Search continues for vehicle of the future

According to a spokesman for Opel and its parent General Motors, GM design director Mark Adam, along with a judging panel comprising RCA professor Dale Harrow, was unable to make a decision on the winner due to the quality and complexity of the 19 proposals.

‘They felt that they didn’t want to make a knee-jerk judgement and wanted to consider the concepts put forward a bit further. The entries were all very good, with lots of different elements, so they wanted to make sure that they passed the best judgement. This is expected in the next few days,’ says the spokesman.

Fast Forward Forty Years, which celebrates 40 years of the RCA’s vehicle design course, set a brief to design a vehicle for Opel, based on considerations and predictions of how future mobility will define car design.

The concepts range from hovering vehicles, without wheels, to interactive interfaces that allow users to generate their own personal aesthetics.

Others include the use of unconventional materials like wood, and designs based on interior layout and spatial considerations, as well as zero-emissions concepts and surface technology that enables vehicles to harness and generate their own energy.

Students from China, UK, France, the Czech Republic, India and Germany are participating in the challenge.

The winner will spend three months working within GM’s European design centre, gaining insights into future technologies and product development.

The designs will be on show at the RCA’s Vehicle Design Interim Show later this year.