Probably one of the more incredible stories we have covered this year has been the 3D printing of the Strati car by Phoenix-based Local Motors. A process which is seemingly progressing very rapidly (the company has already increased their manufacturing speeds over the last two months considerably) promises to change the way the auto industry will manufacture, distribute, and customize automobiles in the future.
Local Motors has quite the road map ahead of them, expecting to begin wide scale production of 3D printed cars for the general public within 8-10 months, with plans to build dozens of microfactories across the globe over the next decade. This week is a big one for the company, who is present at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, where they are 3D printing yet another Strati car in front of a live audience. As we mentioned earlier this week, what will differentiate this car from the Strati printed at the IMTS a couple months back, is the fact that they will print and assemble the entire vehicle two full days faster than the original.
“Local Motors will be giving away twelve (12) 3D-printed cars to car modders to ‘pimp’ the 3d-printed car, explained Kate Hartley, Real Time Digital Strategist & Blogger for Local Motors to 3DPrint.com. “They will choose everything from the tires to the powertrain, and then they will be invited to show off their customized 3D-printed cars at SEMA 2015.”
Starting in January, this bold competition will begin, asking those within the hot rod and motor vehicle aftermarket community to modify a 3D printed car. Participants will be able to submit their design proposals to the LocalMotors.com website, at which point an online vote will commence. The top 12 vote getters will be announced in March, each of whom will receive their very own 3D printed car sometime in May. The finalists will then have until SEMA 2015 in November to ‘hack up’ their vehicles to present them at the show, where a Grand Prize winner will be announced.
“From racing, to street, to show, car modification has always been the true soul of vehicle innovation,” said Local Motors Co-founder and CEO John B. Rogers, Jr. “At Local Motors, our goal is to fuel the next great generation of ‘Hot Rodders’ by putting the newest technology in their hands, and the ModMen Challenge does exactly that. These are not just 12 cars customized with aftermarket parts, but a peek into the future of automotive re-imagination. I cannot wait to see how this group pushes the boundary of 3D-printed cars.”
Local Motors has always thought outside the box when designing their vehicles, whether it’s the 3D printed Strati, or one of their other incredible automobiles like the Rally Fighter or their brand new Sports Car Platform. As you are certainly aware of by now, 3D printing allows for incredibly complex designs to be fabricated just as easily and affordably as that of a simple design. It will certainly be interesting to see who ends up with these 12 vehicles, and just what they end up doing to them. Boy I can’t wait until SEMA 2015! For those interested in participating in the ModMen challenge you may sign up here.
If you had the opportunity to ‘pimp’ a 3D printed car, what would you do? Let’s hear your ideas in the Local Motors Mod Men Forum thread on 3DPB.com.
