A great use of Social Media here
Last week, a Jalopnik reader posed a challenge to the automobile-enthusiast site, as he wanted someone to design a custom car per his four-year old nephew Eli’s instructions.
His uncle wrote:
Last night my 4-year-old … nephew Eli and I had a serious conversation about the car he wants to build. I know there are a lot of talented artists out there in the Jalopnik [community], and I would like to ask them all if they would consider drawing up their “Artist’s Concept []” of the car according to the carefully considered specifications he came up with.
I would just love to give him a tangible expression of what his awesome imagination came up with. If anyone is particularly ambitious, I have access to a 3D printer so if someone puts together a solid … I could even print it for him (and a copy for whoever puts it together).
So here are the specs he came up with, with surprisingly little input from myself:
- It’s a BMW
- 42 wheels, and of course 42-wheel drive
- It is powered by 19 Porsche engines, each producing 459 horsepower. I think they will need to be water-cooled turbocharged boxer 6s. This was entirely his own idea, but I commended his choice of using boxer engines for a multi-engine setup since they will stack so well.
- The engines are all linked to a single transmission. He didn’t specify, but I think viscous couplings for the inputs would probably be a good idea.
- Power output is subdivided to all those wheels via a series of limited-slip differentials
- There are seats and three steering wheels, and all three can drive the car at the same time.
- The trunk is full of toys and you can play in it
The model name that I came up with is “4219ELi” – 42 wheels, 19 engines, an Extra Long wheelbase, and fuel injection.
Out of the blue, BMW Responded:
Looks great, although it may be a bit tricky to turn around.
Eli’s going to grow up just a fine young man. Obviously no concerns about global warming and peak oil in his family.
Full story here.
