Auto Channel

The Car of the Future

The world premiere of the “zaZen”, with its holographic brake lamp and smoothly contoured, transparent, one-piece roof dome made of high-tech Makrolon, marks the beginning of a new era in lighting technology in vehicle design. For Ian Paterson, who is responsible for innovation on the Board of Bayer MaterialScience, this novel lighting system represents a small step on the way to building the car of tomorrow: “Together with Rinspeed, our goal is to get people thinking about the car of the future. We contribute our high-quality materials and the combined creative know-how of our engineers."


The breathtakingly designed vehicle concept was born at the Swiss engineering specialists, Esoro, from one single vision and many imaginative ideas. The entire roof dome down to the belt line is made of Bayer's transparent Makrolon polycarbonate. A glass-clear elastic sealant from Revoflex AG has been used to achieve an optimum joint with the body. The striking hardtop is light in both senses of the word. Not only does it appear to float airily above the rather chunky body, it is also weighs less than glass – not that it would be possible to make it from glass in the first place.


The Roof Construction

The lightness of the roof construction ties in with the surface coating of the “zaZen” – a white mineral shade based on the Bayer raw materials, Desmodur and Desmophen. It is certainly not gaudy, but unassumingly beautiful through the millions of tiny precious Swarovski crystals protected by a self-healing polyurethane clear coat. This so-called “crystal skin” finish was developed and applied by the Austrian surface coating specialists, Karl Seelos. The Lesonal company was responsible for producing a perfect substrate. In a nutshell, the future driver can expect to find a muscular body in a sophisticated, tailored suit – a suit that has been given an exclusive touch though Swarovski trimmings on the front, side and rear lamps and the wheel rims. But the crystal manufacturer came up with a real masterpiece in the design of the seemingly never-ending 3D rear decorative panel.


The Interior

The interior fittings of the “zaZen” are also dominated by this ethos of transparency and reduction to essentials, cleverly combined with strategically placed highlights. The transparent plastic seat shells of Makrolon fitted with Technogel upholstery were produced in cooperation with Recaro. A bright, friendly mango-orange color has been chosen for the rest of the leather/fabric interior trim. It was made by hand by Strahle & Hess, SC Schafer, OesterleSLR and Sellner. Together with the Luoro Faia plantation wood – also in the dashboard area - it creates an interior that radiates warmth and relaxation.

Powered by a 6-cylinder from the Porsche Carrera S

The “zaZen”, which weighs 3295 lb, is powered by a 355 bhp 6-cylinder boxer engine from the Porsche 997 Carrera S. It has a top speed of 182 mph and accelerates from 0 to 60 mph in exactly 4.5 sec. Should the “zaZen” be built in a small series at some time in the future, Rinspeed will consider – in line with its tradition – offering it with an environmentally friendly natural gas propulsion system.

At 6,600 rpm, the engine has a maximum torque of 295 lb-ft, which is transmitted to the rear axle via a manual six-speed transmission. The necessary traction is provided by Dunlop tires with Touch Technology (245/30 R20 at the front and 305/25 R20 at the rear), mounted on lightweight Rinspeed five-spoke rims (8.5 x 20” at the front and 11 x 20” at the rear) made by CW Fahrzeugtechnik (Borbet Group).