Agree - everyone loves beautiful cars, and experimental prototype models are rightfully the champions in this matter. These fantastic and futuristic concept cars are intended by the automakers to draw the attention of buyers to their mainstream models as well. Fullpiccha has prepared for you a list of the most beautiful and stylish car prototypes - let's go!
20 PHOTOS
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1. Audi Urban Concept
Model 2011 year Audi Urban Concept combines the properties of a racing car, roadster and city car. (Photo: Audi).
2. Peugeot 20 Cup The 2006 Peugeot 20Cup is half Peugeot 207 and half tricycle. It looks like a semi-car, which explains its record low weight - only 500 kg. (Photo: Peugeot).
3 Ford Nucleon In the 1950s, the future of the world seemed to be closely linked to nuclear energy. Even automobiles were designed with nuclear power, as exemplified by the 1958 Ford Nucleon project. No one saw any problems in the fact that the passengers of such a car would literally sit on a nuclear reactor. Now it is hard to imagine how the slightest accident of such a car would end. (Photo: Ford).
4. Volkswagen XL1 The 2011 Volkswagen XL1 was the product of an unbridled fantasy, debunking the popular notion of Volkswagen as a conservative brand. (Photo: Volkswagen).
5. Ferrari Modulo The 1970 Ferrari Modulo was inspired by the fashion space technologies. This car did not even have doors in the usual sense - instead of them, a movable glass dome designed by Pininfarina was offered. (Photo: Pininfarina).
6 Colani C112 The 1970 Colani C112 by legendary designer Luigi Colani could well have been the vehicle of the Pink Panther cartoon character. (Photo: Colani).
7 Citroen Lacoste According to the plan of the two firms that created the Citroen Lacoste project, it was supposed to become "a link between the automotive industry and the world of fashion and style." (Photo: Citroen).
8. Toyota U2 Toyota U2 (Urban Utility) - advanced technologies for urban driving. (Photo: Toyota).
9 Renault Racoon The 1992 prototype with the funny name (racoon in English) can deviate from the well-traveled roads further than any other car. Thanks to its amphibious design, it can even swim. (Photo: Renault).
10 Honda Puyo This eco-friendly concept car from 2007 has a soft surface that glows in the dark. It seems to us that such a car could be an excellent cure for aggression on our roads - well, how can you be angry at someone who rides in such a cutie? (Photo: Honda).
11. Nissan Pivo 2 Another auto-charm - Nissan Pivo 2 had 4 wheels that moved independently of each other, like in a supermarket cart. In addition, he has an onboard robot - a companion on a journey. (Photo: Nissan).
12. BMW i8 conceptual model from BMW, which, oddly enough, later became serial. Even the "winged" doors were kept unchanged. (Photo: BMW).
13. Citroen Tubik You might think that Citroen Tubik looks like a half-fish, half-bird from the game Angry Birds. It seems that the chances of getting into mass production such an exotic design has very little. (Photo: Citroen).
14. Mercedes-Benz Bionic Car A prototype from Mercedes, created in the image and likeness of a tropical fish Common horned boxfish. (Photo: Mercedes-Benz).
15 Valmet Automotive Dawn Featured on Geneva motor show The 2012 concept electric car looks like a Formula 1 car left in an electric oven for a while. (Photo: PetrolBlog)
16. Saab Aero X Saab Aero-X was introduced in 2006. Even after almost 10 years, it still looks great. (Photo: Saab).
17. Isuzu Vehicross 18. Peugeot Moovie 19. Chery @Ant 20. Lamborghini Egoista This project was created on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Lamborghini. The car got its name from the fact that it has only one seat. The styling of this beautiful concept car is inspired by the shapes of fighter planes. (Photo: Lamborghini).
Compared to spaceships and driving robots, a car in science fiction is not such a frequent visitor. Why limit yourself to roads and stand in traffic jams, if in your world you can ride a dragon or simply teleport? To withstand such competition, the car must be extremely unusual. Good fantastic car at least he knows how to fly, he is stuffed to capacity with equipment to deal with enemies, and in between battles he can still chat heart to heart with the owner. The heroes of our today's "Honor Board" cope with their task with honor - many of them are remembered and loved by the audience no less than the heroes of the works themselves.
