Tag Archives: Automotive

Xiaomi unveils power-laden Vision Gran Turismo electric hypercar concept at MWC 2026

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Xiaomi has just entered the Gran Turismo world with its Vision Gran Turismo (VGT) concept car at Mobile World Congress 2026. This electric hypercar follows the reveal of the SU7 Ultra supercar that was developed last time around. This year’s event saw the hypercar, which Xiaomi claims is sculpted by the wind. The idea is to make the performance vehicle aerodynamically tuned with airflow channels and moving parts to achieve optimal efficiency. We got our first glimpse of the hypercar at Mobile World Congress, and it does impress on the outside and inside.

This is the first-ever Chinese Gran Turismo performance racer to be materialized, and the air flow obsession goes beyond everything you would imagine. Although one cannot drive it for real anytime soon, you can explore the two-door performance car in Gran Turismo 7, using the company’s dedicated simulator with exact racing seats as the concept car. With the VGT hypercar, Xiaomi joins an elite list of automakers like Porsche, Ferrari, and Mercedes-Benz that have their futuristic concept cars designed for Gran Turismo.

Designer: Xiaomi

Given it is a concept, the technical aspects are wild – there’s a 900V Silicon Carbide (SiC) platform which ultimately delivers 1,900 horsepower. To handle that amount of power at high speeds, the car gets advanced components, including carbon-ceramic brakes and center-lock wheels. The two-door hypercar has a very linear profile with a very low ride height and only the cabin’s teardrop-shaped cockpit, with only the encapsulating bubble disrupting the aerodynamic performance. The shark-fin roofline architecture balances out things, though.

VGT has wheel covers that are magnetically attached (a.k.a. Accretion Rims) so that they don’t rotate when the car moves forward, reducing drag. The halo-style taillights are straight out of the TRON universe as they also double as an air outlet for aerodynamic performance, along with the large rear diffuser, which levels up the futuristic appeal. All this aerodynamic engineering results in a drag coefficient of 0.29 and downforce of -1.2.

On the inside, Vision GT is a nest of tech-laden comfort and luxury. It has a cocooned Sofa Racer cabin, which holistically blends the dashboard, seats, and the scissor doors into one. The butterfly steering wheel is designed for maximum driver precision, and the overlaying display has a panoramic screen and the Xiaomi Pulse system that utilizes light and sound for interaction. The central console on the two-seater GT has physical button controls, a circular pointer knob, and a shifter mostly seen on an aircraft throttle.

Since this hypercar is a top-of-the-line creation by the Chinese tech giant, it seamlessly integrates the in-house Human x Car x Home ecosystem for a personalized experience depending on the rider’s mood and current state of mind. Although the Vision Gran Turismo is only a virtual hypercar that you may not drive in the real world, it shows Xiaomi’s growing confidence in the highly technical automotive world. If those horsepower figures are true, the hypercar could be one of the most powerful Gran Turismo creations, overshadowing the likes of Ferrari, which churns out 1,337 hp.
For racing fanatics who want to experience the VGT in a virtual world, it’ll soon be available in Gran Turismo 7, and Xiaomi’s dedicated driving simulator for a more immersive experience.

The post Xiaomi unveils power-laden Vision Gran Turismo electric hypercar concept at MWC 2026 first appeared on Yanko Design.

This Mercedes-AMG Uhlenhaut Shooting Brake Concept is the Most Beautiful Car You’ll See This Week

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There’s a name in Mercedes-Benz history that carries almost mythological weight: Rudolf Uhlenhaut. The engineer and designer behind the legendary 300 SL Gullwing was known to drive the prototype racing versions of the car to work in Stuttgart, casually lapping most professional racing drivers in the process.

The original 300 SL Uhlenhaut Coupe, the racing variant that never made it to public roads, remains one of the most valuable cars ever auctioned, fetching $143 million at a 2022 Sotheby’s sale. So when concept designer Gabriel Naretto decided to name his reimagined Mercedes-AMG shooting brake after the man himself, the pressure to deliver something worthy of that legacy was immense. Remarkably, he pulled it off.

Designer: Gabriel Naretto

The Mercedes-AMG Uhlenhaut Shooting Brake concept arrives draped in obsidian black, and it hits you in layers. From the front, the DNA of the original 300 SL is unmistakable but filtered through a thoroughly contemporary lens. That iconic central grille with the three-pointed star sits framed in warm copper gold, flanked by large air intakes that mirror the same bronze-kissed treatment. The X-shaped daytime running lights cut through the glossy black bodywork like a precision incision, echoing AMG’s current design vocabulary while feeling completely unique to this car. The hood is long and muscular in the classic front-engine GT tradition, but the surfaces flow with a smoothness that feels almost liquid, like someone poured ink over a clay sculpture and let it set.

