Le Pera Bare Bones Solo Seat - Vinyl Lfk-006 on 2040-parts.com

Off the line: Fun cars and social responsibility Autoweek op-ed stands the test of time

It's been almost 21 years to the day that Autoweek printed Matt DeLorenzo's column “Off the Line: There's room for fast, fun cars in diet of social responsibility.” And in those two decades plus, not much has changed except the vehicles themselves. For example, sports cars like the Bugatti Veyron and Pagani Huayra have astronomically high performance and safety levels; similarly, sport-utility vehicles that haul entire families (and most of their earthly possessions) achieve fuel economy similar to that of 1970s midsize sedans. To read all of DeLorenzo's thoughts and his case for automobiles, click the links to download the article.

Hyundai: E4U Egg Car & Fluidic Sculpture in Motion

Hyundai has already made it clear that 2013 will be about ‘Brand Awareness’ rather than releasing a new raft of models and chasing ever increasing sales, so two Hyundai outings in the last week can be put down to their targeted aim of profile raising. In Milan, Hyundai are taking part in the Milan Design Week by showing an innovative light sculpture that has been inspired by Hyundai’s ‘Fluidic Design’ (even though Hyundai have already said that ‘Fluidic Design’ is being replaced by ‘Fluidic Precision’ as they aim to make their designs ‘cleaner) with an installation made up of 12,000 translucent spheres acting collectively on a screen, surrounded by high-power lasers and suspended over a pool of water. The ‘performance’ starts with virtual rain created by the lasers which form three-dimensional shapes, followed by an interactive segment where human interaction creates three-dimensional images by scanning for body warmth so visitors can manipulate what they see by using gestures.

BMW 'Dwelling Lab' project

One of the most interesting pieces of work shown at the recent Milan Design Week was 'The Dwelling Lab', collaboration between BMW, Flos Lighting and Kvadrat fabrics. Artists Patricia Urquiola and Guilio Ridolfo were commissioned to effectively turn a BMW 5 Series GT inside out. The car is 'exploded' - with five giant cone-like structures growing out of the windscreen, door openings etc.