The Car That Changes Shape
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday June 14, 2008
BMW likes to shock with its radical designs and has shifted up another gear, the Drive team reports.
SQUINT just a little bit and this car should give you an idea of what BMW's next sports car will look like. It's called the Gina Light Visionary Model which, translated, means the next generation Z4.BMW has developed a reputation for its shocking car designs and the new model is no exception.Until five years ago, BMWs were criticised for being too predictable. At least you can't say that about the new model. BMW's lead designer, Chris Bangle, says owners should discover something new about their car every time they get in it. But the best part about this car is that if you don't like the look of it after you've bought it, you can change the way it looks at the press of a button.The car is covered in a special waterproof fabric. The material is draped over a high-strength metal wire structure that has a series of carbon fibre and steel-mesh struts in various locations. The driver can change the roadster's exterior design by using switches to activate these electro-hydraulically controlled sections. The headlights, for example, are hidden until switched on, when the fabric at the front of the car peels back on either side of the signature double-kidney grille to reveal the double lamps. Indicator and tail-lights simply shine through their translucent fabric covers. If you need access to the engine, the bonnet can be unzipped down the middle to create a half-metre-wide gap. Of course, all this stuff is a flight of fancy and unlikely to see showrooms but it demonstrates what's possible when your imagination is allowed to run free. Other good news: BMW says its iDrive controller has been simplified further, "displaying only functions to the driver that are relevant to the individual driving situation". The Gina roadster's steering wheel and instruments are even tucked away to allow the driver easier access. Only when the driver is in position do the steering wheel and instruments move outwards and the seat (and headrest) adjust automatically for the optimum driving position. The Gina's shape-shifting exterior can be seen in BMW's 2001 X Coupe concept car - which debuted Bangle's "flame surfacing" design language, which polarised onlookers - as well as current production models such as the Z4 (most obviously) and 1 Series. The Gina is effectively a concept car behind a concept car. BMW calls it an "object of research". Bangle, in a promotional video for the Gina research roadster, says the car exists to encourage thinking outside the box, not just about how future cars could look but also how they could be built. "This [roadster] started a whole chain of ideas in the company [to the point] that Gina became not just a model, a shape, or just [an issue] about cloth as a [vehicle] skin ... it became a real thinking process about doing things differently. "Does [a car's outer skin] always have to be made out of metal? Do we always have to make it in the same manner? "In reality, the aspects of crash [safety], [body] stiffness, and ride and handling capabilities can be handled in a spaceframe-type vehicle without the [metal] skin."For more pictures and videos, see www.drive.com.au/bmwgina
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald