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Tuesday, July 26, 2022

Here're 2 IAD design's works attempted to rival the Countach

Weird ONES Most of the concept cars were so ridiculous and too futuristic that they never reach the production line. But that's what makes them extraordinary, where they are able to catapult our dreams and made us to forget at a moment about car insurance, mileage, gas and car repairs instead think about other things that are considered more important such an autonomous driving inside vehicles like hovercraft on the streets.
The IAD Alien Concept was a highly futuristic proposal for an advanced mid-engine supercar, and intended to be an attempt to out-Lamborghini Countach. (Picture from: Diseno-Art)
It was done by IAD (International Automotive Design), a design consultancy based in West Sussex, the UK and it is known that one of the design works of this company was the Mazda MX5 (Miata) in 1989. According to Wikipedia, the company developing not only the exterior and interior style for the vehicle in the UK/US (California) but also building prototypes locally prior to volume production in 1989. Unfortunately the company should ceased all its activity in January 8, 2013.đŸ˜¢
The IAD Alien Concept was a non-running prototype and is launched for the first time at the 1986 Turin Motor Show. (Picture from: Diseno-Art)
1. IAD Alien Concept
Before that, the company introduced a unique car concept named the IAD Alien at the 1986 Turin Motor Show. According to the designer, the IAD Alien was a highly futuristic proposal for an advanced mid-engine supercar, and intended to be an attempt to out-Countach
The IAD Alien Concept offered unique futuristic design steering including advanced dashboard appearance inside its cabin. (Picture from: Diseno-Art)
How come? It could be happened because at that time the Lamborghini Countach design was considered very futuristic and sophisticated so it was not surprising that many designers tried to outperform the design, and one of them was this concept made by this UK-based design consultancy.
The IAD Alien Concept has modular construction which meant that the rear mounted engine could be swapped out quickly and easily for upgrades, maintenance or just to suit the driver or different occasions. (Picture from: Diseno-Art)
This car has a design that is fairly unique although not as radical as the provocation design made by Luigi Colani based on the Lamborghini Miura in the 1970 called the Miura Le Mans Concept, where the such car design consists of 'two-part hybrid car' with a Lamborghini Miura rear chassis section and front passenger cabin designed 'like a glider cockpit'.
The IAD Venus Concept is launched for the first time at the 1989 Turin Motor Show and powered by an inline 4, 16-valves engine which was taken from the Lotus Elite Type 83. (Picture from: CarStyling.ru)
Furthermore its design not only highlighted the IAD's typical styling ideas, it also showcased innovative and unusual engineering solutions. One of those interesting ideas, if perhaps a bit over complicated, was the modular construction method which meant that the rear mounted engine of the car could be swapped out quickly and easily for upgrades, maintenance or just to suit the driver or different occasions, besides the IAD Alien’s wheels were enclosed for aerodynamic efficiency reasons.
The IAD Venus Concept has unique wheel coverings which almost entirely encased the wheels. (Picture from: Diseno-Art)
To access the interior traditional doors were dropped in favor of a one-piece canopy which tilted forward and provided almost unhindered entry and exit. The passenger compartment was well protected thanks to an integrated roll cage and sturdy side-impact bars. Unfortunately the car was a non-running prototype so many of these ideas were purely theoretical.
The IAD Venus Concept offered futuristic design steering wheel including advanced dashboard appearance inside its cabin. (Picture from: CarStyling.ru)
2. IAD Venus Concept
It seems that the efforts of IAD to exploit the Alien design idea has not stopped here. Three years later, at the 1989 Tokyo Motor Show, this UK based company founded in the 1970's has launched another concept vehicle that has a similar design to the Alien, called the IAD Venus.
The IAD Venus Concept also applied unique scissor-type doors that allows two passengers access its cabin. (Picture from: Diseno-Art)
Unlike the previous Alien concept which was not installed with a propulsion engine, the Venus concept adopted the Lotus 912's inline 4, 16-valves engine with a capacity of 2,174 cc which was taken from the Lotus Elite Type 83

