Somebody Dreamed of a Lamborghini Pickup Truck Designed for the Surface of Mars

Before you start losing it about how Lamborghini would never make anything this, well, don't worry, they haven't. What we're looking at is nothing more than an idea from Li Xundi of Shenzhen, China. What this senior industrial designer has done is simply envision a vehicle meant for the surface of Mars. It's called the Lamborghini Mars X1, and before you ask what Lamborghini has to do with this project, that would be nothing; the brand lettering is there just for kicks.

Nonetheless, being the concept that it is, we're sure to find many technological ideas and designs which could be applied one day. Come to think of it, as you continue reading this article and browse through the gallery, you’ll probably realize that some of these ideas can already be found in the real world.

Because this vehicle is meant for the surface of Mars, one of the main purposes it's meant to meet is that of a storage and transportation vehicle. With this in mind, Mr. Li simply designed one hell of a pickup truck. That's right, if you look closely at the images, you will see something that looks like a bucket at the rear of this vehicle. Mind you, this is no bucket but, in fact, a truck bed.

One neat thing about this bed is that it can be extended to accommodate larger loads. It does so without affecting structural stability, as the bed extends a pair of wheels, supporting the extra load.

Now, let's take a look at the wheels, which are composed of rows upon rows of rollers. This sort of wheel is known as a Mecanum wheel. If this is the first time you've ever seen this idea, don't worry. It's not from the future and has actually been around since 1972 when patented in the United States by its inventor Bengt Erland Ilon. What this system does is allow vehicles to turn omnidirectionally without any actual steering of the wheels. To do so, the rollers move in different directions as to achieve the desired movement.

Another important function of the wheels on this Lamborghini is that they act as storage units for samples or tools. At the center of each wheel, we can see a logo (not Lamborghini's) hiding atop a hexagon. If you recently caught some alien life form and you're scared to take it with you in the cab, toss it in the hexagon and you're good to go.

Speaking of cab, this portion of the vehicle has additional functions aside from keeping you alive in an off-world atmosphere. If we look at the base of the cab, we can see that it sits upon a sort of giant gear. When needed, and probably at the push of a button, the entire cab can rotate a full 360 degrees.

One thing we know nothing of is whether the drivetrain is electric or not. But, based on the design history of other concepts we have seen, we can probably guess that this one too is designed to be electric.

Now, I'm going to say it again, Lamborghini has not created a pickup truck that is meant to roam the surface of Mars looking for alien lifeforms. For now, it seems they are only working on electric supercars.