Rinspeed shows ZaZen ahead of Geneva debut
Designer Frank Rinderknecht has been freebasing the styling clay again. Or perhaps not. Either way, the eccentric and his posse at Rinspeed have come up with yet another wild and wacky concept, the "zAZen," which apparently is Rinspeak for "automotive enlightenment on four wheels."
Either way, the Porsche-based 997-based concept, set to debut on February 28 in Geneva, was produced in partnership with the polymer prodigies at Bayer Materialscience. The result is a gigantic transparent canopy made of Makrolon®, which turns 'into a luminous holographic area' that projects the third brake light 'as if from nowhere.' Why, we're not quite sure... but Rinderknecht's mad scientist creations have been about gloriously blue-sky thinking, and we're not about to start arguing now. Swarovski detailing, clear seat inserts, and bespoke body paneling ensure that extrovert owners will likely never encounter a similar car on the road.
(More photos and details after the jump)
For those interested in more visceral than visual drama, the zaZen weighs just under 3,300 lbs. and is motivated by the 355 bhp six-pot boxer powerplant, donated (along with many other bits) from Porsche's 997 Carrera S, all of which is lashed to a '4x adjustable chassis' designed by KW Automotive.
A small production run is being toyed with.
[Source: Rinspeed]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Christopher 7:53AM (2/16/2006)
Very sweet ride !!!!!!!!!
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Nick Haug 7:58AM (2/16/2006)
Very nice!!
I'm seeing elements of the 959...
www.performancegt.com
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Dan 8:23AM (2/16/2006)
The back end is somewhat reminscent of the second generation Corvair. Other than that...interesting.
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Jason 8:58AM (2/16/2006)
That looks like ass. I think a 14-year old got to be in charge of a design studio for a day, and made something "way cool" in his eyes.
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nastinupe 9:44AM (2/16/2006)
I guess that the human deep freeze technology actually does work because this car is a clear representation of what an engineer/ designer from 1986 would have come up with with the technology of 2006.
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Not Finished Yet 10:52AM (2/16/2006)
Looks like the primer-coat unfinished "customs" I used to see tooling around Mijami Florida when I lived near there. Did they forget to paint it or something?
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Tim UF 1:40PM (2/16/2006)
no picture of the 3rd brakelight out of nowhere?
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rrudorf 3:00PM (2/16/2006)
this is one of the few tuners that keeps getting consignments yet keeps churning out swill.
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Phil 10:04PM (2/16/2006)
That back end is hilarious.
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sis 8:44PM (2/18/2006)
that has to be the ugliest car i have ever seen no way i would ever buy that even if it dirt cheap
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Geronimo 9:51PM (2/18/2006)
is the top of that all glass? wont the person inside ther be hot as hell in the summer?
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Jeff 9:57PM (2/18/2006)
Cool looking, but imagine what the temperature of your car is on a hot summer's day and multiply it by 100. That would be how this car would feel on a hot summer's day with that clear roof.
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Bek 10:00PM (2/18/2006)
Are you kidding me? This car is awesome. looks like Porsche 911 turbo. I love it. bring this car to US. i would by this car in a heartbeat. Hopefully It'll be successful. Bring this car to US. Whoever don't like this car GUYS suck it up and get lost
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Chuck Lopez 10:33PM (2/18/2006)
OK, 355 Base-HP, not enough for the heavy 3300 lbs. Take in a diet of carbon fiber and slim it to around 2800lbs and add 500Wheel-HP and were talkin about looks that book. Take a tuned Cayman, pump in some steroids and a little Rinder-nuity, this is what u get. Almost genious. Just don't hold back on the power. Especially in a heavy car. Look at the G35.
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rebecca 11:18PM (2/18/2006)
What about sunscrean? That can be just as spendy as gas
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Angel 12:41AM (2/19/2006)
HOT!!!!! It's so neat lookin and it catches your eye, but too bad it doesn't have backs seat, no where to put the kids!, oh well , hopefully it's succesful, when i'm 70 i'll have enough money to pay for it by then! Awsome car
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Becki 4:22AM (2/19/2006)
i like this one... its corvette/eclipse/something else...the cops should like it..i mean think about it..nobody would be doing anything illegle in this car and i guarentee you'd have that extra motivation to not pick ur nose when ya thought nobody was lookin...haha
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ck 5:04AM (2/19/2006)
I love the futuristic curvyness on all the new cars, I like the direction...but it looks so low to the ground, it looks like the front end is bound to hit the pavement on the first steep driveway curb to the street...KURPLUNK!
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Gary 5:09AM (2/19/2006)
What a real piece of shit......try driving that car on a hot summer day with that rediculous roof . Apparently they`ve never been to Arizona . Looks like the brainchild of some 13 year old retard . Please give me a break......NEXT .
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George Scott 5:46AM (2/19/2006)
Looks like someone has been watching Speed Racer. Looks just like the mach 5!
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