backtop


Print E-mail del.icio.us 53 comment(s) - last by Fireshade.. on Dec 3 at 8:07 AM


Honda FC Sport Concept
Honda FC is sadly only a design concept

If the Lamborghini Gallardo and the Audi R8 had a drunken one-night stand, the offspring might look very similar to the Honda FC sport concept unveiled at the LA Auto Show. It's certainly a very good looking car, but nothing more than a show car that will never see the streets.

Interesting features of the car are its fuel cell powertrain that is situated in the middle of the car driving the rear wheels. The layout makes the car a three-seater with the driver sitting in the middle and passengers behind and to each side of the driver. McLaren did the same passenger layout with its phenomenal F1.

Honda points out that the FC Sport is merely a design concept. A three-seat layout might seem odd, but in the sports car world, it's very common to get only two seats so the layout is actually very nice.

Dan Bonawitz, VP of American Honda motor Co said in a statement, "The Honda FC Sport explores how to satisfy automotive performance enthusiasts in a world beyond petroleum. People who love sports cars will still have a reason to love in a hydrogen-powered future."

Honda used a trick from the Ferrari styling book and left key components of the power system exposed under the rear deck lid where the hydrogen storage tanks can be seen. Honda doesn’t estimate performance of the car considering that it probably doesn’t even run in its current form. Still, as a styling project alone, the FC Sport’s design cues could show up in future Honda models.



Comments     Threshold


This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled

I don't think I'm alone in saying ...
By Chris Peredun on 11/20/08, Rating: 0
RE: I don't think I'm alone in saying ...
By TheSpaniard on 11/20/2008 11:10:55 AM , Rating: 1
if they elongate the nose (maybe like the 86-88 c4 corvette) I would actually like this car. call me weird


RE: I don't think I'm alone in saying ...
By Mitch101 on 11/20/2008 12:36:36 PM , Rating: 3
Baby's got back!

I'm actually the opposite if they gave it less of a rear end I might like the style. The white paint doesn't do it for me either on this car. Would like to see it in some other colors.


By nevermore781 on 11/20/2008 2:28:11 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah, im with you...make this thing a fastback and paint it dark blue with white rims instead of the chrome and ill be at the dealership with pen in hand.


RE: I don't think I'm alone in saying ...
By Smilin on 11/20/08, Rating: 0
By dragonbif on 11/21/2008 8:20:23 PM , Rating: 2
Hmmmm for a moment I thought the back was a tank like front...then it hit me thats the back of the car not 2 diffrent cars. When are they going to make cars fly????


RE: I don't think I'm alone in saying ...
By elessar1 on 11/20/2008 5:03:46 PM , Rating: 2
By TheSpaniard on 11/24/2008 10:51:24 AM , Rating: 2
nope too tall


By JasonMick (blog) on 11/20/2008 11:11:47 AM , Rating: 5
Its body looks kinda like Boba Fett's helmet. Maybe you can throw it into a sarlacc pit ;)


By blowfish on 11/20/2008 11:16:51 AM , Rating: 5
It is just a show car.

If you tone down all the extreme styling features, it would probably look like.....a civic.


RE: I don't think I'm alone in saying ...
By Spivonious on 11/20/2008 11:27:08 AM , Rating: 2
How is this car any different from a Lambo or Ferrari? Or do you not consider those sports cars?


RE: I don't think I'm alone in saying ...
By Hare on 11/20/2008 12:05:28 PM , Rating: 3
Are you serious? Look at the rear, it's hideous.

This car has nothing in common with Audi R8, Lambos or Ferraris.


By Spivonious on 11/20/2008 12:52:28 PM , Rating: 1
The back reminds me a lot of a Countach.


RE: I don't think I'm alone in saying ...
By quiksilvr on 11/20/2008 12:36:07 PM , Rating: 4
By Mitch101 on 11/20/2008 12:41:36 PM , Rating: 5
If your handy with tools and have 10 years of free time.

http://jalopnik.com/5065896/hand+made-lamborghini-...

Its not a kit.


By Fireshade on 12/3/2008 8:07:34 AM , Rating: 2
@quiksilvr:
I'd say it's rather Lambo Countach inspired. Especially the rear:
http://images.google.nl/images?&q=countach+white

And don't you guys know that white is "the new black"? ;)


RE: I don't think I'm alone in saying ...
By UNCjigga on 11/20/2008 11:42:10 AM , Rating: 2
This car suffers from "fugly back" syndrome...doesn't look half bad from the front (reminds me of Ford's GT90 concept from a decade ago though)


RE: I don't think I'm alone in saying ...
By Drexial on 11/20/2008 11:57:13 AM , Rating: 2
If they kept the style of the back but moved the rear wheels to the back corners instead of pushed forward like they are, then it would look amazing. It's really just because that part his hanging out in the middle of nothing that it looks bad to me.