And another unusual features embeded on the IAD Venus, apart from its shape, were the wheel coverings which almost entirely encased the wheels and also applied unique scissor-type doors. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | DISENO-ART | SUPERCARS.NET | CARSTYLING.RU | DISCOVER.HUBPAGES | WIKIPEDIA ]
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Monday, July 25, 2022

Remembering the fierce of Koenigsegg One:1

Fiercest ONES As we all know that to this day Koenigsegg Automotive AB, a premium car manufacturer based in Ă„ngelholm, Sweden has launched many great supercar variants ranging from AgeraRegera to the latest Jesko and Gemera models.
The Koenigsegg One:1 is launched at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show and is said to be the world's fastest production supercar. (Picture from: CarConnection)
Might be you remembered one of the ferocious supercars ever launched by the car manufacturer owned by Christian von Koenigsegg almost decade ago. Well, Koenigsegg officially launched one of its fiercest supercar models called the Koenigsegg One:1 at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, which is said to be the fastest production version of the supercar in the world.
It's called the Koenigsegg One:1, and it should be an insane road-going time machine that transports you to future sections of roads in the blink of an eye. (Picture from: MotorAuthority)
Before this car launched, the Ă„ngelholm-based automaker itself has several times displayed its official rendered images. However, the presence of the Koenigsegg One:1 in Geneva is still eagerly awaited by automotive lovers in the world. 

The Koenigsegg One:1 is believed to be faster than the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. The Koenigsegg's supercar is capable of reaching a top speed of 450 kph (280 mph), while the Bugatti Veyron SS reaches 431 kph (268 mph). 
The engine fitted to the One:1 is Koenigsegg’s own twin-turbocharged 5.0-liter V-8 design. (Picture from: MotorAuthority)
This Swedish supercar derived  its unique name of One:1 from the ratio of power to weight of the car or in other words 1:1, where the car weighs 1,341 kilograms for its maximum power of 1,341 horsepower.
The Koenigsegg One:1's cabin is equiped with carbon fiber and feature memory foam seats and such many advanced features, including a custom app and cloud network. (Picture from: MotorAuthority)
The Koenigsegg One:1 uses a triplex suspension with carbon bevel springs and active shock absorbers. Front brakes 397 mm with ceramic disc 6-piston calipers. Rear brakes with ceramic four-piston disc calipers. The 19-inches and 20-inches carbon fiber wheels are wrapped in Michelin Cup Tires.
The fiercest Koenigsegg One:1 supercar is posed along with the automaker company's founder, Christian von Koenigsegg. (Picture from: MotorAuthority)
The Koenigsegg One:1 is armed with an aluminum V8 engine with a capacity of 5.0 liters. This engine is considered better than the quad-turbo W16 carried by the Bugatti Veyron SS, which produces 1,200 HP (880 kW) and 1,500 Nm (1,100 lb-ft) of torque. While the One:1 has 1,341 HP (986 kW) and 1,371 Nm (1,011 lb-ft) of torque available at 6,000 rpm. 
Koenigsegg said, this One:1 is the "world's first mega car" which is able to reach acceleration from 0 to 400 kph in 20 seconds, and can stop from the maximum speed in just 10 seconds. At the time, the car is built only six units worldwide and sold at a price of more than U.S. $2 million or approximately Rp. 23.1 billion. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | CARCONNECTION | MOTORAUTHORITY ]
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Sunday, July 24, 2022