If you have firmly decided to buy a car worthy of a true fan of science fiction, welcome to our showroom. Whether you are a magician, an astronaut, or a lone hero, our experts will help you choose the car of your choice!
10th place: Through the wastelands with a breeze
NAME: Highwayman
CAR PLANT: Fallout 2
OWNER: Chosen One
MODEL: Chrysler Imperial 1959
TUNING: Let's start our top ten with a cheerful landscape, dear to the heart of every gamer: a nuclear war has destroyed civilization, and a few handfuls of survivors are hiding in shelters. Among the gloomy wastelands, bandits, mutants and carnivorous geckos lie in wait for you - few people dare to set off on a journey without a reliable and fast car. There is only one small snag: there is not a single serviceable car left in the whole world. Unless you manage to repair an old wreck, gathering dust in the dump of one provincial town ...
In their former glory, one hundred and seventy years ago, the Highwaymen were considered the most prestigious model of the Chryslus Motors company. According to rumors, it was in this car that Chryslus first applied revolutionary technology: they installed instead of conventional engine thermonuclear elements. Now buy this unique car you can for only two thousand dollars - you just need to run to the other side of the Wasteland and get a fuel controller. The repaired Highwayman will help out the Chosen One more than once: the inhabitants of the scorched desert usually do not risk attacking drivers, and you can put a lot of any useful trash in the trunk. However, some inconveniences still remain. Firstly, superstitious residents do not let motorists into the cities for fear that the reactor will explode at any second. Secondly, the only serviceable car in the world is such a tidbit that someone will definitely try to steal it!
GIBD WARNING: According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, passenger cars are required to undergo an annual technical inspection. Rust is not so bad, but how do you explain a nuclear reactor to an inspector?
WHY 10 PLACE: Even such a rusty tin is priceless in a post-apocalyptic setting, but it’s better not to use it on ordinary roads.
9th place: Flying Briton
NAME: Fordik
CONSTRUCTOR: Joanne Rowling
CAR PLANT:"Harry Potter"
OWNER: Arthur Weasley
MODEL: Blue 1960 Ford Anglia 105E Deluxe
TUNING: Even in law-abiding England, everyone brings something home from work. So the head of the Muggle technology department could not resist - he found somewhere the most ordinary car and bewitched it to fly. Missing the Hogwarts Express? Or just want to admire the landscapes of magical Britain, where mere mortals have been ordered to enter? No need to bang your head against the wall at the train station - Arthur Weasley's car will take you anywhere in the sky in no time! You don't have to be afraid of vigilant royal air defenses: the minivan is equipped with an invisibility button. In addition, inside it is more spacious than outside: all suitcases can easily fit in the trunk, and a dozen people can be put in the cabin itself.
However, Ford is a car with character. Once, after a particularly hard landing, he took off and ran away to the Forbidden Forest, where he perfectly fit into the ecosystem and even managed to measure horsepower with a local flock of spiders.
GIBD WARNING: The Ministry of Magic does not approve of uncontrolled distribution hybrid technologies.
WHY 9 PLACE: A flying car is great, but the car is far from its first youth, wayward and unreliable.
8th place: Woman driving
NAME: Christina
CONSTRUCTOR: Stephen King
CAR PLANT:"Christina"
OWNER: Rolland LeBay, Ernie Cunningheim
MODEL: Red Plymouth Fury 1958
TUNING: If you do not think that you need to take care of your car and take care of it properly, Christina will quickly convince you. Do you like to smoke in the cabin? You risk suffocating in the back seat due to a completely accidental breakdown. Did you park badly and another driver scratched your hood on the way out? Be prepared for the fact that Christina will track down the culprit the next night and knock him to death, while playing a fun rock and roll tune. The owner of such a car does not have to be an evil maniac, but sooner or later, not the best features will begin to appear in his character: he will become irritable, begin to be rude to others and behave extremely recklessly. Even in clothes, the owners of this car tend to prefer gloomy black. If such a prospect does not frighten you, remember the main thing: now in no case should you show signs of attention to other girls, because Christina is very jealous.