RE: I don't think I'm alone in saying ...
By geddarkstorm on 11/20/2008 1:05:56 PM , Rating: 2
I agree. I thought it looked sweet till I saw that "plug" for a rear. What the heck is that? A tail? Stick it into a giant wall outlet and use it as a night light? The design team was just trying to be creative and have some fun, so can't blame them.


By Lmilr on 11/20/2008 1:47:50 PM , Rating: 2
That would be one expensive night light!!


By Drexial on 11/20/2008 1:49:19 PM , Rating: 3
Aerodynamically speaking, it's probably a great design. its definitely inspired by some of the early solar race cars. I wouldn't doubt it has a very low drag coefficient, but that doesn't stop it from being ugly.


By William Gaatjes on 11/20/2008 5:07:37 PM , Rating: 2
I agree too. The rear is wrong. I have to think of a furtile female chimpansee all the time when i see it...

How am i ever going to erase that from my mind. I need a powercable to reset my hippocampus. Sometimes it's no fun having neurons that make fast links between input and memory :(.


By walk2k on 11/20/2008 12:27:13 PM , Rating: 3
Front looks like a Cylon.

Rear looks like a hamburger grinder.

Other than that...


RE: I don't think I'm alone in saying ...
By FITCamaro on 11/20/2008 12:40:36 PM , Rating: 2
From the front I was thinking "Just another concept."

Then I saw the rear of that....thing. Did they try to design it with the idea of the ghetto booty in mind? The @$$ end sticks out WAY to far. But then what can I expect from the company that gave us the Element.


By eyebeeemmpawn on 11/20/2008 12:55:56 PM , Rating: 2
that better be a rocket booster on the back, something that hideous better ad a ton of performance :)


By Motoman on 11/20/2008 4:02:42 PM , Rating: 2
I think it looks cool. I'm not entirely sold on the fuel cell powertrain as a viable "green" solution...but I wouldn't condemn the thing on looks.


By BruceLeet on 11/20/2008 4:13:17 PM , Rating: 2
You're not alone, first thing I said when I saw the pictures was "ever ugly"


By Samus on 11/23/2008 9:59:35 PM , Rating: 2
It's like another NSX. Hideous in appearance but amazing none-the-less.


Sweee...AAAAHHH!!!
By thornburg on 11/20/2008 11:13:52 AM , Rating: 2
The front is fantastic... I would buy a car that looked like that (if I could afford a car that looked like that).

The back is the most hideous design I've seen on a concept car in quite a while... or on any car for that matter. Even if the rest of the car was fantastic, it would be hard to buy a car with that butt.




RE: Sweee...AAAAHHH!!!
By Suomynona on 11/20/2008 11:32:49 AM , Rating: 2
Yeah, that back end makes the car look like Alien's head. Maybe there's a smaller car that shoots out the front when you open the hood.


RE: Sweee...AAAAHHH!!!
By Formori on 11/20/2008 12:23:12 PM , Rating: 2
How about if that giant cowl hanging off the rear end was actually a thruster or horizontal jet-engine? Then, and only then, would than butt look good.

The new Honda Super Coupe, the "Hot Butt" Civic.

After reading it a second time, I actually like that idea :s


RE: Sweee...AAAAHHH!!!
By FITCamaro on 11/20/2008 12:42:07 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
How about if that giant cowl hanging off the rear end was actually a thruster or horizontal jet-engine? Then, and only then, would than butt look good.


Thinking the same thing. Unless its got a fusion exhaust port or jet engine back there, WTF Honda?


oh man wtf
By yacoub on 11/20/2008 12:48:33 PM , Rating: 2
From the front it looked kinda nice but the rear looks like a prolapsed anus. X(




RE: oh man wtf
By vicarious1 on 11/20/2008 3:29:10 PM , Rating: 2
You said it man,so funny I could not find the words.
I am a "real Honda Fan" owned the 1st Prelude delivered to Europe
This back made me instantly think of the protrusive butt of female Chimps after they had more than an sit down session.
The whole reminds me of these cheap Space mask they sell for kids around Halloween.
Really HONDA what on earth ......:-( yuck?
Would it not be time to introduce GREAT CARS & GREAT ENGINES for the masses instead spending a fortune on these 1timers.


RE: oh man wtf
By omnicronx on 11/20/2008 5:11:18 PM , Rating: 2
I kind of like it, and it would look, and it would look pretty dumb if they cut off the end because of the way the front is shaped and how far forward the seats are.


What a train wreck
By Beenthere on 11/20/2008 11:30:14 AM , Rating: 1
Honda obviously turned their stylist loose to create a "stiking design" for a concept car. Maybe they used the Prius for "inspiration". Evidently it's written some place that hybrid transportation is required to be FUGLY.




