Transparent Rinspeed eXasis Concept To Make World Debut

LEVERKUSEN, Germany — The sketches of the new Rinspeed concept car eXasis have been provoking lots of reaction on the Internet, and now its creators have released images just ahead of the upcoming Geneva auto show — in time for the company's 30th anniversary.

The two-seater eXasis is made of transparent high-tech plastic in a collaborative effort between Rinspeed and Bayer MaterialScience AG. It is powered by a lightweight 150-horsepower two-cylinder Weber engine driven by bioethanol. "In view of the fact that the car weighs only 750 kilograms (1,653 pounds) because of its lightweight plastic construction, one horsepower has to shift only 5 kg (11 pounds) — and that is about the same as a very nippy Porsche," the company said in a statement.

Its designers say eXasis was created to look like the offspring of the old Auto Union racing cars and a contemporary off-road vehicle. The eXasis has an aluminum chassis and special seats designed in cooperation with Recaro that have 12 transparent ribs, patterned after the ribs in the human body. The concept rides on Pirelli 22-inch high-performance P Zero tires mounted on forged five-spoke wheels by AEZ. The wheels have transparent "inlays" designed to look like small windows.

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