Car manufacturers have always been interested to explore how the vehicles of the future would be like, but the key remains as to how prepared are we to face the challenge of presenting newer options. We know that BMW always introduces jaw-dropping car concept such as the last post in this blog BMW M1 Homage, but even in our wildest dream we don’t expect to see BMW latest car concept would be made of cloth. BMW Group Design has come up with GINA or Geometry and Functions in “N” Adaptations. BMW Gina Light car concept promotes innovative thinking and allows maximum freedom of creativity. Also BMW has explored the creative options that can be provided rather than probing how the future cars will look like. This car can change shape and surface at the flick of a switch, and the ‘GINA’ principles it espouses have been used to craft today’s BMW design language.
BMW design has been known to ruffle a few conservative feathers in the past, and today’s disclosure of its GINA process is bound to raise eyebrows. Standing on its 20-inch alloys, the Light Vision Model concept looks like a modern-day BMW sports car, displaying taut sculpted muscles and the brand’s unmistakable signature form language of flame surfacing.
Yet the Light Visionary Model is not made of metal but of cloth. The virtually seamless stretch fabric is secured on a meshwork of metal wires that shields the movable substructure beneath. So, what is BMW Gina price tag? Well, don’t hold your breath, it’s only a concept.
Designer : BMW via CarMagazine.co.uk
Hi
This is the coolest stuff I've ever seen.
The only question I have about this car is…
Is this possible and acceptable to build a car in such soft material? Once again The coolest thing ever!
Cheers
yah i also agree with u..it looks gorgeous but it seems like overcast with cloth,,
Designer in battle against BMW for “Gina”
COVERING SYSTEM CONTESTED: CASE FILED AGAINST THE GERMAN CARMAKERS AT THE ROME PUBLIC PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE.
Source: Corriere della Sera 01/03/2009 – Michele Manno
Rome
It is certainly a strange case that has ended up on the desk of the Public Prosecutor in Rome.
You could almost say that the two contestants are the present situation and the future.
The present situation is represented by designer Giuseppe Bianco; the future by the well-known BMW car manufacturers.
Why future? Because BMW recently won an award in Paris for the most beautiful “Concept Car of 2008”.
The car has an unusual name: ”Gina”. And we know for a fact that, like Gina Lollobrigida and all other women, Gina loves elegant clothes. So much so that she has been called the “Light visionary model”.
She is a car that we will never actually see on the road, like all “concept cars” which, by definition, propose new ideas destined to take shape on the roads of everyday life some time in the near future. The idea is in the composition of the car body, consisting principally of an elasticized fabric stretched over the frame which can be modified at the touch of a button, depending on the driver’s tastes. So it is a fabric to suit all occasions, from a simple meal in a pizzeria to a Gala evening in Monte Carlo. It is a kind of travelling haute couture wardrobe.
But this is where the present, with its laws and regulations, impacts on “Gina’s” destiny. Fashion designer Giuseppe Bianco has initiated a case against BMW, alleging counterfeit and the violation of the industrial property law, claiming that it was he who, in 2005, invented the exclusive procedure by which it is possible to apply any type of covering (leather, fabric and technical materials) to the body of a car or motorbike, thus making “the coverings themselves impermeable and resistant to atmospheric agents”. Before turning to the justice system, in this case public prosecutor Marcello Monteleone, Giuseppe Bianco’s lawyers warned BMW not to continue any activities connected with the use of this process. But the car was still presented.
Whatever the truth of the matter – and legal battles over patents are usually complex – perhaps one day we will hear the verdict. It is up to the judiciary to decide who is right and who is wrong: but for once the case does not concern murder, disputes or violence, but the future of a car; and the prosecution and defence have to make a decision about “Gina”.
wow how cool is that car ?
wow really its my favourite
How soon will it be available in the market and would it be energy efficient?
beautiful concept but realistically… what happens in a crash? what happens if it gets scratch/ cut? how much does it cost to maintain and repair? I've totaled cars before and im damn pleased with the fact that the metal shell around me bent before i did. I wonder how the fabric will effect a situation like that…
awsomeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Los mejor no ay comparacion la makina del futuro
It would be great to see the cloth improved to the point where it can be used in production cars, but I doubt it will ever be what an entire race car body is made from.
It looks like to be the descendant of the BMW i8 Spyder as the accent is striking. BMW teased this concept in "The future is closer than you think" showcase about hybrids and concept cars.
Even in 2013 this car still looks like it's something from the future :p but sure it looks really decently.