Ford Airstream Concept
What's special about it?
The question isn't, "What's special about it?" but, "What's not special about a shiny, little suppository-shaped minivan/space-pod concept vehicle that was inspired by a movie from 1968 and a camping trailer from 1931?"
We were never really sure what Ford's head design guru, J Mays, meant when he used the term "retro-futurism," but we're reasonably certain that this Airstream concept is an example of that design aesthetic. We're absolutely certain that the Airstream, which was designed in cooperation with the maker of the iconic aluminum trailers, is possibly the strangest and most fantastical concept car since, well, since the last Tokyo Motor Show.
Ford says that the Airstream, which is not actually made of aluminum like the trailers but is painted with special reflective paint, is one possible direction for crossover vehicles in the future. It looks much more like the bastard child of a small 1960s Dodge Van and Tylenol Gelcap.
Further, Ford says that the Airstream is influenced by the "optimism for the future that Stanley Kubrick captured in his 1960s cult film 2001: A Space Odyssey." Um, OK. We presume the company is referring to scenes other than the one where, at the dawn of civilization, a monkey-man is inspired by a large black monolith to beat a rival monkey-man to death with a large bone. Or the scene where a computer system named HAL 9000 calmly kills several astronauts.
Possibly, Ford was referring only to the sassy, 60s-style, spinning white bucket seats in the vehicle that look like props taken directly from the film. As for the supposed influence of Airstream trailers, there's the concept's shape, its aluminum-look paint and "12 ceremonial rivets, which pay homage to Airstream's iconic construction."
The Airstream is motivated by a plug-in electric powertrain that uses a small fuel cell to recharge a pack of lithium-ion batteries. This arrangement allows the Ballard-supplied fuel cell to be smaller, cheaper and run at a steady state compared to most fuel-cell-powered concepts, which use the fuel cell as the primary source of power to drive the wheels. Ford says this basic setup is currently being tested in a Ford Edge prototype.