The advantages, however, are also obvious. After any accident, your car will be restored in a couple of days and will be like new. Even a hydraulic press cannot seriously damage Christina. And if you have always dreamed of tracking down the culprit of the accident and reprimanding him with a windshield, you can be sure that the car will independently and very cruelly take revenge on anyone who disrespected it on the road. Why Christina is so touchy is not exactly known. According to some sources, she is possessed by the evil spirit of the old owner, and according to others, she has always been like that and killed several workers at the car factory.
GIBD WARNING: She will recover after the accident, and you?
WHY 8 PLACE: The advice to buy Christina can be regarded as suicide propaganda. If life and reason are dear to you, bypass this car a mile away.
7th place: Best back rider
NAME: Maitre
CONSTRUCTOR: John Lasetter
CAR PLANT:"Cars"
OWNER: No
MODEL: A once-turquoise 1956 Chevrolet 3800
TUNING: In appearance, the Mater is a clumsy and excessively talkative rusty tractor. In fact, there are few cars in the world with such a rich life experience. The master comes from the provincial Arizona town of Radiator Springs, where they live intelligent cars. However, at one time he traveled the whole planet - he participated in a bulldozer bullfight and an air show, visited the moon and in the distant past, made acquaintance with aliens and even invented heavy metal. Of course, all his stories are true! And he never loses heart and is always ready to help his friends: if the engine stalls, he will hook it up and pull it out, if he fails to win the race, he will help with advice. Not so long ago, Mater even acted as a secret agent and helped British intelligence uncover a worldwide spy plot around Allinol biofuels. As a result, the hero was knighted by the Queen of Great Britain herself, and as a souvenir, the Maitre got high-speed jet turbines. Have you seen many tow trucks that can compete with the best racing cars?
| Sit down, beauty, I'll give you a ride! |
GIBD WARNING: Eyes on windshield- a serious obstruction to view, so drivers are not recommended to buy cars from suppliers from Radiator Springs.
WHY 7th PLACE: Mater is a good friend, but as a car he is not always reliable.
6th place: Ghosts in the car
NAME: Ecto-1
CONSTRUCTOR: Ivan Reitman
CAR PLANT:"Ghostbusters"
OWNER: Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz and Egon Spangler
MODEL: White Cadillac Miller Meteor 1959
TUNING: When a car is possessed by a ghost, it is not to be trifled with. If there is a whole crowd of ghosts and everyone is safely hidden in a trap on the roof, this is a completely different matter! For a team of ghost hunters who guard the peace of New Yorkers, this ambulance-hearse hybrid is simply indispensable. From paranormal entities, it is necessary to save either the inhabitants of the suburbs, or the city library, or the mayor's office - you may not have time on foot. Of course, on the track, Ecto-1 is unlikely to give all cars a hundred points ahead, and I'm not used to stunt chases either. But in the car itself it is convenient to store complex scientific equipment: bulky backpacks with proton blocks fit perfectly in the trunk, with which you can immobilize any ghost. Better yet, put a proton cannon right on the roof. Let them be afraid!
GIBD WARNING: They repaired the car literally on their knees, and the equipment was also handicraft. Would you risk taking the road with a homemade nuclear booster?
WHY 6 PLACE: If in life you rarely encounter ghosts, such a machine is unlikely to be useful to you.
5th place: Dark horse
NAME: Batmobile
CAR PLANT:"Batman"
OWNER: Bruce Wayne
MODEL: Black... tank?
TUNING: Few superheroes treasure their car as much as the bat masked vigilante. Over the years, his car has managed to change many looks, but retained a unique style. Early versions of the Batmobile looked like a hybrid of an expensive Chevrolet with a submarine or a torpedo. On such a car, an eccentric billionaire would not be allowed into a decent society, but any street racer would envy such a “pumping”. But the current car of Batman does not resemble either a bat or a car in general - it is a brutal-looking combat SUV, a masterpiece of the defense industry.
If you decide to clean the streets of your hometown from supervillains, the new Batmobile will come in handy. He knows how to drive on any surface and even jump on rooftops, and he easily blows barricades on the roads with a rocket launcher. If an accident occurs, it doesn't matter: onboard system catapults you along with a pair of wheels, and then you will go on a comfortable motorcycle.
GIBD WARNING: We have a lot of car registrars in our country, so a person who drives onto the road in a tank runs the risk of becoming the hero of a whole series of funny videos on YouTube. What kind of anonymity is there? Turnout failed, Mr. Wayne!
