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Rinspeed BamBoo: A Car Built For Generation Why

 
2 962 views Dec 1, 2010
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Rinspeed BamBoo Concept

Rinspeed BamBoo Concept

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Gratuitous beach bunnies aside, there's not much to the Rinspeed BamBoo concept, and that's the point. A self-described "meta" four-seater with onomatopoeic inclinations, the BamBoo is a car built for people that don't actually like cars.

At least that's our take on it. Nestled in the press release is this golden treasure: "Anyone not blinded by horsepower orgies, chrome tinsel and top-speed frenzy should take a closer look. “BamBoo” pushes the ‘reset’ button, clears the mind for a new way of thinking. It sports simple, clean lines. No bells, no whistles.  Nothing is superfluous. Plain aesthetics in their purest form. As stated before and even in a figurative sense: Nomen est omen. Simply bamboo."

Horsepower orgies? Seriously, Rinspeed? There's more to going fast than raw horsepower, even electrically, as the Tesla Roadster illustrates nicely. Top-speed frenzies? After all, who likes to go fast? Surely not any modern human. Only low-browed cavemen appreciate speed. And chrome tinsel? It's an aesthetic that has lived as long as the automobile itself, and while you can certainly go overboard with chrome, you can overboard with bombastic marketing and figurative ideation as well, the BamBoo being a case in point.

Rinspeed BamBoo Concept

Rinspeed BamBoo Concept

Enlarge Photo
As for the BamBoo's supposed merits, it intends to be a beach-roaming, open-air "fun" vehicle in the spirit of the Mini Moke. Powered by an undisclosed electric drive system and carrying an on-board electric-powered two-wheeler, the BamBoo does its best to bridge modern concerns with classic styling. Unfortunately it ends up looking like a Renault 2CV mated with a golf cart on the floor of a shuttered British Motors Corporation plant. On the other hand, it is a step up from other bamboo cars we've seen in the past.

Though Rinspeed missed the mark with the BamBoo, we'll point you toward the sQuba as an example of some of Rinspeed's more interesting ways of re-imagining the car. Like the sQuba of 2008, the BamBoo will make its debut at the Geneva Motor Show.

[Rinspeed]



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Comments (2)

  1. By Zbooom Posted: 12/2/2010 2:06am PST

    Renault never produced a 2CV, Citroën did.
    And this car looks like a Citroën Mehari : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citroën_Méhari
     
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    Bad stuff?

  2. By  Saabaru5 Posted: 12/2/2010 12:30pm PST

    HA HA!
     
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    Bad stuff?

 

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