Pixelthing.

• It *will* look odd. Possibly cool – but definitely odd.
• It’s shorter than a Smart ForTwo, but just as safe.
• It’ll probably be sold through non-car industry brands.
• It will take a fifth of the resources to make than a normal small car.

image from Autocar.co.uk

But then what Gordon Murray is trying to do is create a bit of a revolution, not just in car design, but in manufacturing and car industry organisation. That could be called “risky” – cubed. It brings to mind the way the Sinclair C5 was pitched, as well as the Segway, 60’s microcars and even the original Swatch vision for Smart, so here’s hoping that his decades in the industry has made him smarter than that lot, or at least hire a damned convincing lobbyist (and stylist). It’s should be too small for packaging, safety and people’s vanity, but it comes from the man that has better ideas before breakfast than I do in a lifetime. And it comes at a time when the industry is in financial and eco crisis, and because of the their size and tradition, they can’t possibly promise any quick solution without years of expensive development. If I were GM, I’d be banging on his door.

Maybe an ipod of small cars could work, imagine an Amazon branded car with the realism of four-seats and an internal combustion engine (for the near future).

But the aim is to do something while we can, before the powers that be decide that cars are killing the planet (it’s all about perception), or the industry collapses into a super dense monopoly. As Gordon says: ‘How can we protect our mobility before the big stick comes out?’

Type25 – Autocar sneak peek
Type25 – Gordon Murray’s website