Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Burton Elementz Kitcar Concept

Can an old car, like the Citroen 2CV, give birth to a thrilling car, both on design and performance? The performance stuff still lacks confirmation, but the appearance item can be easily checked. Just look at the pictures used in this article. They relate to the Burton Elementz, a kitcar designed by the Dutch engineer Rob Wolkers and built over the 2CV architecture.

The car was Wolkers' response to the challenge proposed by the Burton Design Contest 2007, a kitcar company that uses 2CV parts to produce its vehicles. Elementz is the project that has won the contest and, therefore, Burton should put it to production soon, but, as well as performance, this is something we still have to check.

According to CarBodyDesign.com, Wolkers wanted to “maximize the fun and driving experience”, what was achieved by keeping the weight low and by making a very open body. This is the same idea used for the Ariel Atom, apart from the fact that Atom uses a modern frame and an updated engine, but this is something that would make a kitcar cost way more than it should.

Besides Burton’s prize, the project has also been the winner of the SolidWorks Product Design Contest 2007.

Source: CarBodyDesign.com