The last Rinspeed concept I saw was based on the BMW i3 and was able to switch the steering wheel from one side of the car to the other. As weird as that was, it doesn't compare to the cars they made about a decade ago.
Back then Rinspeed were positively obsessed with the idea of a car that could go on the water. They built a James Bond-like Lotus that worked like a submarine and the Splash, which used fins to rise above the water.
But not a lot of folks know about the 1999 Rinspeed X-Trem Concept. The Swiss somehow thought that people wanted to use a hovercraft and travel all around the world, so they attached one to a car.
A crane located on the back would help you load and unload the small hovercraft. But it wasn't just this that could be carried. The company's founder, Frank Rinderknecht, saw that pickup truck drivers tow boats and motorcycles but rarely use the bed. So he created a craft that could carry things like scooters or jet skis without towing them.
This wasn't a showpiece that never moved an inch in its life. Beneath the yellow paint and bonkers design was the 5.5-liter V8 engine from a Mercedes-Benz producing 347 hp. Why a Mercedes? Because the X-Trem is based around the first generation of M-Class and it kept the automatic transmission and all-wheel drive system. As practical as that sounds, the car has no windows or doors and there's only room enough for two people.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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