Tiny 1981 Mercedes was smart's forerunner to smart

[rolly]

I sometimes wonder where auto design would have been today if it was let to evolve as fast as the compuer has ..


Google Image Result for http://thecontaminated.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/naro-future-concept-car-2.jpg

[Neonspinnazz]

Well I wouldn't say that auto design is moving forward, more like reverse

[hogdaddy]

Originally Posted by Neonspinnazz

Well I wouldn't say that auto design is moving forward, more like reverse

My uncle had one of those Amphicars in late 60's. I still remember riding in one as a kid.
Here is a restored one I spotted on ebay while back. Cool car/boat.

[jetfuel]

Concept Car : BamGoo Electric Bamboo




....body of the BamGoo is made out of bamboo.



...bigpanda can go to work and do lunch at the same time...now...if we can fit it with a tow hitch for a "port o let" he'll be in panda heaven....

jetfuel...having fun in purgatory...

[Neonspinnazz]

Well, the smart kinda shifted auto design out of reverse...but nobody is paying attention so while smart moves forward, the others dig deeper in reverse.

I saw an Amphicar this summer at a Sunday Cruise-in Car Show, not restored and in mint-ish condition. There's just some minor paint fade but other than that the thing is as good as new!

Now why did it take 50 years for us to finally get the concept of flying and floating cars?

[Fuse 11]

Originally Posted by Neonspinnazz

I would buy it. It's today's smarts' grandaddy!

I always knew that this car was what the smart was based off of but I didn't know that it was a 1981!

Looks mid-90's to me.

Looks clearly very-early-'80s.
Everything from that period was boxy and angular.
VW started it with the Rabbit.
Those were the early years of computer-aided design as well as mass adoption of unibody construction. The computer models couldn't properly analyze curved structural members, so some of the designs came out looking like the crates they were shipped in. Strangely, this resulted in some decent looking cars (as well as a few that really, really, should have found some other source of styling inspiration...)

-Rusty
'09 passion coupe
early Vanagon Westy
mid-years BMW R100RS

[rolly]

Originally Posted by Fuse 11

Looks clearly very-early-'80s.
Everything from that period was boxy and angular.
VW started it with the Rabbit.
Those were the early years of computer-aided design as well as mass adoption of unibody construction. The computer models couldn't properly analyze curved structural members, so some of the designs came out looking like the crates they were shipped in. Strangely, this resulted in some decent looking cars (as well as a few that really, really, should have found some other source of styling inspiration...)

-Rusty
'09 passion coupe
early Vanagon Westy
mid-years BMW R100RS

your right there were some badly designed aerodynamic cars based on the wedge.
1975 Triumph TR7 - The 50 Worst Cars of All Time - TIME

http://www.time.com/time/specials/20...658526,00.html