Concept : Plug-In

This is the “Plug-In” affordable youth mobility project by Ramesh Gound. According to Gound, there is a big “buy 1 get 1 free” shopping attitude in the market around the Ahmedabad area of India. This simple concept gave Gound the idea to take two motorcycles and attach them in the middle.

Each motorcycle is owned by its respective party, a young person with a big appetite for sports vehicles but a small pocketbook, then they attach. Once two motos attach in the middle, they become that fantastic sports car from heaven.

Two drive-by-wire bikes are owned by separate people. They wanna attach them for a longer drive or some sort of trip that’s not great for motorcycle, or hey, if they just wanna cruuuze… they attach in the center of the two.

The hood is made of D3O, which when the bikes are not attached, stows away in the bike configuration. This whole concept is aimed to take on congested cities such as Mumbai.

Some info from Gound — This project is my final year Diploma project at National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad India sponsored by Renault Design India.


All pics & info via yankodesign

Concept : MERCEDES-BENZ F800

The Mercedes-Benz F800, which runs on gas, electricity, and hydrogen, is clearly the right pathway of future automobiles. The F800 hybrid will combine a traditional gasoline engine using direct-injection technology with a hybrid module, which can be powered up by simply plugging into a charging station.

Meanwhile, the F-cell variant will run on hydrogen stored in tanks under the seats for electric driving with zero local emissions. The only emission, in fact, is pure water vapor.

As well as prophesying the three-lane philosophy, the F800 is in many ways the sculpted shape of things to come from German marque. It’s essentially a three-liter sedan, like its predecessor the F700, but has streamlined sportscar aesthetics with a coupe-like roof and rear doors that slide open, allowing passengers to leap out like less-graceful members of the A-Team.

It’s actually longer and wider than your average upper-end sedan, in order to accommodate the two alternative engine configurations, but innovations inside the car have kept the weight down. The seats are covered in real wood and perforated leather, but they cover a very minimal lightweight plastic skeleton. The floor of the car is now a single piece of metal rather than the heavy—and costly—sandwich design.

Prices are likely to start at around £30,000 ($43,000) for the hybrid and even more for the F-cell, Mercedes warned.

[Mercedes]

All pics & info via loudreams

Porsche 356 aluminium coupe

The first Roadster prototype was developed to create an alloy coupe in 1948, and it was a successful move. In contrast to the Porsche Number 1, the engine was now moved behind the rear axle, as with the Volkswagen, to create space for two small emergency seats or kid space.

Only around 50 examples of the 356 aluminium coupe were produced between 1949 and 1951 in the Austrian town of Gmund, and then provisional production lines were set up in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen. In 1951 the aluminium coupe's manufactured in Gmund became the basis for Porsche's entry into the world of automotive racing.

[via cartype]

All pics & info via naxmix

Lexus LF-A Nürburgring Package

Lexus is celebrating its participation in the 24 hours of Nürburgring with an exclusive 50 car run "Nürburgring Package" that adds race-friendly kit such as a new front splitter, dive planes, fixed rear wing, and a sportier suspension. The 4.8 liter V10 engine also gets a slight boost with the addition of 10 horsepower for a total of 562 hp.

Link / Source

All pics & info via acquiremag

Concept : Giugiaro Quaranta

The show car, created to mark the design house's 40th anniversary, made its debut at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show. Billed as the world's fastest hybrid, the Quaranta is powered by the hybrid powertrain from the Lexus RX400h and supplemental solar panels to propel itself to sixty in 4.2 seconds. And recently it was retrofitted with a meter, white paint and a dome light to shuttle fares around the Italian capital at the same rate as any other taxi in the city.

Source

All pics & info via luxist

Concept : BMW Gran Coupe

Presented at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show, the BMW Concept Gran Coupé is a four-door coupé that incorporates the classic design features of all BMW coupes: the long wheelbase, the vaulted hood with forward-pointing lines, the set-back greenhouse, the flat silhouette, the coupe-style roof line and the short front overhang reflect the dynamic potential of the vehicle.

The BMW Concept Gran Coupé up to 100 millimeters flatter than the BMW 5 Series or the BMW 7 Series Sedan. The roof line tapers off gently into the rear, thereby elongating the vehicle’s proportions. The clarity of the LED front lights highlights the vehicle’s precision and premium aspirations.

The powerfully flared wheel arches above the rear axle highlight the particularly sporty character of the BMW Concept Gran Coupé. The sculptural shaping style characteristic of the entire body design of the BMW Concept Gran Coupé permits a unique interaction between concave and convex surfaces.

All pics & info via flylyf