Rinspeed zaZen World premiere at the Geneva Motor Show- motiontrends.com car magazine with latest auto reviews, design and performance tuning, light trucks and automotive news

World premiere at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show

Rinspeed "zaZen" new concept car
"Enlightenment" through technology

Rinspeed zaZen concept car for the 2006 Geneva Motor Show

The occupants sit in "glass-like" plastic seat shells.

Motion Trends,
28th December 2005.

Why wait more if you know well what you are preparing?

That's what seems to have prompted Rinspeed, the famous Swiss design company, and Bayer MaterialScience, one of the world's biggest plastics producers, to show now the first official photos of their... zaZen concept car, before its world premiere at the 76th Geneva Motor Show (public days from 02 to 12 March 2006).

For Rinspeed and MaterialScience, the "zaZen" represents a revolutionary new concept car that will point the way to enlightenment for future generations of automobiles.

Rinspeed zaZen concept car for the 2006 Geneva Motor Show

enlightenment is only attainable once you give up preconceived ideas.

The technical revolution in the car's design is that the transparent rear window has been turned into a luminous holographic area. As if from nowhere, the large third brake light shines out of what looks like a floating, transparent teardrop roof.

With its holographic brake light and smoothly contoured single-section roof dome made of the high-tech polycarbonate Makrolon(r), Rinspeed claims that the "zaZen" marks the beginning of a new era in lighting technology in vehicle design. This, at any rate, is how Ian Paterson, member of the Bayer MaterialScience Board of Management responsible for innovation, sees it.

zaZen
Length	4'477 mm
Width	1'910 mm
Height	1'284 mm
Wheelbase	2’350 mm
Track front	1’506 mm
Track rear	1’560 mm
Ground clearance	~ 120 mm
Empty weight	1'495 kg

Top speed	293 km/h
Acceleration	approx. 4.8 sec
0-100 km/h	approx. 4.8 sec

Engine family	Porsche 997Carrera S
Displacement	3824 cm³
Stroke	82.8 mm
Bore	99.0 mm
Cylinders	6 Boxer
Valves	4
Compression ratio	11.8:1
Power output	355 hp (261 kW)
at	6'600 /min
Max. torque	400 Nm
at	4'600 /min
Type of fuel	Gasoline / Natural gas

Propulsion	Rear wheel drive
Gearbox	Manual
Gears	6

Chassis	Steel
Body	Composite
Lighting technology	LED Crystal Swarovski
Seating capacity	2
Front brakes	298 mm
Rear brakes	292 mm
Front suspension	McPherson struts
Rear suspension	McPherson struts
Dampers/springs	KW automotive
Steering	Rack & pinion

Front tires	245/30-20
Front wheels	Rinspeed 8.5 x 20“
Rear tires	305/25-20
Rear wheels	Rinspeed 11 x 20“
All data preliminary and subject to change.

The innovative light is also an important step for Rinspeed's boss, Frank M. Rinderknecht, on the way to attaining automotive "enlightenment". The name of the new concept car has been deliberately chosen to reflect the overall attitude with which both companies have driven the entire project forward over a period of many months. After all, Zen - borrowed from Buddhist teaching - is a special form of insight that is only attainable if you are prepared to give up preconceived ideas.

Being the product of one vision and many imaginative ideas, the highly transparent four-wheeled concept car is currently taking shape at the Swiss engineering specialists, Esoro. It is an automotive interplay of veiling and unveiling. The entire roof dome down to the belt line is made of a single sheet of transparent Bayer polycarbonate, a material which can be made non-transparent at the press of a button, protecting the occupants from curious gazes.

Because the transparency can simply be switched on and off, any superfluous knobs and displays on the dashboard can be simply faded out so that the driver can concentrate on what is most important, the speed indicator, instead of being bombarded with too much information.

There is even more. Instead of a living-room atmosphere, the occupants sit in "glass-like" plastic seat shells in a bright and friendly orange color. The interior is an invitation to meditative unity for man and machine.

Everything has been reduced to essentials, to what really matters. This is the heart of the "zaZen". The extremely organically designed body does not assault the eye with harsh colors but exerts a quiet fascination with its mineral-white color. This is achieved in an understated yet beautiful manner through the use of millions of tiny precious Swarovski crystals protected by a self-healing polyurethane clear coat. In its made-to-measure suit, "zaZen" seems to belong to another world.

After its first appearance at the Geneva Motor Show, who knows? We might see some of this exclusive vehicle actually driving along our roads. If not immediately, it least it will keep "glowing" in some minds, those which gave up preconceived ideas.

The other partners on the "zaZen" are: CW Fahrzeugtechnik - www.borbet.dem , D. Swarovski & Co. - www.swarovski.com, Esoro AG - www.esoro.ch, KW automotive GmbH - www.kw-gmbh.de, Protoscar SA - www.protoscar.com, Recaro GmbH - www.recaro.com, Sharp Electronics - www.sharp.ch, Strähle + Hess GmbH & Co. KG - www.straehle-hess.de