BMW’s latest concept car, Gina, is made of fabric and can change its shape at the flick of a switch.
The fabric creases and wrinkles like skin when the door is opened.
When the headlights are turned on the covers peel up like giant eyelids.
At the touch of a button it transforms itself from a classic to an aggressive look.
Gina’s skin is made of a silver expansion-resistant textile which stretches across movable metal wires controlled by hydraulics. It has no bonnet, roof or boot.
Instead, a single sheet of cloth is layered over its frame. Movable parts are controlled by hydraulics operated from a driver’s console
The high-precision fit of the material to the metal mesh also allows surface changes without slackening the tension.
There is no need to lift the bonnet to get a look at the engine of this flexible motor - it opens from the centre like Hulk tearing off his T-shirt.
Opening and closing is similar to the mechanism on a doctor’s traditional medical bag, where clip-lock fasteners are held together in the middle by a rail.
Gina will not be in production soon but it can be seen at the BMW museum in Munich.
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