BMW GINA Light Visionary Image Update: 55 High-Res Pics

Tuesday, June 10, 2008 | 21 comments » Categories | , | Bookmark and Share

Following our previous post where we showed you the first video of BMW’s GINA Light Visionary study that features a body made out of cloth, we’ve now added the official image gallery containing more than 50 high-resolution pictures of the 2seater roadster concept. Follow the jump to check them out and don’t forget to tell us what you think about BMW’s concept car by leaving us a comment. -Continued























































21 comments

  1. glen.h // June 10, 2008  

    I think it is wonderful! Weymann used to make cloth bodies for cars in the '20's and 30's. This is like a retro-futurist version of their coachwork!

  2. Anonymous // June 10, 2008  

    For me one of the most incredible concept car since the past ten years, thanks Chris Bangle !

  3. Neil // June 10, 2008  

    So U guess it's time to replace all my expensive wax products with fabric softener?!

  4. Anonymous // June 10, 2008  

    Could this prototype give some clues for the upcoming Z4? The overall shape seems to be about the same as for the camouflaged Z4 prototype

  5. Peter / NoWorkDay.com // June 10, 2008  

    Will BMW make anything similar into production or at least use some of the lines/ideas from it?

  6. Anonymous // June 10, 2008  

    This is very innovative. Would be interested to see the bodywork after cold weather testing and 10,000 miles on the highway.
    If they manufacture it in Virginia, and the way the hood opens, they could name it the VA_GINA.

  7. Florin Negrut // June 10, 2008  

    Love the name, love the cleavage/engine/heart showing. ;) Sexy is the word. I've heard of this technology, and that we should see it in the near future, but i wasn't expecting to see it this soon. This car follows the same design lines as the BMW Mille Miglia Concept. Sweet! (See the windscreen) Soon we will have cars that will repair themselves from minor scratches and dents. This is the next logical step. I love it. I believe this previews some lines for the future Z4 and maybe a BMW supercar.

  8. spaceoddity // June 10, 2008  

    well, it's far beyond of our time. it's a sign of what a mind can think and the reality a project can reach.

    "...it's continuing mission is to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilazations, to boldly go where noone has gone before"

    ...just like the renault argos years ago, many production cars refering to it...

  9. Anonymous // June 11, 2008  

    Absolutely hideous. It's Bangle taken to the extreme and it's just as gaudy as his original 7-series was all those years ago.

    This isn't styling. This is death by design. 'Design conservatism' never seemed so appropriate.

  10. Anonymous // June 11, 2008  

    Cool...Very Cool...

  11. Igor Santos // June 11, 2008  

    This car is just freaky!
    Freaking freakishly great!
    If not for the wrinkles when the doors open, it would be the perfect car.
    But, how'd you wash it?

  12. John // June 11, 2008  

    #Igor: You just take the cover off and put it in the washing machine - but be carefull of the dryer lol

  13. sergey // June 12, 2008  

    Amazing concept!!!

  14. Enrico Foschi // June 20, 2008  

    This content has been Agglom (erated) with other similar ones on http://www.agglom.com/agglom/62 - BMW Gina - Light Visionary Model

  15. Tony // June 20, 2008  

    I love the idea!
    It makes the car incredibly lightweight

    However
    What happens if some idiot crashes it
    I would think they'd make the chassis strong enough to make up for the loss of solid body panels.
    And hopefully they'd use a cloth that air can't get through or else there'd be endless amounts of drag

    With the way BMW operates they'll think of everything to make this perfect

  16. Peter // August 12, 2008  

    i saw this car at the bmw museum in germany - it is as stuuning in the flesh as it is in the pictures. But they didn't have it set upto move sadly - not sure it does move without a squad of puppeteers!

    never going to used realistically - how would you wash it? 40 degree spin cycle - nah!

    bmw z4 is a bout as close as you'll get to this - but i hate that car strangely - just a big penis.

  17. Anonymous // October 16, 2008  

    Absolutely foul. The bonnet gash looks like a huge fanny.

  18. Anonymous // February 15, 2009  

    Can you tell us the name of the cloth used?