WHY 5 PLACE: The Batmobile is not only a vehicle, but also one of the most recognizable symbols in popular culture. Except he can't fly. Cons - very big the lineup. The possibilities are highly dependent on whether you are lucky with the model.
4th place: I am Lunokhod-1
NAME: Mako
CAR PLANT: mass effect
OWNER: Commander Shepard
MODEL: M35
TUNING: On the dusty paths of distant planets, sometimes there are such stone blockages that an astronaut will have a hard time without climbing equipment. And if, in addition, protection from radiation, a hot atmosphere or poisonous gases? There is only one way out: take a passenger rover latest model. Just for such a case, our faithful companion Mako is in the hold of the Normandy space frigate. Thanks to the core of the “zero element”, it can be made as light as a feather and dropped onto the planet directly from orbit, or, on the contrary, it can be made heavier for better grip with surface. The car gracefully climbs the rocks, and jumps over especially large obstacles on jet engines. If it rolls over, it's okay: the shields will withstand the blow, although return Mako to normal position it will be hard. Well, in case of first contact with friendly intelligent aliens - Geth or Reapers - Mako is equipped with a machine gun and a heavy cannon. In general, this the only car from a list that can be used even in the most extreme conditions.
GIBD WARNING: Mako tests on Russian roads was not carried out. There is a serious concern that jet engines will not save her.
WHY 4 PLACE: Good all-terrain vehicle to conquer other planets, but the management is rather capricious, and not everyone can handle it.
3rd place: Windows-1982
NAME: KITT
CAR PLANT:"Knight Rider"
OWNER: Michael Knight
MODEL: Black 1982 Pontiac Trans Am
TUNING: If you dreamed of becoming a secret agent and joining advanced technologies - do not rush to sign up for MI8: the development of the Law and Order Foundation will give odds to any James Bond. Foundation employees took the artificial intelligence that controlled the computer in the White House and transplanted it into a stylish a car. This is how KITT appeared - not just an invincible fighting machine, but also a memorable character with his own character.
| Looks completely harmless... |
GIBD WARNING: When buying, pay attention to the color of the scanner. Cars with yellow diodes are prone to antisocial behavior.
WHY 3rd PLACE: To the point of implausibility universal car, and even animated, is the dream of any boy from the nineties. Mary Sue from the automotive industry: so good that you are waiting for some kind of catch.
2nd place: Three laws of traffic
NAME: Optimus Prime
CAR PLANT:"Transformers"
OWNER: My own boss
MODEL: Freightliner FL86 or Peterbilt 379
TUNING: Pistons hiss, servomotors buzz - and now instead of a truck in the middle of the road there is a huge red-blue-white robot. The alien commander Optimus Prime only temporarily disguises himself as an earthly transport - he simply does not want to frighten people in vain, whom he is ready to protect at any moment from the next attack of the insidious Decepticons. Instead of a fiery engine, under its hood lies the Matrix of Leadership, which contains the wisdom and strength of past generations of robots. Once Optimus gives the order, his entire squad of Autobots will rush into battle: trucks, motorcycles, cars and racing cars... In car form, Prime is equipped with guns, missiles, cobalt alloy armor - in general, complete set technology to save the universe. And the driver ... why does a transformer need a driver? Unless you need to give a ride to another unlucky person who is in trouble.
GIBD WARNING: Buying sentient beings for private ownership has been illegal since 1861. In addition, the appearance of transformers in the city is often accompanied by serious destruction. If you urgently need to transport cargo somewhere, it’s better to take a “gazelle”.
WHY 2nd PLACE: Who in childhood did not flirt with transformers? Optimus Prime is a nearly perfect candidate for a car friend. If he agrees, of course.
