Chevy Windstroke Is a GM Intern’s Idea of Future Vehicles and Propulsion

What you see in the photo above isn’t just a rendering, it’s a scale model of a dream created by one intern at GM. That intern is named Akira Watanabe of Brazil. And this is the Chevrolet Windstroke.

What surprised me most about this project is that even interns at one of the largest manufacturers of automobiles come up with crazy designs that no one would ever believe.

Sadly, even this Chevy will probably never reach our streets for two reasons. The first is that it’s such an ‘out there’ body design, with all its curves, lines, and edges. And secondly, is that this vehicle doesn’t even include wheels in its design, but rather compressed air power like that on Pod Racers from the movie Star Wars, or so the designer tells us.

My opinion is that it could even have wheels, it wouldn’t matter. This thing looks so dreamy, futuristic, and badass that It might even end up in a BladeRunner type movie sometime soon. And if it doesn’t, there’s plenty of racing games out there.

So that we can understand a bit about what we’re seeing, note that the front of the car is that black end with those two fins on each side. Those tow fins hold together a sort of front wing. If this is to truly be a vehicle that can fly, then such a component is probably used to help maneuver the vehicle through air.

As we head up the hood of the car toward the cab, the Chevy emblem stares us in the face on a rather tiny engine compartment. On this concept, however, we won’t find an engine at the front. Honestly, we don’t know where the engine is, but we can guess that is somewhere at the rear of the vehicle as those giant air intakes on the side are the main source of fuel for this car's propulsion.

After air is taken in and compressed, it’s then shot out the back through that massive exhaust system, similar to the way jet engines function. How any of this happens, however, we have no idea.

As for the passengers to ride this dream car, what lucky folks. They are to be met with a two-seater convertible roadster style cabin. The only source protection on the vehicle, as the main windshield is missing, comes from those built-in helmets and screens that you must somehow tuck under as you get in the car. Once in, the driver grips the Formula 1 style steering wheel and at the press of a button your Chevy takes off.

Ok, so we get that this idea is meant to fly around using air as propulsion and shooting it out the back through that massive exhaust, but for something like this to be more than just an idea and possibly some CGI in a game or movie, we’re always going to need to work on a lot more than just looks.