On February 28, 2006, at the Geneva Motor Show, Rinspeed will unveil the zaZen concept, created by the Swiss design company in partnership with Bayer MaterialScience, one of the world's biggest plastics producers, that provided the technology for the polycarbonate roof dome.

Design

"Everything has been reduced to essentials, to what really matters. This is the heart of the "zaZen". The extremely organically designed body does not assault the eye with harsh colors but exerts a quiet fascination with its mineral-white color. This is achieved in an understated yet breathtakingly beautiful manner through the use of millions of tiny precious Swarovski crystals protected by a self-healing polyurethane clear coat."

The main exclusive features of the zaZen are the holographic brake light and the smoothly contoured single-section roof dome made of the high-tech polycarbonate Makrolon®. This particular material, developed by Bayer, can be made non-transparent at the press of a button to protect the occupants from curious gazes.

"As if from nowhere, the conspicuously large third brake light shines out of what looks like a floating, transparent teardrop roof. The technical revolution in the car's design is that the transparent rear window has been turned into a luminous holographic area."

Because the transparency can simply be switched on and off, it means that any superfluous knobs and displays on the dashboard can be simply faded out so that the driver can concentrate on what is most important, the speed indicator, instead of being bombarded with unnecessary information.

And instead of a living-room atmosphere, the occupants sit in "glass-like" plastic seat shells in a bright and friendly orange color. According to Rinspeed's boss, Frank M. Rinderknecht, this innovative light is an important step on the way to attaining automotive enlightenment.

The name of the new concept car has been deliberately chosen to reflect the overall attitude with which both companies have driven the entire project forward over a period of many months. After all, Zen – borrowed from Buddhist teaching – is a special form of insight that is only attainable if you are prepared to give up preconceived ideas.

This highly transparent four-wheeled creation, the product of one vision and many imaginative ideas, is currently taking shape at the Swiss engineering specialists, Esoro.

The zaZen is a pure concept, but Rinspeed hints at a remote chache of production: "After that, who knows? We might see some of these exclusive vehicle actually driving along our roads."

(Source: Rinspeed)