The modern "Noah's Ark" was built to find solutions Our Earth's climate change

Safe FUTURE Reportedly, there's a giant vessel was being built and even some parties dubbed it as the incarnation of Noah's Ark. Why is that? Perhaps they saw the purpose of this vessel being built to save lives as the real Noah's Ark did.
A proposed ship aims to merge luxury and scientific research, by crewing it with climate scientists and the wealthy in a daring quest to save the planet called the Earth 300. (Picture from: AutoEvolution)
This giant vessel is and called the Earth 300 and planned to be a research ship used by scientists to find solutions to climate change that can threaten life on Earth. This vessel designed to accommodate up to 160 scientists whose gathered from all over the world to conduct joint research by utilizing the advanced technology attached on the ship.
Suitably futuristic, Earth 300 features a contemporary shape with a pared-down conceptual language and an aerodynamic form. (Picture from: AutoEvolution)
Then who's the man behind this enermous giant vessel building project? The originator of the idea as well as the shipbuilder is the Gibraltarian-born, Singapore-based entrepreneur named Aaron Oliviera is assisted by many parties with various backgrounds from all over the world and hopes that the Earth 300 giant vessel can attract public attention to science and especially about climate change."This ship is designed to capture people's attention as well as their hearts and imaginations. If we want to make big changes, we need the help of people of all ages, ages, backgrounds and all kinds of intelligence," he said.
The Earth 300 vessel’s most striking feature, however, is its “science sphere”, chosen to resemble Earth. (Picture from: DesignWanted)
Furthermore, this research vessel run by a multinational company under the same name of the Earth300 with goals as an historical environmental initiative to ring the ecological alarm on a global scale and inspire a new brand of planetary vanguard. As written on its official sites; "We love life and want to ensure that humanity survives in the future."
 
As seen as the appearance, the Earth 300 is an enermous giant emission-free nuclear powered vessel with 22 state-of-the-art laboratories. It is almost 500 meters long and consists of 13 levels, and has futuristic design with a unique rounded building in the middle.
The Earth 300 vessel includes an observation deck that appears delicately balanced on the ship’s top, a 46-metre beam and a helicopter pad. (Picture from: DesignWanted)
As quoted of the ScienceFocus, the Earth 300 vessel is also equipped with a quantum computer featured with built-in sensors, artificial intelligence, robotics, machine learning to direct data processing to handle the massive data it collects, and Aaron Oliviera calls it a floating computer.
Set for launch in 2025, the Earth 300 boasts 500 meters in length and will be packed full of green technology. (Picture from: DesignWanted)
Of course with all that sophistication, the cost of manufacture is not cheap. It is estimated, the vessel building will cost between 350 and 500 million pounds. If nothing goes wrong, the plan is that the giant vessel scheduled to lift its anchor and start sailing in 2025.
Later in addition to scientists who research climate change on board, it can also be boarded by VIP guests, and said will be charged a fairly high accommodation fee. For example, a VIP single trip for 10-days will cost you around US. $3 million. Wow!! *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | EARTH300 | SCIENCEFOCUS | AUTOEVOLUTION | DESIGNWANTED ]
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Saturday, July 23, 2022

