Ford MA concept car
Encyclopedia
The Ford MA Concept concept car
was a 2002 minimalist design exercise drawn by Jose Paris http://www.joseparis.com/ and championed by Ford's VP of design J. Mays. It was exhibited as an art object in museums as well as a traditional concept car in auto show
s. It received an IDSA
Silver Industrial Design Excellence Award in 2003.
The MA displayed many unusual automotive practices. It had the shape of a low slung two seat roadster with no top, but it was powered by an electric motor. The design was flexible enough, though, to accommodate a small internal combustion engine.
Very few of the parts were painted and there were none of the usual hydraulic fluid
s or industrial adhesives common in most cars, making it 96% recyclable
.
It was designed to be assembled and disassembled easily with a minimal amount of equipment. There were no welds holding it together: Instead, its 500 or so pieces of bamboo
, aluminum
and carbon fibre were held together with 364 titanium
bolts. The total weight was said to be 900 pounds (408.2 kg).
Some automotive columnists have presented the Ford MA as the forerunner to a small series kit car
, much like the Lotus Seven
. Others have called it an IKEA
-mobile.
Concept car
A concept vehicle or show vehicle is a car made to showcase new styling and or new technology. They are often shown at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not have a chance of being produced....
was a 2002 minimalist design exercise drawn by Jose Paris http://www.joseparis.com/ and championed by Ford's VP of design J. Mays. It was exhibited as an art object in museums as well as a traditional concept car in auto show
Auto show
An auto show, or motor show, is a public exhibition of current automobile models, debuts, concept cars, or out-of-production classics. It is commonly attended by automobile manufacturers. Most auto shows occur once or twice a year...
s. It received an IDSA
IDSA
IDSA may stand for one of the following.*Industrial Designers Society of America*Infectious Diseases Society of America*Entertainment Software Association, formerly the Interactive Digital Software Association*Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses...
Silver Industrial Design Excellence Award in 2003.
The MA displayed many unusual automotive practices. It had the shape of a low slung two seat roadster with no top, but it was powered by an electric motor. The design was flexible enough, though, to accommodate a small internal combustion engine.
Very few of the parts were painted and there were none of the usual hydraulic fluid
Hydraulic fluid
Hydraulic fluids, also called hydraulic liquids, are the medium by which power is transferred in hydraulic machinery. Common hydraulic fluids are based on mineral oil or water...
s or industrial adhesives common in most cars, making it 96% recyclable
Recycling
Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...
.
It was designed to be assembled and disassembled easily with a minimal amount of equipment. There were no welds holding it together: Instead, its 500 or so pieces of bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
, aluminum
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
and carbon fibre were held together with 364 titanium
Titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....
bolts. The total weight was said to be 900 pounds (408.2 kg).
Some automotive columnists have presented the Ford MA as the forerunner to a small series kit car
Kit car
A kit car, also known as a "component car", is an automobile that is available as a set of parts that a manufacturer sells and the buyer then either assembles into a car themselves, or retains a third party to do part or all of the work on their behalf...
, much like the Lotus Seven
Lotus Seven
The Lotus Seven is a small, simple, lightweight two-seater open-top sports car produced by Lotus Cars between 1957 and 1972....
. Others have called it an IKEA
IKEA
IKEA is a privately held, international home products company that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture such as beds and desks, appliances and home accessories. The company is the world's largest furniture retailer...
-mobile.