Will someone please tell me is going on here


Yo-Yo MA! Ford's Mays To Unwrap Funk Shui Roadster Concept



In an unexpected move, Ford Motor Company Design Veep J Mays is to pull the sheet on a bizarre two seat eco-roadster concept at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles today. Strangely (yet appropriately) christened the MA, the roadster takes inspiration from the Asian discipline that concerns itself with "the space between." This philosophy, which according to Ford "refers to a kind of threshold where two concepts can exist in a mutually beneficial relationship," plays out in the construction of the concept, which works to occupy a niche between the emotional and rational, lurking somewhere in the gray area betwixt art and science.

If nothing else, Ford's latest concept amounts to a refreshing break from the tracing-paper school of design that has largely dictated Mays' recent efforts. Looking for all the world like an errant Lotus Seven that had a run-in with a bamboo patch (or perhaps an Ikea catalog), this minimalist two-seater isn't a clean-sheet design… it is a no sheet design. The MA graduated from proposal to reality without a designer so much as lifting a #2 pencil. Because it was designed entirely on a computer, the car was realized quickly, with no time necessary for the clay mockups or other work-intensive processes relied upon in traditional automotive design.


Taking the "space between" concept a bit further, this concept's success hinges as much on what it is, as what it isn't. Quite obviously, the MA isn't conventional. Constructed of aluminum, bamboo, and carbon fiber, the car is entirely weldless. Literally bolted together (courtesy of 364 titanium bits, thank you), the design makes use of no hydraulic fluids whatsoever, nor does it rely on the industrial adhesives that are commonly used in today's automobiles. Few pieces are painted. These curiosities work to pay huge environmental dividends, as the MA is claimed to be some 96 percent recyclable. This particular concept has been fitted with a low-speed electric motor, making it a zero-emissions vehicle with little ecological impact. Ford hastens to add that a small conventional gas engine could also be retrofitted, however.

Also reminiscent of the Lotus Seven, Ford sees the concept as being marketed in kit form. Rather than being assembled in a plant, the MA would be shipped as a 500+ piece kit. As a hobby car, Mays sees the design as being a perfect way to usher in a new generation of automotive enthusiasts to the Blue Oval: "This would be a great hobby vehicle… you could put it together in your garage at home with your son or daughter."