SEMA 2009: Pictures, updates and discussion

[dhackney]

Additional shot of the little Subaru showing some scale:

And some additional options for getting back to that special camping spot during winter:

 

[dhackney]

Garmin Zumo 660

Audio interview with the Garmin product manager for the offroad / motorcycle product lines coming soon.

 

[spencyg]

Some additional photos to add to Chip's shot.

This is an innovative and interesting business model.

Their goals include:

• produce this as their first vehicle
• appear at 2009 Baja race as a display vehicle
• participate in 2010 Baja race

market segment: Baja pre-runner / race vehicle

Design model: open source / competition with cash award

Manufacturing model: micro-factory

QUOTE]

I met the owner of Local Motors this summer (their headquarters is about 150 miles from me) and the chief engineer. They are real stand-up guys with a vision. I spoke with them on the side of a dirt road out in the middle of nowhere for probably 2 hours, picking their brain, getting a feel for their business model, etc. They envited me down for a tour of their facility, but life hasn't allowed a trip yet. I'm excited that they were able to pull off a prototype for SEMA....needless to say, it is a sharp looking vehicle, and even though the sales price is limiting, it is rather amazing they are proposing to provide the vehicle (elbeit owner-assembled) for $50k out the door. This aspect (the price and the fact that owners will assemble the vehicle at their satellite facilities), is one aspect of the "big plan" that I still reserve judgement on. Seems a bit utopian, but hey, if they can make it work, it could really change the way enthusiests participate in the industry.

Spence

 

[Viggen]

This strikes me as something akin to the Facotry Five Racing Cobra kit scheme to business. They too had a race program for their cars. Interesting look and for some reason, it reminds me of the Mach 5 car.

 

[Root Moose]

Is there a web site for this project?

I'm wondering if there is a road focused tangent to this for club racing.

I kinda dig the look of this thing in spite of it being a Frankenbeast of multiple donors... Maybe it's a the flat paint but it makes me think "Mad Max".

EDIT:: Doh! Look at the grille...

 

[spencyg]

I'm sure it is no coincidence that the head engineer worked for Factory 5 Racing for 11 years. The name of the company is Local Motors, google will help here. The website is pretty unique in that it provides a design tool so anybody can help design the car. That is really the huge difference with this company...they use "Crowd Sourcing" to generate the style and specs of the vehicle, and then the engineers at LM take care of the critical design items (like making sure the suspension won't fall off). Check out their website....it is worth a look.

EDIT: Ah...right on the nose of the car. www.local-motors.com

Why can't I be smart like all the other kids?

Spence

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Pretty incredible stuff. The concepts are amazing year after year.

 

[greenhorn]

Wild Boar had a blingie JK, but it had a very cool looking roof top tent. I did not get to see the display in their booth, but I was intrigued by the compact, lightweight design of this tent.

[/QUOTE]

Found their website to see if I could find out more about the tent. Holy smokes!!

 

[Shawn686]

Any more info, what does it do?

Shawn

 

[Redline]

That's my Q too. I did a net search but didn't find them.

Some kind of iPhone OBDII plug-in app to challenge the Scan Gauge?

Any more info, what does it do?

Shawn

 

[Shawn686]

Found it, and I am going to get one in Jan.

Shawn

http://gopointtech.com/blog/

 

[pangaea]

Nathan, it was great meeting you the other day, sorry I missed your BEAUTIFUL 110. You did not begin to describe it adequately. Wow what a knockout!

Thanks... We've spent at least a couple of hours wrenching on that truck, so it's nice to see it finally come to fruition. Its a bit humbling to see it get such a positive reaction.

It was great catching up with you too. Good luck with the new venture, let me know if I can do anything to help.

 

[dhackney]

Any more info, what does it do?

There were two connectivity solutions at the show to connect iPhones to the OBD port.

This one, which is wired, provides charging current to the iPhone to keep the battery on the phone charged.

There is also a WiFi solution that provides a wireless connection between the iPhone (and any other WiFi enabled device) and the OBD port.

There are also a variety of applications available for the iPhone & Windows to monitor / graph / etc. the data available in the OBD port. In addition, some of those applications augment the OBD data with other telementry, e.g., GPS, accelerometer data, etc.

We plan to cover one such iPhone application in more detail in the next issue of OJ.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Wild Boar had a blingie JK, but it had a very cool looking roof top tent. I did not get to see the display in their booth, but I was intrigued by the compact, lightweight design of this tent.
Found their website to see if I could find out more about the tent. Holy smokes!!

They did not have the tent on display, just the same pictures you have. Tent is reported to debut early next year. I was a bit turned off by the sales rep there, we were talking casually about the tent and tents in general, when I mentioned I have been using an ARB Simpson III he made an off-handed dig saying "oh, you won't find any wood in our tent... this is built to last". An obvious digg at not the ARB but in fact the Eezi-Awn. Not only did he show his product knowledge on the competition but to knock the wood of what I consider a timeless tent? I corrected him on the construction of the Simpson and we talked for a minute more.

 

[Viggen]

That tent is amazing. Any information on set up/ break down time? It looks kind of intense. I also like that its a hard case.