1st place: 88 mph
NAME: Delorean
CONSTRUCTOR: Robert Zemeckis
CAR PLANT:"Back to the Future"
OWNER: Doc Emmett Brown
MODEL: Silver 1981 DeLorean DMC-12
TUNING: The only car time, which can rightly be called a machine. And if you take a car for such a thing, then why not look stylish? The creation of the gloomy American genius Emmett Brown will please even the most demanding time traveler. Once you enter the date and accelerate hard, the car will disappear in a flash of blue light and take you into the past or the future. Moreover, the stainless steel case reliably protects against temporal distortions! True, it will take a lot of energy to move: for the operation of a streaming drive, a power of as much as 1.21 gigawatts is needed. But Doc Brown managed to replace the obsolete plutonium reactor with an environmentally friendly incinerator from the future long ago.
| Doc, are we sure we're not in 2241? |
Do you still think flying cars are better? Don't worry, it's not long to wait: in 2015, the DeLorean will also be able to install a magnetic pillow. Any ghosts on wheels and combat vehicles With on-board computers pale before the possibility of instantly being in any era and with the same ease to return back. Just be careful: time paradoxes have never brought anyone to good. Before flying into the past, be sure to ask relatives where your ancestors lived in that era, and stay as far away from such places as possible. And most importantly - God forbid you crush some butterfly!
GIBD WARNING: The maximum permitted speed on the roads Russian Federation- 110 kilometers per hour. However, what's the difference? If you hit 142 in a DeLorean, you'll never be caught!
WHY 1 PLACE: The cult time machine, which has become an icon of the eighties and the object of numerous parodies, deserves the first place in any rating of fantastic transport.
| Time has no power: from the history of "DeLorean" |
| Back to the Future trilogy writers Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis originally wanted to make a freezer a time machine. Fortunately, this idea was abandoned - otherwise we would have to rank the top ten refrigerators, and then Doc Brown would have had a serious fight with Indiana Jones himself! When the writers settled on a car, their choice immediately fell on this particular model. In one of the interviews, Gale explained the reason: he wanted to insert a comedy scene into the plot in which the car is mistaken for spaceship. The DMC-12 turned out to be the most unusual car of that time: the hull sparkled with unpainted steel, and the branded wing doors that lean upwards look futuristic even twenty years later. I must say, fate was not very favorable to this car. Former General Motors employee John DeLorean founded his own company back in 1975, but in a few years he released one single model - the two-door sports car of his dreams. In 1982, with the film's release still three years away, the company was forced to file for bankruptcy and the cars were selling for next to nothing. After the resounding success of Back to the Future, sci-fi fans immediately rushed to car dealerships, and for the second film, even Zemeckis himself had to fork out a lot for props. Touched by John DeLorean, he even wrote a letter of gratitude to the screenwriters for perpetuating the name of his offspring. He was absolutely right: although his company never managed to rise from the ashes, the cars themselves are still popular. It's not uncommon for car buffs to seek out prototypes of their favorite cars and painstakingly recreate them; almost all the heroes of our list can occasionally be found on the streets of cities. famous car Time, perhaps, was the luckiest of all: after the bankruptcy of Delorean, the owner of a Texas auto repair company bought out all the rights, drawings, and even spare parts left in warehouses. Now his company is selling remanufactured DMC-12s to the public - and is even promising to release a model that runs on electricity this year. We don't need gas where we're going, Marty! |
Everyone has their own future. Someone dreams of a new smartphone, someone of their own business, and Daniel Simon dreams of the transport of the future. These dreams have long been cramped within the normal work of a car designer. After starting a successful career in the Volkswagen concern, Simon switched to creating fantastic cars for Hollywood movie heroes, took a step further and founded his own company, Cosmic Motors. Here he was finally able to do the main and most beloved - the design of cars for racing on other planets and the development of strangers, extreme worlds. Visualization of images from which our common future originates. "Life is too short to waste time rendering bad models and concepts that no one wants,” says Simon.
Camarudo. Single model equipped with turbine engine for rapid flights low above the surface. It is ideal for hunting, and after some modifications it adapts both for pilot training and for not too difficult race tracks, better for an amateur level. The first successful project of Cosmic Motors.
Passionate about drawing cars since childhood, already at the age of 16 he knew exactly what he intended to do, and in 2001 he received a diploma from the Pforzheim Higher School in the specialty “ automotive design". By this time, he had already worked for two years at the local Volkswagen bureau, where he participated in the creation of new Seat and Lamborghini models. And after graduating, Daniel accepted the offer of the automaker to move to the European Design Center.
space motors. An independent vehicle manufacturer based in the Galaxion galaxy. The company was founded in 8966 by the Redoi brothers, engineer Osley and racing driver Fritz. Their project to convert military vehicles into sports vehicles aroused great interest, setting a whole series of records.