Here's an American elegant-styled fancy car of 1930s

Lost&Found While surfing on the internet, we came across a unique classic car picture. From some pictures, it can be seen that this elegance classic car has smooth curves all over its white colored body. It is seem like an American elegant-styled fancy car of 1930s, then we tried to find out what car it was? 
1936 Cord 810 - Westchester Sedan. (Picture from: ClassicDigest)
From several sources on the internet we found that mentioned car named the Cord 810 was produced by Cord Automobile, a division of Auburn Automobile Company  ranging from 1936 up to the end of 1937. As is well known that all modern styling touches of the Cord 810 are the work of designer Gordon M. Buehrig and his team of stylists, including Vince Gardner and Alex Tremulis.
1937 Cord 810 - Beverly Sedan. (Picture from: Pinterest)
The Cord 810 is a four-seater luxury classic car (produced in several models such; Westchester Sedan, Beverly Sedan, Sportsman and Phaeton), all rode on 125-inch wheelbases. In 1937, two models, the Westchester and Beverly sedans, kept their 125-inch wheelbase, but the other four models-Sportsman, Phaeton, Custom Beverly and Custom Berline-had longer, 132-inch wheelbases. The longer-wheelbase cars had eight louvers on the hood side panels, with the shorter-wheelbase cars having seven louvers.
1936 Cord 810 - Westchester Sedan. (Picture from: ClassicDigest)
This classic car is also known as the first car featured with headlights hidden on its front fenders (could be said as the ancestor of modern pop-up headlights). Besides that the Cord 810 is a front wheel drive car designed and built for the first time in the United States with independent front suspension. And reportedly the car adopts many elements from the Citroen Traction Avant (one of which became a beautiful Willy Bernath made cabriolet of 1944), and Cord L-29, both of which also apply front-wheel drive. However, even though the Cord 810 is still carrying the old version of the tube rear axle with a semi-elliptic rear spring.
1937 Cord 810 - Phaeton Convertible. (Picture from: Drive-My)
The car's power comes from the Lycoming 289 cubic-inches V8 engine with a capacity of 4,739 cc which is also adopted from the Cord L-29 and is combined with a four-speed semi-automatic transmission (three plus overdrive). So the engine is capable of producing around 125 hp (93 kW) allowing the car to accelerate from 0-60 mph in 20 seconds, before reaching a top speed of 93 mph (150 kph). The engine featured aluminum cylinder heads, to take advantage of the heat-dissipating benefits, but strangely, only a single exhaust was used and, of course, a six-volt electrical system.
1937 Cord 810 - Sportsman Convertible. (Picture from: Mecum)
In its debut at the 1935 New York Auto Show, the Cord 810 caused a tremendous sensation from visitors and the media. So that the crowd was so dense that many visitors stood on the bumpers of other cars to see this iconic new car.
1937 Cord 810 - Phaeton Convertible. (Picture from: Drive-My)
Unfortunately, because assembly of the Cord 810's semi-automatic transmission was more troublesome than previously thought, the first production cars weren't ready to ship until February, and even reached New York City in early April 1936.
Besides that, there were also other problems with several elements, including slipping of the gear and vapor lock which further reduced customer enthusiasm to the Cord 810. Although mostly new owners liked their sleek new car, Auburn decided to discontinue the Cord 810' production in late 1937 after launching around 3,000 units. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | PREWAR | CLASSICDIGEST | JOURNAL-CLASSICCARS | HEMMINGS | DRIVE-MY | MECUM ]
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Friday, July 22, 2022

The first production car to come with touchscreen features

Touch ME In today's car's entertainment devices almost always include a touch screen feature to set some functions, but has it ever thought by us that's several decades ago there had been similar device is also equipped with a such kind feature and was installed inside a standard car in the 1980s?
The 1986 Buick Riviera is considered to be the first production car to come with a touchscreen feature, and referred as the Graphic Control Center. (Picture from: WikiCars)
As quoted of TopGear, what is considered to be the first production car to come with a touchscreen feature is the 1986 Buick Riverra, something the automaker referred to as the Graphic Control Center which had a bulky shaped Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitor that only displayed two colors, black and green. Its features, on the other hand, are far from outdated as they boast 91 functions, some of which are still relevant today.

Besides that it also emits a high-pitched beeping sound every time the digital button is pressed. So, how revolutionary was this Buick' touchscreen system? The such system applied by the maker to this touchscreen feature is excellent, and it can be said that was decades ahead of its time.
The Buick Riviera's touchscreen display which had a bulky shaped Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitor that only displayed two colors, black and green. (Picture from: Flickr)
Due to this Buick's system does not use physical knobs and buttons at all, instead uses the screen itself as its sole means of control. This was more akin to the Tesla Model S that came out over a decade after BMW's iDrive system, making the 1986 Buick Riviera worthy called as the "pioneer" of the touchscreen infotainment system.

Of course the first-ever-in-car touchscreen not happen by accident, it was a direct result of Buick's desire to become the industry leader at the time. As quoted of Hagerty, it all started in 1980, when this American automaker executives wanted to develop a vehicle with the most cutting-edge technology, so they tried to realize it through GM subsidiary Delco Electronics.
The Buick Riviera's touchscreen display are far from outdated as its features boast 91 functions, such to show a five-band audio equalizer, stereo balancing, and one-touch windshield defrost. (Picture from: SlashGear)
This subsidiary developed such device specifically for car use later named Graphic Control Center with a touch sensitive CRT. Unlike modern capacitive touchscreens, this display is embedded with a row of invisible Mylar switches, which perform different functions depending on the page its user was on.

