Rinspeed Aliporta, a.k.a the VW Golf with gullwing doors, 1981.
"The first custom job was on my bicycle," Frank M Rinderknecht recalls. "I was 13 and had just seen Easy Rider and decided I had to have those big handlebars. Needless to say people shook their heads and asked what the purpose was-it was cool downhill but very strenuous uphill.
And the next year I was tuning up my new moped. I think I've always been passionate about technical things, and about building them on gut feeling." And in a big way. If James Bond's Q was a specialist in all things mobility, he'd look to Rinderknecht for inspiration. Through his company Rinspeed-founded as what would become Europe's leading VW and Porsche tuning specialist-the inventor has, for the last 30 years, created one outrageous concept car after another.
There's the Bedouin, the world's first natural gas-powered car, or the Advantige Rone, the first supercar powered by kitchen waste biofuel. But there's also the Presto, which extends or contracts according to need. Then there's the Splash, a car with hydrofoils; the UC, an ultra-compact electro two-seater with drive-by-wire joystick control. And finally, perhaps most famously, the sQuba-The Spy Who Loved Me-esque car-cum-submersible. This is Hot Wheels made real.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
THE MILD HANGOVER
Hangovers get a bad rap. We know. If you’ve gotten this far in the magazine, you’ve surely divined that we’re mildly hungover most of the time.
AN ELECTRIC FUTURE
Polestar, the minimalist electric Swedish car brand, turns the voltage up on its competition.
LET'S GET REAL (ESTATE): LUXURIOUS LONDON
Royalty, shopping, the best tea and scones the world has to offer, and a lifestyle worthy of what you're working for. Here's why London is ripe for your next investment
NEXT UP....ZARAN VACHHA
As Co-founder of the events and talent agency Collective Minds and Managing Director of the Mandala Masters, Zaran Vachha is definitely not new to the culture scene, but he's certainly shaping what comes next.
WHAT I'VE LEARNED...
I DON’T WEAR SOCKS except in January.
The Body Is a Language
A bad handshake is such a turnoff; we feel irked when someone rolls their eyes at us; we can't stop pacing when we're nervous-ever wondered how certain body language has the power to change how we feel instantly? We explore why.
EYE OF THE TIGER
Hailing from Singapore, Japan and Brazil respectively, Evolve Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) athletes Darren Goh, Hiroki Akimoto and Alex Silva are proof that the ring demands as much from mind as it does from matter.
THE ADONIS COMPLEX
With the rise of superhero culture making a return and bringing with it the celebration of the classically ‘masculine’ body type, can men really overcome the pressure to conform when culture keeps getting in the way?
FUNNY BUT TRUE
A comedian, an iconic Singaporean, and now a man much evolved. After overcoming two years of pandemic limbo, unlocking career milestones one after another and undergoing a life-defining physical transformation, Rishi Budhrani is ready to emerge into the world renewed-and anew.
LIKE NO OTHER
With its horological triumphs, Hermès has truly come into its own as a watchmaking maison. In this exclusive interview with Esquire Singapore, CEO of Hermès Horloger, Laurent Dordet sheds some light on his timepieces' rising stardom and the importance of being different.
