Once in a while I see some truly ingenious thinking, and it’s rare to see a product that is so functionally trend-defying, especially when often concept cars are beautiful, but little else.
The Gina prototypes with fabric ‘skin’ is a really good demonstration of how approaching a problem from a different angle can reap big rewards. I can remember as a kid watching Thunder in Paradise (yes, a truly masterful programme) where Hulk Hogan’s boat could morph shape. Incredibly futuristic, but now here is a real and simple alternative to produce lightweight, flexible, form-altering products.
Of course spaceframe technology has meant this has been possible for years, but I’ve never seen it put into practice. There are inevitably ‘issues’ too - how many times would you return to your posh looking cloth convertible to find someone had slashed it - but it’s not like a new paint job or sidepanel doesn’t cost a lot of money anyway.
Unfortunately, I don’t ever really expect to see a car like this in production, at least not in such a stark and complete form. Clearly cutting down weight and simplifying panel creation would be very desirable for manufacturers (each being expensive in their own way), but metal isn’t likely to be thrown out for fabric in the foreseeable future. However I do think it gives a good platform for moving car design forward and hopefully will stimulate truly beautiful, lightweight solutions to problems that are currently overlooked because their remedies appear ‘essential’.