RE: What a train wreck
By tmouse on 11/20/2008 12:19:38 PM , Rating: 2
If you think that the back is the front, which I did for a moment, it kind of reminds me of an aardvark.


RE: What a train wreck
By NubWobble on 11/21/2008 2:39:44 AM , Rating: 2
Where does it say it's a hybrid? It uses hydrogen as fuel.


What could it do?
By Suntan on 11/20/2008 11:13:48 AM , Rating: 2
I know it’s just a design exercise, but did they give theoretical performance estimates for it?

It looks pretty sweet, but I wouldn’t be interested in a performance looking car if it takes 8.9 seconds to get to 60. Even if it can run entirely on sunshine, moonbeams, fairy dust or Ed Bagley Jr.’s tears of joy.

-Suntan




RE: What could it do?
By foolsgambit11 on 11/20/2008 2:35:10 PM , Rating: 2
Did we read to the end of the article? It explicitly says,
quote:
Honda doesn’t estimate performance of the car considering that it probably doesn’t even run in its current form.

What's the point in showing off a fuel cell car that doesn't run? I don't know. If it doesn't run, it certainly doesn't run on a fuel cell. Put this thing at a weird angle and put it in the middle of a college campus and it would make more sense. It's just a piece of artwork. Totally non-functional.


Straigh out of Star Wars
By the goat on 11/20/2008 11:22:15 AM , Rating: 2
Bobafett called. He wants his Helmet back.

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&resnum=0&q=b...




RE: Straigh out of Star Wars
By Drexial on 11/20/2008 11:52:50 AM , Rating: 2
He's boba the fett
His backpack has jets
He bounty hunts for jobba Hutt
To finance his Honda FC


I like the design
By shaw on 11/20/2008 12:14:26 PM , Rating: 2
I love the fancy and futuristic designs they have for cars in concept pictures, but then when they released they're always released with some boring "safe" design.

I'd like to have a radical fancy looking car body myself on my vehicle.




RE: I like the design
By Suntan on 11/20/2008 2:25:29 PM , Rating: 2
All you need to do is get the government to repeal the crash safety requirements, and then pay about 30% more to offset the much more expensive tooling and manufacturing requirements to allow for the deep draws needed to make sheet metal look fancy and different like that.

Unfortunately, there are real reasons why most all cars look roughly identical to each other, and it isn’t just because the industrial designers and engineers are unimaginative.

-Suntan


I never realized...
By CrazyBernie on 11/20/2008 11:40:17 AM , Rating: 2
... that a sausage maker could squeeze out such a futuristic design.




By mercilessming on 11/20/2008 12:01:12 PM , Rating: 2
Remember the Movie "The Wraith" this car painted black would resemble the Chrysler prototype car.

http://www.wraithinnovations.com/TheWraith.jpg
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092240/




Is it me?
By hduser on 11/20/2008 12:06:06 PM , Rating: 2
I'm not sure if it's coming or going?




By androticus on 11/20/2008 12:14:11 PM , Rating: 2
This is like a cruel parody of an ugly sci-fi movie concept car! It reminds me of some of the ridiculous "clothes" you see on fashion shows, clothes so absurd and unwearable and ugly that it astounds they even have the gall to display them.




It's a flux capacitor
By Totally on 11/20/2008 2:41:08 PM , Rating: 2
I swear it reminds me of that Delorean.

Why was Chris' post, first one, rated down the rear on that thing has enough ugly packed in there for that car and a few more concepts.

I'm pretty they could come up with something that is aerodynamically the same performance-wise, and less appalling but I guess Honda is just evil like that.




DAAAAMNN!
By Beavermatic on 11/20/2008 3:18:56 PM , Rating: 2
now thats a fat ass!

it puts the "boooo" in booty!




By Schmide on 11/20/2008 7:21:53 PM , Rating: 2
(riding b1tch means sitting in the middle of the back seat)




The future of power..
By kayronjm on 11/24/2008 12:37:12 AM , Rating: 2
Oh I'm all for these Hydrogen powered cars. Between this and nuclear fusion, we will finally free ourselves from oil!!




By trespasser on 11/24/2008 8:41:25 PM , Rating: 2
I would have assumed the same thing, but the spokesman at the L.A. Auto Show yesterday insisted they drove it onto its rotating display stand under its own power. And, though it may be just for show, it appears to be equipped with actual brakes.

FWIW.




"Well, we didn't have anyone in line that got shot waiting for our system." -- Nintendo of America Vice President Perrin Kaplan











botimage
Copyright 2009 DailyTech LLC. - RSS Feed | Advertise | About Us | Ethics | FAQ | Terms, Conditions & Privacy Information | Kristopher Kubicki