Angeles] More »
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Fifty years from now, at least as projected in Mercedes-Benz's entry for this year's Design Los Angeles, parking won't be an issue for Merc drivers. That's because cars like the SilverFlow concept will be built from micro-metallic particles that can be assembled and disassembled by way of magnetic energy. That means instead of garages, we'll be able to park our cars in duffel bags. When drive-time comes, reassembly will be a matter of pushing a button on a smart key fob and getting the hell out of the way. Plus, the idea of cars returning to the look of 1930s Grand Prix racers will totally add a whole Fritz Lang vibe to the future. Maybe we'll even have those cool electric-arc gadgets in our home laboratories. [Design Los Angeles] More »
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In 2057, according to Honda, the hybridization of automotive powerplants will encompass solar power, making designers' One to the Power of Four concept eligible to travel in the HOV lanes of the future (who knew they'd still be around?). Designers also project the 50-year population increase will require much more flexibility than current cars allow. That problem will be solved by advances in molecular engineering, which will allow the car's body panels to shape-shift as needed. The use of gyros (no, not the Greek sandwich) and artifical intelligence will make such transmogrification possible. We'd imagine all this automotive mutability will get pretty unnerving in LA traffic. [Design Los Angeles] More »
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With its entry in Design Los Angeles this year, GM's projecting the future of its OnStar service, on which the company just introduced new perp-thwarting gear. Apparently, in 2057, the telematics service will facilitate a vast network of embedded intelligence, enabling cars (i.e., foldable rolling pyramids) to communicate with each other. That, they say, will maximize traffic flow and prevent accidents, though some believe it may cause the formation of unhealthy attachments, a result of the futuristic machines' narcissistic sense of entitlement. The cars themselves, will be reconfigurable, by way of single-walled, carbon-polymer nanocomposites that form flat surface panels. The panels will incorporate the carbon nanotube battery that powers their e-motors. That settles it, in 50 years we're totally shorting jiffy lube stock. [Design Los Angeles] More »
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That's right, being it's October going on November, it's time for Design Los Angeles, where car companies answer a call for futurism with sci-fi craziness. This year, the call went out for robocars from 2057. And we'll be posting the entries throughout the day. First up is the Audi Virtuea, a car Audi designers say "combines artificial intelligence with avenues of self expression." That means its design can change to suit a particular momentary proclivity. It does it by eliminating that pesky material surface and replacing it with a holograph of a body style surrounding the outside. That way, drivers can change the car's looks on the fly, thwarting the police and confounding crooks by turning into a '78 Ford Granada in bad neighborhoods. We'll take it. [Design Los Angeles] More »
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