Reality: Volkswagen
The bodies of modern cars are stamped in thin sheets, often no more than a couple of millimeters thick, and even with the use of the most modern and durable materials, only its shape - bends and curves - guarantees the rigidity of the structure. They also soften the flow. air currents, reducing turbulence, which is why it's so hard to find even one straight line or flat surface here. Even when viewed from above, in a horizontal projection, the silhouette of the body smoothly expands and converges closer to the rear bumper.
Gravion. Powerful racing car, work on which was completed at Cosmic Motors after the death of the Redoi brothers. key machine special competitions of the Gravion Cup, taking place on the planet Glankori. Experts call the most unusual feature of Gravion asymmetry: a non-standard approach made it possible to build a car around a super-powerful laser compression fusion engine, borrowed from Sexy Magrella heavy ships. Max speed- more than 2000 km / h, so for control a control system is implemented that receives commands directly from the pilot's brain.
This game of rounded lines is the set of details that designers put together when they come up with new cars. It is difficult to say that they are not enough: even with the exact observance of all restrictions and requirements, from the mandatory presence of wheels to a certain space in the trunk, arcs of different lengths and diameters can be connected in countless combinations. The most beautiful and proportionate of them are usually the most functional and comfortable in life. “An ugly plane will not fly”, and the requirements of efficiency only help the master find perfect proportions.
“Our eye has been trained for years to distinguish what is attractive from what is not. The difference between a beautiful and ugly face can be as little as three percent. With machines, everything is exactly the same,” the designer explained in an interview with 3D Artist magazine. - Just a fraction of an inch one way or the other, and you go from "Oh, how cool!" to "Well, that's kind of boring." Certain curves will point to 1940s design, others to 1950s or 1960s style. The way the panels were connected, the pattern of the lines, whether the glass was flat or curved… Each decade of the last century has been defined by the technology available to manufacturers, and this is reflected in the design.”
The constraints imposed by the demands of production only make the task of the artist more interesting. However, while working for Volkswagen and other customers, Simon became convinced that car designers at a large concern were completely dependent on the whims of modelers, who created intermediate versions of the design from plastic and clay. “All of them, of course, exclusively talented people, - Daniel admitted, - but I suffered a lot in the process. So 3D modeling has been a real blessing for my creativity… even though I hate computers in general.”
Galaxion. A premium coupe powered by a silent Xenoramium CV 980 fusion engine. The body panels are made from a natural-artificial chitinium polymer grown in the oceans of the planet Canoa Quebrada. Shown is a customized "Black Series" model not officially approved by Cosmic Motors.
Fantasy: Hollywood
Daniel doesn't think the job has changed that much. Starting as a car designer, he only switched to creating cars for other purposes; his projects left the roads of the world and flew into the frames of Hollywood films and video games. But anyway real car is a product of complex production, it must meet the requirements of safety and reliability, environmental and traffic laws - and be attractive to buyers.
Gravion-45. Further development incredible successful model. Among the innovations, one can note a rotary cockpit that can automatically change the position of the pilot, minimizing the dangerous effects from overloads during the race. But the real engineering masterpiece was the lightweight rear hubless wheels with plasma magnetic braking system and a set of electric motors integrated into them, powered by the main thermonuclear generator.
“As a result, most ideas and concepts cannot be directly turned into models for mass use,” Daniel Simon told Popular Mechanics. They have a different mission. Such design experiments are always a continuation of one of two phrases: "What if ..." or "I wish ...". There are much fewer rigid frameworks and rules here, but this does not mean that they do not exist at all. They are set by human nature itself: a fantastic car should not be too fantastic. Looking like a "genuine" object from the future, it must be perceived as the present. vehicle so that the viewer understands its purpose at a glance.
The cars of the future, designed by Daniel Simon for the film "Oblivion", play a special role in the plot. The protagonist, played by Tom Cruise, is a drone maintenance technician who extracts water from the oceans of a deserted Earth for space colonies. Many film reviewers considered not even him, but Drone 166, to be the main character of the tape.
And of course, directors and film artists put forward their own requirements. Having worked with Joseph Kosinski on Tron and Oblivion, with Joe Johnston on The First Avenger, and even with Ridley Scott on Prometheus, Simon learned the need to tweak his ideas every now and then. “Most people rely on a happy accident, but I'm not a fan of this approach,” emphasizes Daniel. “Although a couple of times such coincidences on the screen unexpectedly gave excellent results.”
