The GINA Light Visionary Model is a fabric-skinned shape-shifting sports car

concept Concepts are defined as abstract ideas. They are understood to be the fundamental building blocks of the concept behind principles, thoughts and beliefs. They play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied by s ...

built by BMW. GINA stands for "Geometry and functions In 'N' Adaptions".
GINA on Wired.
GINA on Autoweek. It was designed by a team led by BMW's head of design,

Chris Bangle Christopher Edward Bangle (born October 14, 1956) is an American automobile designer. Bangle is known best for his work as Chief of Design for BMW Group, where he was responsible for the BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce motor cars. Early life Bangl ...

, who says GINA allowed his team to "challenge existing principles and conventional processes." Other designers include Anders Warming. Construction began in 2001, with the finished car being presented in 2008.

Fabric body

BMW claims the elastic,

water resistant Waterproofing is the process of making an object or structure waterproof or water-resistant so that it remains relatively unaffected by water or resisting the ingress of water under specified conditions. Such items may be used in wet environme ...

translucent In the field of optics, transparency (also called pellucidity or diaphaneity) is the physical property of allowing light to pass through the material without appreciable scattering of light. On a macroscopic scale (one in which the dimensions a ...

man-made

fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

skin—

polyurethane Polyurethane (; often abbreviated PUR and PU) refers to a class of polymers composed of organic chemistry, organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. In contrast to other common polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene, polyurethan ...

-coated

Spandex Spandex, Lycra, or elastane is a synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity. It is a polyether-polyurea copolymer that was invented in 1958 by chemist Joseph Shivers at DuPont's Benger Laboratory in Waynesboro, Virginia, US. The ge ...

—is resilient and durable. It resists high or low temperatures, does not swell or shrink, and the movement does not slacken or damage the fabric.
GINA on AOL. The body changes its shape according to exterior conditions and speeds, and it also allows the driver to change its shape at will. The fabric is stretched over a frame with moving parts; shapes are formed beneath the skin by an

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

wire structure, though at points where flexibility is needed (ducts, door openings, spoiler), flexible carbon struts are used. The shape of the frame is controlled by many electric and hydraulic actuators; for example, the

headlights A headlamp is a lamp attached to the front of a vehicle to illuminate the road ahead. Headlamps are also often called headlights, but in the most precise usage, ''headlamp'' is the term for the device itself and ''headlight'' is the term for ...

are revealed when small motors pull the fabric open from slits in an

eyelid An eyelid is a thin fold of skin that covers and protects an eye. The levator palpebrae superioris muscle retracts the eyelid, exposing the cornea to the outside, giving vision. This can be either voluntarily or involuntarily. The human eyel ...

-like fashion, and access to the engine can be gained through a slit that opens down the middle of the bonnet. As the fabric is translucent, the taillights simply shine through it. GINA has just four "panels"—the

bonnet A Bonnet is a variety of headgear, hat or cap Specific types of headgear referred to as "bonnets" may include Scottish * Blue bonnet, a distinctive woollen cap worn by men in Scotland from the 15th-18th centuries And its derivations: ** Fea ...

, the two side panels and the trunk. Its skin appears seamless, but it can "grow" out its rear spoiler for stability at high speed. Its doors open in a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

style and are each covered by a fabric piece reaching all the way from the nose of the car to their trailing edge which, when closed, leaves a perfectly smooth surface.

Interior

When the car is parked, the car's

steering wheel A steering wheel (also called a driving wheel (UK), a hand wheel, or simply wheel) is a type of steering control in vehicles. Steering wheels are used in most modern land vehicles, including all mass-production automobiles, buses, light and ...

and instruments sit in an "idle" position on the centre console to allow the driver easy entry. The steering wheel and instruments assume their correct positions when the driver presses the start button and the

headrest Head restraints (also called headrests) are an automotive safety feature, attached or integrated into the top of each seat to limit the rearward movement of the adult occupant's head, relative to the torso, in a collision — to prevent or ...

rises from the seat once the driver is seated, making it easier to get in and out of the car.

Jokes around the name

The unusual name for the concept vehicle has amused some commentators. A few have compared the opening on the bonnet/hood to a

vagina In mammals, the vagina is the elastic, muscular part of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vestibule to the cervix. The outer vaginal opening is normally partly covered by a thin layer of mucosal tissue called the hymen ...

. ''Carscoops'' did so after receiving an image of the vehicle from ''Top Gear Magazine'', commenting: "Mystery Solved: Why BMW Calls it 'Gina...". ''Jalopnik'' also picked up on the name but refused to clarify, joking that they were a "family show".

References

External links

BMW GINA Light Visionary Model: PremiereBMW GINA Light Visionary Model: DesignBMW GINA Light Visionary Model trailerWired - BMW Builds a Shape-Shifting Car Out of Cloth (with many pictures)Pictures of GINA
{{BMW vehicles GINA