webeagle12 Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 TOKYO (Reuters) - Tired of all those three-point turns? Nissan Motor Co. could have a solution. Japan's second-biggest auto manufacturer has developed a concept car featuring an egg-shaped cabin atop a wheeled platform that can swivel 360 degrees, doing away with the need to reverse when emerging from narrow spaces. "With this feature, parking in tight spots is a cinch," chief designer Masato Inoue told reporters at a sneak preview of the bubble-shaped, three-seater electric car this week. The car, named Pivo after the word "pivot," operates on an experimental system called drive-by-wire, which eliminates the mechanical linkages between cabin and chassis to enable steering, braking and shifting through electronic signals. The system is the car's version of fly-by-wire technology, which has controlled commercial jets for more than a decade. Nissan will showcase the Pivo at the Tokyo Motor Show, which opens to the public Oct. 22. At the preview this week in Zama city, near Tokyo, a driver slid the 2.7-meter-long (8-foot) Pivo into a tight imaginary parking spot, then rotated the cabin with the push of a button to face "backwards" to come out of the space in one motion. "With the Pivo concept, we want to demonstrate the myriad possibilities that drive-by-wire could achieve," Inoue said. Shiro Nakamura, Nissan's celebrity design chief, said Friday the real-world application of the concept could be but a decade away. "Who knows, in 10 years our March (or Micra, subcompact car) could look like this," he said at a media event at Nissan's showroom in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district, where the car was being prepared for display to the public. Other auto manufacturers such as General Motors Corp. and DaimlerChrysler AG have also developed drive-by-wire concept cars featuring cabin interiors that resemble cockpits. Quirky concept cars are always crowd-pleasers at international motor shows, which auto manufacturers use to show off next-generation technology and draw attention to their newest production vehicles. http://www.cnn.com/2005/AUTOS/09/30/nissan...reut/index.html :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthony Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 ...awesome, I'd love driving a pivoting-eggshaped car to work :p Seems like a cool concept though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Veteran Posted September 30, 2005 Veteran Share Posted September 30, 2005 Girly feature. Whats wrong with reversing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wompey Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 ...open the pod bay doors, HAL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreqFace Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 Oh my God... that is awful. That's not really how I imagined car design would have evolved to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomis_nehc Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 seriously, that is hideous... :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kombolcha Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 its only a concept.. some 15 - 20 years ago, mazda came out with the first ever electric car, it was based off the 323 wagon.. but because of the weight of the battery, it had 4 wheels in the rear.. that pretty much defeted the whole purpose right there.. they say there is only 1 left and thats in southern california.. havn't seen it yet, but i have seen a lot of those pimp my ride cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackice Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 hey, if its detachable, we could even use it as a home gondola! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orange Posted October 1, 2005 Share Posted October 1, 2005 Saw this car on a car website some weeks ago, i was godsmack when i saw it..ugly thing.. :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambience Posted October 1, 2005 Share Posted October 1, 2005 The only problem with such concept cars is that they are never really serious contenders for production. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael_C Posted October 1, 2005 Share Posted October 1, 2005 That looks like some weird toy you'd get in a happy meal or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNay Posted October 1, 2005 Share Posted October 1, 2005 That looks like some weird toy you'd get in a happy meal or something. 586604706[/snapback] lol, exactly what I was thinkin :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
it_waaznt_me Posted October 1, 2005 Share Posted October 1, 2005 Hmm.. Okay somehow I parked the vehicle in a tight spot .. Then how will I come out ..? from the roof ..?? Gates wont open na .. :rofl: .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisSiteHasLostItsCharm Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 looks like one those little cars you get on a golf course, but worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fighter-X Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 Looks like a giant see-through BBQ grill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sundayx Veteran Posted October 8, 2005 Veteran Share Posted October 8, 2005 what a wheelchair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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