The Brigademobile

The L.A. Auto Show competition asked designers to dream up the ultimate environmentally friendly car. This the the entry dreamed up by the Bug Boys. Witness the Volkswagen Nanospyder – Designers: Patrick Faulwetter, Daniel Simon, Ian Hilton

Using nanotechnology, the Nanospyder could be assembled, disassembled and reassembled on a microscopic level. To create the car, billions of tiny nano-machines, each no more than a half-millimeter in diameter, would attach themselves to one another in a large tank.

With this technique, engineers could vary the density of the vehicle’s frame to create impact-absorbing crumple zones as needed. Sensors would forewarn of an impending collision, enabling the nano-machines to strengthen or weaken their bonds in different areas, creating soft spots in the frame that would bend to absorb the impact.

from CNN Money