BMW Introduces GINA Concept Car, Covered In Fabric

smithtuna33 writes "Ever wondered what the metal skin on your car is actually good for? Engineers at BMW have decided that fabric might work just as well. The doors literally peel away from the side of the car, the engine bay opens up down the middle, and pretty much everything (such as headlamps) is hidden until the fabric reveals it. It is a stunning concept that has already been influencing BMW's designs. The video is well worth watching."

Very cool

[tsa]

The video is really cool, but was it a real car or a computer model? And I wonder how the fabric behaves at high speeds. And how do you wash the car? I have loads of other questions but I think the concept is fantastic. Cars that can change shape! Mmmmm... :)

hope they thought this through

[immakiku]

So the chassis is still rigid right? Imagine unintentional impacts with external objects. The skin was meant to be protection for the car and driver. Flying rocks, small animals while the car is parked, pranksters, and thieves of engine parts make this not work so well. As well psychologically the driver will feel less protected in this new concept of a fabric skin. Imagine if your house was made out of cardboard... On the other hand I always like making cars lighter. I can see this becoming the norm if all the kinks are worked out.

I'll pass

[Jane Q. Public]

I would buy a Volkswagen beetle before I would buy one of those. I mean an OLD Volkswagen beetle.

One Word...

[xlsior]

...Durability. Also, since the fabric ovviously stretches and such when opening the doors (looking at the video), I'd wonder how long it would keep its original shape, before it would stretch and start flapping & making noise when you're driving down the freeway. Not to mention that someone could rip up the entire 'skin' when keying your car, and a dab of paint won't be enough to fix that.

Interesting concept...

[HockeyPuck]

Which is exactly what that is, a concept, BMW comes up with an idea and floats it with the public to see what they think. Saturn did this with plastic bodies, "you'll never get a dinged door from a loose shopping cart.." While the metal skin of a car doesn't provide much protection, I bet it does add quite a bit to the weight of a car, and quite a bit of manufacturing (stamping, painting etc..) than a textile based covering.

At least they're thinking different.

Re:hope they thought this through

[badboy_tw2002]

Dunno, there are some tough fabrics out there. Ever hear of Kevlar? Last time I checked bullets go through car doors but not Kevlar.

Re:One Word...

[Anonymous Coward]

But on the same token, if someone "keyed" your car - all you have to do is theoritcally replace the skin which should be cheap. Two hours according to the Video. Much cheaper than 2 weeks of having the car prepped, repained and in the Oven.

It also alludes to the ability to quick change the color/fabric of your car. No more $7000 paint jobs to respray a car.

Re:hope they thought this through

[DerekLyons]

Kevlar fabric (at least in the bulletproof form) isn't fabric as we usually think of it - it is thick and not very flexible at all.

Re:Skin-schmin

[vigmeister]

It goes into a parking garage as a red roadster and comes out as a green pickup truck.

It goes in a GINA and comes out a GINA. Wait... that's just wrong!

Cheers!

Re:Sounds interesting...

[Gordonjcp]

I think the most obvious danger would be someone taking a knife to the skin to break into the car and hotwire it.

How often does that happen with soft-tops?

Re:Skin-schmin

[blitzkrieg3]

That brings up a really interesting point. How do the police identify cars? Color and shape?

You identify it by the fact that it's the only expiramental car within a ten thousand mile radius with fabric where the sheet metal should be.

Re:I'll pass

[urcreepyneighbor]

I mean an OLD Volkswagen beetle.

I'm not a fan of Volkswagen, but it's hard to beat the old Beetle: low TCO, a ton of replacement and after-market parts, and an active fanbase.

Sure, I think the old Beetle looks dorky, but I'd choose one of those over a new sports car.

Yes. Seriously. :)

Re:Finally..

[xalorous]

I think you mean convertible.

Convertibles have had problems with people cutting the top since they started having ragtops.

Modern convertible tops are very difficult to cut. I'd imagine that a production version would be at least as resilient. However, when you RTFA you'll find that you won't be driving this car. It's a one-off concept bound directly for the museum.

The car was built as an exercise in creativity.

Good god

[soccerisgod]

"Design fuhrer"? I wonder if that guy has any idea what kind of insult this represents to most Germans. Probably not.

Re:Finally..

[Zencyde]

My gas tank?

You mean your liquid hydrogen tank? Or batteries? ;)

Metallic hydrogen fuel cells. Duh! ^_-

This is Slashdot, boy! Cut that anime crap! :)

The metal skin has a lot to do crash safety

[Viol8]

Most cars (not trucks) these days are monocoque - they do not have a chassis. Therefor the strength of the vehicle is contained in the entire body as a whole from roof to doors to underbelly. About the only bits that don't matter are the wings over the wheels. Sure , theres extra crash protection built into the engine bay but thats in addition to the stregth of the rest of the vehicle. If you build a fabric car body you're back to using chassis' and the poor compromises they entail.

It's official, BMW caters to little children first

[mxs]

The visuals of that video are interesting, the soundtrack is beyond condescending.

Here is a literal transcript.

"GINA is an acronym -- a set of letters -- that stand for geometry -- shapes -- and function -- how things work -- an N -- n is a way of saying 'an infinite number' -- of adaptations -- meaning, there is a lot of change possible."

Their target audience does not know that an acronym is a set of letters, that geometry deals with shapes, that function is related to how things work, that N is a variable, and that adaptating means changing.

He goes on to babble a whole lot of meaningless babbling. "Context over Dogma, that's it!" are the last words in that presentations. Seldomly have I heard a saying so devoid of meaning.

Re:Finally..

[Chrisje]

Didn't anyone RTFA?

I see a lot of people talking about the sturdiness of said fabric, but noone mentions that it's some space-age stuff they're slapping on there, on a metal frame, laced with carbon for extra strengthening.

Come on guys! Zee Germans are building the thing! I'm relatively sure they'll deliver a solid product. They *ALWAYS* do.

Re:Skin-schmin

[mgblst]

In some countries they have this new invention called a number plate, that goes on the back and sometimes the front of the car. These are unique to each car, and car owner is registered to that number plate.

Neat, huh?

Apparently nobody replying to slashdot is aware of

[1shooter]

the fact airplanes have been and are still being covered with fabric. The current favorite covering material is unsized Dacron glued in place and heated to shrink to a tight fit before painting. This is undoubtedly what the BMW design team used. I suggest those interested in the fabric coverings check out information on home built aircraft for details.

Naysayer

[Scratch-O-Matic]

Noise.

Rain.

Branches.

My convertible has a fabric top, planes used to be

[RJFerret]

...and racecars use tape for body fixes during a race.

However lots of fabric can still be heavy. Keeping the convertible top clean (and cleaning out things in the fibers) can be a pain. I know some convertible drivers who intentionally don't lock them. I've heard of a top getting slashed despite the doors being unlocked to steal things (because thieves are not smart after all). I've driven fiberglass cars (Saab Sonnett III) and plastic (Pontiac Fiero) which were wonderful.

I would sure hate to see the dry cleaning bill for my car though! -Randy

Re:Appropriate name

[Cornflake917]

Hey most /.'ers know everything this is to know about a vagina. We just learn about them through books and pr0n instead of experience.

Re:Good god

[soccerisgod]

Nobody else was ever referred to by that title. That word on its own is inseperably associated with Hitler.