Well, I can't prove Eduardo Galvani used a secret mind-reading ray to tap into my desire-glands and figure out the sort of odd, van-like, cab-over vehicle I dream about, but it sure feels like it. His Nimbus concept is fantastic, I think, even if it is just a bunch of renderings with no chance in hell of being made.
Galvani describes it as an 'c-Car' and has made up an awful lot of specs about how it works and what it does — 180 HP electric motor with a 200 mile range — but let's be honest, all those numbers are pulled ex recto and are meaningless.
But the fundamental design itself — rear-engine, cab-over, ovoid-box van — is something I think the world desperately needs. Even if that world may just be me.
It's clearly inspired by previous cabover vans like the VW Microbus and maybe the never-quite made Jeep FC minivan, but it has its own, slightly retrofuturistic look, mostly thanks to the chubby, slightly teardrop general shape.
This version is pretty butched up with big tires and a roof rack and other trappings of adventuring, which I love, but it's easy to picture this on smaller street tires and made a bit sleeker for city life. Crash-worthiness is always an issue with cab-over designs, though in this one the occupants' relative height and rather long structure from the front to the driver may offer as much protection as a conventional hood. I'm hopeful.
Also, all that curved glass looks pretty expensive.
I love the details of the external lighting and chunky door handles and riveted fenders. Japan has come the closest with many of their Kei cars to making this flexible box-on-wheels type of vehicle, but so far no major automaker seems willing to make anything like this, no matter how much I pester them.
Still, it's fun to look at these renderings and dream.