What if you could design the car of your dreams and see that vision turn real? That's the goal of a new automotive manufacturer called Hackrod, which has turned to 3D printing, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence to bring this ability to life. Their proof of concept? A gorgeous sleek speedster dubbed La Bandita, which has been crafted using the aforementioned technological tools.
While La Bandita is the first vehicle that will be born from this building process, Hackrod says a customer is able to design the machine of their own dreams. You start with a sketch before moving on and seeing your artwork become a virtual design. Through a set of VR googles, you can then preview this design in a virtual space.
Once you've settled on a final design, Hackrod will use 3D printing to fully realize the shape and style of your car. In fact, the skin of La Bandita is a one-piece aluminum structure 3D-printed from 2319 aerospace alloy. More intriguing is the fact that the chassis is designed around feedback fed into a so-called AI system. The resulting chassis structure resembles something far more organic than we're used to seeing in the automotive space.
Hackrod is comprised of a group of talented folks with a wide range of background experience. The list includes people from aerospace, advanced materials manufacturing, motorsport, and even entertainment sectors. In fact, the CEO of Hackrod is Mouse McCoy, which is a name you're familiar with if you're a fan of the Baja 1000 documentary "Dust to Glory." McCoy got his start racing off road before moving to the film and commercial space. Now he's looking to bring future-thinking automotive design and production to the world.
La Bandita is one heck of a way to prove your concept. We look forward to seeing what else this production method can bring about. Even if it produced nothing but La Bandita copies, we'd be interested in that too.