Future: Cosmic Motors
“It so happened that I was simply contacted and offered to publish a design album with designs for fictional, alien vehicles. I felt that my legs were literally giving way ... well, a couple of days later I agreed, ”recalls Simon. In general, the work on the album took almost infinity - seven years, including two years completely devoted to the projects of the Cosmic Motors car manufacturer invented for the album.
Despite the tragic death of the Redoi brothers while racing, their company continues to work, producing some of the best cars in the galaxy for all conditions and worlds.
The designer did not use a single "stock" detail, not a single fragment or texture downloaded from network libraries: everything was drawn from scratch to the last scratch. According to Daniel, each model took from a month to six months of painstaking work. Over and over again, unsuitable working options were discarded, costumes, poses and characters of pilot heroes were selected. Days were spent choosing the ideal angle and lighting for rendering the final scene - until the machine “came to life”, and the whole picture began to respond with it, opening up a new unknown world from an infinite number open to future humanity.
There is even less support for creative search in this work, and even more freedom than in cinema. However, here Daniel came to the aid of engineering flair, developed by years of study and work as an automotive designer. If in real concepts for Bugatti and Lamborghini beauty grew out of functionality, then in the fantastic cars of Cosmic Motors, on the contrary, a sense of beauty allows you to find a functional ideal. The nozzle, which should balance the composition, turns out to be necessary for a fictional engine; the oversized wheels fit perfectly with the weighted design of the entire machine, giving it the ability to move through the harsh hummocks of an as yet undiscovered exoplanet…
The fact that the first English tanks decided to call the "tank" for the sake of secrecy is known to many today. A much greater veil of secrecy is shrouded in tank designs that were conceived even before Little Willie and Big Willie were put to the test. Today we will tell you about these once top secret projects ...
Boirot machine
Although the first tanks went into battle in 1916, the idea to use vehicles on the battlefield was born as soon as the approaches to the enemy trenches were entangled with numerous rows of barbed wire. Of course, the shells fired from the guns would have torn it apart, but only a lot of them were needed for this.
And then the French engineer Louis Boirot in December 1914 proposed for this unusual car, with full right to claim the title of the very first experimental tank of the First World War. It is enough to look at her photograph to understand that Monsieur Boirot had a rich imagination.
It was an eight-meter frame of six base plates connected by hinges. Inside it was a pyramidal structure with a motor with a power of 80 Horse power and places for two crew members.
Thanks to the wheels, it slowly rolled inside this frame, and its plates crushed the barbed wire. But its speed was only three kilometers per hour ... In addition, it was almost impossible to control it. And, of course, the dimensions were large, because of which it was a good target for artillery, which is why it was abandoned immediately after the tests conducted in February 1915.
The second model looked more compact, had armored corps, machine gun, and could climb through trenches six feet (about two meters) wide. However, its speed was even lower than that of the first one - only one kilometer per hour, and the turning radius - 100 meters, which was completely unacceptable.
Tank "Breton Preto"
Upon learning of the failure of Boirot's machines, another Frenchman, engineer Jules Louis Breton, proposed cutting wire with a mechanical cutter in the form of a mechanically driven vertical saw.
The device was named "Breton-Preto" (after the name of the author and the manufacturer), and it was mounted on a five-ton wheeled tractor, which was booked and equipped with a machine gun in the turret. During the tests, this tractor got stuck in a trench, from where it was barely removed.
Tank Aubrio and Gabet
Two more French engineers, Aubrio and Gabe, in the same 1915, based on the Filtz agricultural tractor, built a strange fighting vehicle that looked like an armored turret with a motor in front and two large-diameter drive wheels.
The armament of the tower consisted of a 37-mm rapid-fire gun, and the crew consisted of two people: the driver and the commander, who also served as a gunner.
The most unusual thing in the car was the propulsion system, which consisted of an electric motor powered by a cable! Yes, yes, there were no batteries or a current generator inside - when moving, the installation pulled a cable that was unwound from a special drum.
It is clear that the combat vehicle, dragging such a “tail” behind it, was completely unsuitable for the needs of the army. Why the inventors themselves did not understand this is incomprehensible!
