The Porsche That Transforms Into A Pick-Up Truck
THIS FUTURISTIC sports car powered by natural gas can transform into a pickup truck. Based on a Porsche, the 911 Turbo-based Rinspeed Bedouin was created to show how a powerful car can also use renewable energy. Frank M. Rinderknecht, CEO for Swiss-based manufacturer Rinspeed has been building concept-cars for the Geneva Motor Show for over 20 years. He calls himself “an automotive futurist”, with the Rinspeed Bedouin being just one of his many innovative creations. He told FutureStudiosCars: “The Bedouin was created to show sustainability, powered by natural CMG gas.” The vehicle was built in 2003, at that time the batteries were still too weak to power a car like this one. By taking on this project Frank was faced with big challenges to maintain the basic shape of the Porsche. “We did not want to obstruct the original design, but to compliment it," he said. “Then we had to fit all the technology in a relatively small amount of space." The Bedouin still provides the luxuries of a sports car, with soft leather seats, engraved with thousands of crystals. Of course, the main feature of this innovative creation is how the backside can be transformed at the touch of a button into a pickup truck, a rare find in the motoring world because of the cost of manufacturing. Frank explained: "It's cheaper to have like two different vehicles instead of combining two in one, but it's still in the people's heart to have a car which serves many purposes.”
Transcript
00:00At the tip of a finger it transforms into a pickup truck. A very powerful car but powered
00:10by sustainable CNG natural gas. The Bedouin is beautiful and clearly can see the sparkle
00:18of thousands of small crystals in a bling bling way.
00:26Back in 2003 this was the future. A natural gas powered sports car that converted into
00:34a pickup truck.
00:35FRANK RINDERNEKT My name is Frank Rindernekt, I'm the CEO of Rindspeed and I'm an automotive
00:44futurist.
00:48Frank has been building cars for the Geneva Motor Show for 20 years.
00:54And this is just one of his many creations.
00:58FRANK RINDERNEKT Bedouin, at the tip of a finger it transforms into a pickup truck.
01:07The Bedouin which we built quite some years ago was to show sustainability, the Bedouin
01:13was powered by natural gas. When we built the vehicle in the early 2000s batteries were
01:19still too weak to power a vehicle.
01:27And if you think the shape of this car looks familiar, well you'll be right.
01:32The Bedouin our really eye catcher based on a 911 is set in beautiful and very soft leather
01:41and then the seat backs are engraved by little crystals saying Rindspeed in a bling bling
01:47way.
01:48If I want to activate the backside to be transformed I just hit a simple button and here we go,
01:57obviously you need to be stationary to do so. And beneath everything as it's in a 911
02:03we have the rear six cylinder engine.
02:06And what did Porsche think of Frank's creation?
02:09FRANK RINDERNEKT We had at the time a very good relationship, they looked at it positively
02:14because we never did really the unthinkable or too crazy stuff. Still within the outrageous
02:19we stayed on the ground.
02:21We still wanted to maintain the basic design lines, we did not want to obstruct the original
02:28design but to complement. And then we had to fit all the technology, we have to make
02:33it work on a relatively small amount of space.
02:41I'm now sitting in the Bedouin, what one clearly can see is the sparkle of thousands
02:47of small crystals not only in the doors but on the shift gear but also on the steering
02:52wheel.
02:53The steering wheel by the way looks kind of odd because it's not round. The reason is
02:58that the steering within a little bit more than 90 degrees turns fully to the right or
03:04fully to the left but that in a progressive way which allows you much easier parking but
03:10more stable driving on the freeway.
03:14We showed the Bedouin for the first time at the Geneva Motor Show. The Geneva Motor Show
03:20still is on our agenda.
03:23Transformable vehicles today are still kind of rare because it means also a lot more money
03:30to be invested in the vehicle and it's cheaper to have like two different sorts of vehicle
03:34instead of combining two in one but it still is in the people's head to have a car which
03:42serves many purposes.
03:44With many years of creating unique concept vehicles, you never know quite what's next
03:49from Frank and the team at Rinspeed. But one thing's for sure, whatever they do, they'll
03:56do it in style.