VIDEO: Fabulous footage of fabric-covered BMW GINA Light Visionary Model
BMW GINA Light Visionary Model in motion
The automotive community has clearly been impressed with the GINA Light Visionary Model concept that BMW unveiled this week. The fabric-covered concept with its winking headlights, blinking gauges, mouth-like hood, and unique ability to shape shift by moving its metal-and-carbon-fiber skeleton via electro-hydraulic actuators is marvelously creative and practically ingenious at the same time. We around the Autoblog offices had a big discussion about the car after it was revealed and were amazed with the out-of-the-box ideas BMW is exploring, though some were doubtful that a fabric skin could ever be used for an actual production vehicle. While it was fun perusing the dozens and dozens of images that BMW handed out showing the GINA in various states of fold, the video above shows you exactly what the concept can do. Keep your eyes peeled for the headlight wink, disappearing gauges, pop-up head rests, a magic spoiler and much more. We reiterate, this thing is about as cool as concepts get. Thanks for the tip, Joe!
Gallery: BMW GINA Light Visionary Model
[Source: BMW]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Torrent 8:12PM (6/12/2008)
Yeah I'm pretty sure that'll stain...
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Brett- BMW Advo 8:33PM (6/12/2008)
uh... why doesnt this have iDrive?! :)
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Torrent 10:54PM (6/12/2008)
It's a concept and iDrive sucks.
Matt Keller 8:42PM (6/12/2008)
Wow, that's really freakin cool.
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3seriesisking 11:12PM (6/12/2008)
Damn straight. I wonder if anyone else has ever explored this kind of technology. Any ideas of any past explorations Autoblog?
Hugo 11:43AM (6/13/2008)
The blinking headlights alone are worth the cost, and I don't even know how much that was.
xpolarx 12:39PM (6/13/2008)
BMW has never really blown me away, but this...this is f***ing magnificent. Very cool concept.
Mike 1:35PM (6/13/2008)
The real interesting thing about this concept is not the material itself or even the framing that creates the shape: it is about the way the material behaves over the metal frame which defines the lines. The material is left to fill the voids in between the metal arches which dictate the cars lines…the shape the material naturally takes is an amazing representation and extension of Bangle’s “flame” design theory. I could see BMW designers creating models that are made up of simple wire frames which exist to represent the hard lines of the car being created and then skinning the frame in the material and allowing it to create the shape of the sheet metal for the production car. Bravo…
Brad Kempeny 8:48PM (6/12/2008)
Hey look, now you can the amount of bangle on your butt:)
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Brad Kempeny 8:48PM (6/12/2008)
"choose"
J M C 3 8:52PM (6/12/2008)
Skin ,bone and muscle represented actively working in a design .Cool.
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John P. 8:57PM (6/12/2008)
is that a vagina I see?
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Crashmaxx 9:08PM (6/12/2008)
Gina is definitely the right name for this.
ken_aisin 12:01AM (6/13/2008)
A vagina that's "va"cant.... so a gina.
Torrent 5:42AM (6/13/2008)
No it's a VaGINA
Andy 9:19PM (6/12/2008)
I don't iron my shirts before I go to work - and I'm certainly not going to iron my car.
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guy 9:33PM (6/12/2008)
I'm a bit confused. What's under the cloth?
Btw, seriously Gina? This has got to be a joke from BMW. The name thing and the whole engine. It's just too perfect to be coincidental.
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Jrejre 10:16PM (6/12/2008)
So when it gets dirty do you take it to the car wash or the dry cleaners? Do I wax it or use scotch guard? What happens when an angry girlfriend keys it? Would I have to sew it up?
And on etc. . .
But really if they could sort out some (a lot) of the issues there's potential there. Although I think carbon fiber is the closest to fabric covering we'll see on cars in the near future. Also this isn't exactly revolutionary. Didn't they use fabric coverings on old planes?
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TeamNutmeg 10:25PM (6/12/2008)
Sure did, clear up through WW2 - the Hawker Hurricane, the fighter that *really* won the Battle of Britain, had a fuselage completely covered in fabric, and most planes of the era at least had fabric-covered control surfaces.
I think this is a pretty ingenious idea and a great way to save weight without resorting to carbon fiber. Since it's not the metal body panels that protect you in a crash, it's no less safe either.
why not the LS2LS7? 1:30AM (6/13/2008)
I pray you don't work on anything that guards my safety.
The structure of your car only keeps out large objects that try to intrude, like the frame of another car. Any small object is stopped by the sheet metal, and if it misses the structural steel in this, will cut right through the fabric.
For example, the first guy to run into a plate glass window with one of these is going to have an interesting discovery. Or say you're following a truck full of white driveway stones, they stand a good chance of tearing the fabric and coming right into the cockpit. Even if you use kevlar, it won't stand up to the sharp edges of those stones, even if it can stand up to blunt objects like bullets.