Tank Frot
In March 1915, engineer P. Frot from the North Canal company proposed to build a symmetrical wheeled combat vehicle weighing 10 tons with two control posts so that it could move back and forth on the battlefield without turning around. An engine with only 20 horsepower was placed in the center of the hull.
The crew was to consist of nine people, including four machine gunners and three assistants. The speed of the car was 3-5 kilometers per hour, but it actually could not move over rough terrain.
"Land cruiser" Hetterington
In England, the first draft of the "land cruiser" was presented by the captain of the Royal Naval Aviation Service, Thomas Hetterington. The thickness of his armor was 80 millimeters. Each of the three towers housed two 102 mm guns.
But there were only three wheels: two in front, with a diameter of 12 meters - leading and one rear - steering. Two diesel engines were supposed to provide the "cruiser" with a speed of up to 12 kilometers per hour.
When the project was considered, it turned out that the mass of the machine could reach 1000 tons, and in addition, with a height of 14, a length of 30 and a width of 24 meters, it would be an excellent target for German artillery. Therefore, the British built a reduced model of ... wood, and they decided to stop all work on the Hetterington "cruiser", which they did in June 1915.
"Field Monitor" and "Trench Destroyer"
In Russia, as is known, Captain Lebedenko's Tsar Tank was built, which impressed with its nine-meter-high wheels, but on the other hand, the Americans developed a project for a "150-ton field monitor" on wheels with a diameter of six meters, and also with two (!) engines.
Tsar Tank (Tank Lebedenko) on trials, 1915
As conceived by the designers, it should have had two 152-mm naval guns at once, which were usually installed on cruisers! Auxiliary armament was a whole battery of 10 Colt machine guns of the 1885 model. Four of them in twin installations were located in two towers, and the remaining six were supposed to shoot through embrasures in the hull.
However, 150 tons seemed not enough to the Americans, and they developed a project called "Trench Destroyer" weighing already 200 tons, that is, even more solid than the German super heavy tank"Colossal"! It was assumed that this would be an armored "wagon" on the chassis of the "Holt" tractor, but longer.
Armament was to consist of six 75-mm French guns of the 1897 model of the year, a flamethrower, another 20 Browning machine guns with circular fire; crew - 30 people. It is clear that they did not let him out, no matter how pleasing to the eye!
"Tank-skeleton" and others
But in the USA they built a nine-ton "skeleton tank", which had caterpillar contours big size connected with pipes. Between them was a small armored cubical cabin with a turret for a 37 mm gun.
The designers considered that enemy shells would fly between the tubular supports, and they would not hit the hull and turret, but due to large sizes its patency will be the same as that of the English "rhombic" tanks.
Then they built a three-wheeled tank with steam engine, and, most surprisingly, almost exactly the same machine, similar to a tricycle, was made by the Germans. But the tank remained tracked vehicle. The wheels, even if they were large, did not suit him!
Macfay's tanks
The projects of Robert Francis McFay, a talented Canadian engineer, who, however, had a grumpy and quarrelsome character, were not accepted either. Already on his first project there was a propeller, that is, the car was conceived as an amphibian! There is a screw on his other project, and it was supposed to be raised and lowered in order to protect it from breakage when it hits the ground. It's interesting that main feature the last two of his cars had a three-track chassis.
In this case, the front caterpillar had to play the role of a steering device, that is, turn in different directions, and also change its position relative to the body in a vertical plane. The designer provided a special cutter for barbed wire and a “nose” of armor plates that folded up to protect the steering caterpillar and its drive wheel.
His other project was a tank already on four tracks, but the two front ones were located one behind the other. The front track had a slope of 35 degrees and was supposed to make it easier to overcome vertical obstacles, and all the rest gave a low pressure of the heavy machine on the ground.
Armament on it could be installed both in the hull and in the ledges on the sides of it. But this project seemed too sophisticated, so in the end it was also abandoned. But in general, an interesting car could turn out, in any case, probably no worse than the serial English tank Mk. I, and all other tanks of this series.
Here, it turns out, how many things were invented by the designers at the very beginning of the First World War, but these and many other proposals remained only on paper, although not all of them were crazy!
Vyacheslav SHPAKOVSKY