As you can see at YouTube video showcase by MotorWeek highlights most of its CRT display's luxurious amenities, which included a five-band audio equalizer, stereo balancing, and one-touch windshield defrost. Its Climate Control system not only showed both internal and external temperatures, it even included animations, portrayed by a mini digital fan that changed rotation speed depending on the air-conditioning level.
The Buick Riviera's touchscreen display are far from outdated as its features boast 91 functions, such to show vehicle diagnostics, trip computer, and fuel economy. (Picture from: SlashGear)
It also handled all the essentials such as vehicle diagnostics, trip computer, and fuel economy, as well as a slew of safety features that utilized graphics reminding drivers to keep their eyes on the road or even alerting them if their door wasn't fully closed. To say that the 1986 Buick Riviera was innovative is an understatement considering the number of features it offered at the time. In fact, everything about it was decades ahead.

The problem is, it took a while before these dated monitors could display anything, so its engineers cleverly made it heat up when the driver touched the car door handle. There're another problem which was later noted as a weakness of this system was the incessant beeping sound, the tendency to distract the driver from the road, as TopGear noted.
However, Buick only used this system again for the 1988 Buick Reatta before eventually discontinuing it in later models. Of course, this is not the end of car touchscreen monitors, it will only be another two decades before such advanced technology returns to surface. 

Then-Buick executive Cary Wilson claimed the company "set the stage" for what he believed to be a "new generation" of automotive electronics. It's a shame it came at a time when the world wasn't ready for the touchscreen revolution.đŸ˜¯ *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | SLASHGEAR | TOPGEAR | HAGERTY ]
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Thursday, July 21, 2022

The beautiful RĂ¼nge RS010 bespoke car

Unique ONES RĂ¼nge Cars is a boutique American auto-building operation, headed up by Christopher RĂ¼nge and headquartered out of a small workshop in Minnesota. Despite being a one-man operation, RĂ¼nge has completed an extensive number of builds.
The RĂ¼nge RS010 bespoke car is inspired by Le Mans-style endurance racers of the 1950s and built over 2,000 man-hours to complete. (Picture from: HiConsumption)
And the most celebrated work is almost certainly such one in pictured called the RĂ¼nge RS010 built between 2017 and 2019 and requiring over 2,000 man-hours to complete. The unique RS010 is constructed around a full steel tube chassis that’s been adorned in thoroughly-polished aluminum bodywork.
The RĂ¼nge RS010 bespoke car is constructed around a full steel tube chassis that’s been adorned in thoroughly-polished aluminum bodywork. (Picture from: HiConsumption)
The car’s outward appearance takes ample inspiration from Le Mans-style endurance racers of the 1950s while the interior is loosely modeled after that of an aircraft, with a domed windshield, an array of aviation toggle switches, and a genuine clock from a Soviet-era MiG jet.
The RĂ¼nge RS010 bespoke car's interior is loosely modeled after that of an aircraft, with a domed windshield, an array of aviation toggle switches, and a genuine clock from a Soviet-era MiG jet. (Picture from: HiConsumption)
The one-off RĂ¼nge's car weighing in at only 1,350lbs (about a third the weight of the latest Porsche 911) and is powered by a mid-mounted hand-built 200hp RĂ¼nge 2.3L flat-four engine that’s mated to a four-speed “Longbox” manual transmission.
The RĂ¼nge RS010 bespoke car is powered by a mid-mounted hand-built 200hp RĂ¼nge 2.3L flat-four engine that’s mated to a four-speed “Longbox” manual transmission. (Picture from: HiConsumption)
Then, the one-off RĂ¼nge's car uses 15" Tecnomagnesio wheels shod in modern Pirelli rubber tires, the car also boasts Koni adjustable shock-equipped front and rear independent suspension and hydraulic drum brakes throughout.
It had once featured previously on Jay Leno’s Garage, the RĂ¼nge RS010 had crossed the auction block at Bonhams’ upcoming Scottsdale Auction in the 2021 where it’s expected to fetch between $225,000 and $250,000. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | RĂœNGE CARS | HICONSUPMTION ]
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