  19. Anonymous // March 18, 2009  

    Auto/ Designer accuses BMW: they copied me. The Public Prosecutor’s office in Rome is investigating
    28-02-2009 11:52
    "The 'Gina' concept car covering was patent protected "
    Rome, 28 Feb. (Apcom) - The 'Gina' BMW is a prize-winning concept car, but the idea of using a fabric covering for the bodywork is now said to have been copied from an Italian. This is the subject of the lawsuit initiated by fashion designer Giuseppe Bianco, owner of a number of young fashion labels, and filed with the Rome Public Prosecutor a few days ago. Public Prosecutor Marcello Monteleone is believed to be assessing the case presented by lawyer Carlo Cirillo, which contains allegations of counterfeiting under articles 473 and 474 of the penal code and under the provisions of the so-called ‘industrial property code’, as defined in the law of 10 February 2005, number 30, article 127.
    Specifically, according to the lawsuit, Bianco designed an exclusive procedure in 2005 by which any covering material, from leather to fabric to more technical materials, could be applied to the external body of cars and other motor vehicles, "making the covering impermeable and resistant to atmospheric agents". After registration of the patent, exhibition at the 2006 Bologna Motor show, and coverage on the Tg5 Italian TV channel, Bianco was confident, happy in the knowledge that he had invented something innovative. Then, in the middle of 2008 he discovered that BMW had presented a concept car with a fabric body: the Gina, acronym for 'Geometry and functions in 'n' adaptions'. So Bianco felt that there was nothing for it but to assert his rights.
    The battle between this small inventor from Italy and the German colossus began last August, when lawyer Carlo Cirillo informed the legal offices of BMW that his client was the "owner of the rights following the filing of a formal application to register the patent for a fabric covering for motor vehicles" and warning the German company to "cease any activity in conflict with this". After further contacts between lawyer Carlo Cirillo and the legal consultants from BMW’s patents office, and despite all the documentation presented in support of Bianco’s case, the Gina was exhibited at the museum in Munich and from 11 to 15 February of last year at the Salon Concept Car Hotel National des Invalides Plauce Vebaun, in Paris.
    As reported in the newspapers, at that event in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, the Gina won the award of 'Grand prix du plus beau concept car de l'annèe 2008'. But Bianco was not willing to let matters lie. He made a video with his accusations and posted it on Youtube. The process involved in this work on the car and the application of the materials, as shown on the carbodydesign website, source BMW press office, is exactly the same as the one he designed. In his lawsuit, the designer also refers to a visit by a BMW manager to his stand at the Motorshow. Lawyers Carlo Cirillo and Pamela Baglivo, who presented his case with the collaboration of lawyer Micol Cupo Pagano, explain: "Our client hopes that this will throw light on the matter.”
    Lawyer Carlo Cirillo adds: "It is clear that if the judicial authorities recognize this as a violation of Mr. Bianco’s patent rights, we are looking at damage on a huge scale, taking into consideration the enormous publicity potential of the internet coverage used in handling this issue. So I hope that this will bring protection to the offended party, the small businessman, against a multinational company with great economic resources.”

  20. Anonymous // March 18, 2009  

    Designer in battle against BMW for “Gina”

    COVERING SYSTEM CONTESTED: CASE FILED AGAINST THE GERMAN CARMAKERS AT THE ROME PUBLIC PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE.

    Source: Corriere della Sera 01/03/2009 - Michele Manno

    Rome
    It is certainly a strange case that has ended up on the desk of the Public Prosecutor in Rome.
    You could almost say that the two contestants are the present situation and the future.
    The present situation is represented by designer Giuseppe Bianco; the future by the well-known BMW car manufacturers.
    Why future? Because BMW recently won an award in Paris for the most beautiful “Concept Car of 2008”.
    The car has an unusual name: ”Gina”. And we know for a fact that, like Gina Lollobrigida and all other women, Gina loves elegant clothes. So much so that she has been called the “Light visionary model”.
    She is a car that we will never actually see on the road, like all “concept cars” which, by definition, propose new ideas destined to take shape on the roads of everyday life some time in the near future. The idea is in the composition of the car body, consisting principally of an elasticized fabric stretched over the frame which can be modified at the touch of a button, depending on the driver’s tastes. So it is a fabric to suit all occasions, from a simple meal in a pizzeria to a Gala evening in Monte Carlo. It is a kind of travelling haute couture wardrobe.
    But this is where the present, with its laws and regulations, impacts on “Gina’s” destiny. Fashion designer Giuseppe Bianco has initiated a case against BMW, alleging counterfeit and the violation of the industrial property law, claiming that it was he who, in 2005, invented the exclusive procedure by which it is possible to apply any type of covering (leather, fabric and technical materials) to the body of a car or motorbike, thus making “the coverings themselves impermeable and resistant to atmospheric agents”. Before turning to the justice system, in this case public prosecutor Marcello Monteleone, Giuseppe Bianco’s lawyers warned BMW not to continue any activities connected with the use of this process. But the car was still presented.
    Whatever the truth of the matter – and legal battles over patents are usually complex – perhaps one day we will hear the verdict. It is up to the judiciary to decide who is right and who is wrong: but for once the case does not concern murder, disputes or violence, but the future of a car; and the prosecution and defence have to make a decision about “Gina”.

  21. John // March 18, 2009  

    Could be please send us a link to the original sources?

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