Then you walk around to the side, and the shooting brake proportions hit you all at once. Naretto has given this concept a fastback-style extended roofline that arcs gracefully rearward before dropping into a truncated Kamm-tail rear, and it works brilliantly. The roofline is outlined by a thin copper pinstripe that traces the greenhouse all the way to the tail, a detail so refined it belongs on a Swiss watch rather than an automobile. “V12” badging sits discreetly on the sill, a knowing nod to the kind of naturally aspirated thunder that the original Uhlenhaut Coupe’s racing engine would have produced. The body itself is devoid of unnecessary creases or character lines, relying entirely on curvature and proportion to generate visual drama, which is an incredibly difficult thing to pull off and an even more impressive thing to actually see rendered this well.

The doors, of course, are gullwing. There was never any other option for a car wearing the Uhlenhaut name. When they swing open, they reveal a cabin wrapped in black leather accented with copper stitching, with deeply bolstered racing seats and a minimal instrument layout that prioritizes the driving experience over digital noise. The steering wheel is small and driver-focused, and while the concept renders don’t offer a full cockpit tour, what’s visible suggests Naretto was thinking about the complete experience rather than just the silhouette.

The taillights are styled as three-pointed star clusters rendered in deep red, a sculptural interpretation of the Mercedes badge that functions as a graphic element rather than just a regulatory necessity. A subtle integrated spoiler sits at the trailing edge of the roofline, and the diffuser treatment below the bumper gives the rear end genuine aerodynamic intent. The AMG-badged multi-spoke wheels in gloss black with copper center caps complete the picture, tying the whole visual package together in a way that feels considered and cohesive from every angle.

Naretto’s concept navigates the tension between historical reverence and forward-looking design just beautifully. He preserved the emotional architecture of the Gullwing, the long hood, the coupe greenhouse, the gullwing doors as ceremony, and then reimagined everything else through the filter of a modern AMG performance car. The shooting brake body style was a masterstroke of a choice, because it gives the car a sense of versatility and intelligence that a pure coupe wouldn’t carry, while also referencing Mercedes-Benz’s own history with practical performance vehicles like the CLS Shooting Brake and the AMG GT 4-Door.

Parked against the Georgian townhouses of what appears to be a Kensington street in those lifestyle renders, the Uhlenhaut concept looks like it belongs to a world where automotive design never stopped being an art form. Rudolf Uhlenhaut himself would probably have driven it to work.

The post This Mercedes-AMG Uhlenhaut Shooting Brake Concept is the Most Beautiful Car You’ll See This Week first appeared on Yanko Design.

2026 Escape Pod is more powerful, comfortable, and all set for escaping into the wilderness

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There are a few camping trailers, as apt at exploring the roughest terrains in the remotest parts of Australia as the Escape from Victoria-based Goldfields Campers. The all-new 2026 Escape, designed after the original camper, is no less, in fact, the petite solution, the Escape Pod. Which reimagines the existing model, is “built for those who want to disappear off-grid without giving up comfort.”

Positioned as being more powerful, more comfortable, and starkly different in appearance, the 2026 Escape Pod is believed to be the most feature-packed camper trailer in its class. It features the same ethos as the OG but comes in a brand-new body comprising aluminum and XPS foam on the outside and fiberglass on the inside. It’s configured to remain livable off-the-grid and stocked up to take you on tours beyond the paved roads.

Designer: Goldfields Campers

Unlike the bigger models we have seen in the past, the Escape Pod is essentially compact. It comes in a 5.1m long, 2.2m wide, 2.2m high form factor with a tare weight of 1,330 kg (2,932 lb). Ditching the angular-bodied design of the Escape for a more livability-focused form factor, the Escape Pod isn’t just about its improved interior; it’s also about the exterior of this squared-off body.

Structured in a way with amenities to multiply its footprint from a compact rig at camp, the Escape Pod comes with a big kitchen layout in the back. It comprises a two-burner stove, a large deep-dish sink, a cutlery tray, a prep bench, and a fold-down bench. Moving onto the side, you get a slide-out fridge tray and a long storage box above the fridge box. It can be topped with roof rails to carry up to two mountain bikes on your adventure. Presumably, the swappable section should be able to allow you to carry other gear as well.

The most interesting and distinguishing aspect of the otherwise square-bodied camper is its slanting front, which comprises the solar panels. Besides, the camper comes onboard with a 300Ah lithium battery and a 2000W inverter. There is provision for a diesel heater to keep warm, and store up to two 20L jerry cans and a pair of 4kg diesel tanks.

The cabin space, accessed by a side entry, is provided with a queen-size double bed and a complete entertainment system comprising a 21-in smart TV, Bluetooth radio, and stereo speakers. The TV is removable and can be used outside on an integrated mounting bracket. When outside, you can enjoy a shower and spend time under the Darche Gen 3 180-degree awning with lights. With storage for 200L total fresh water, folding tables, and all-terrain tires, the Escape Pod is definitely worth the off-grid adventures. If you’re interested, the camper starts for AUD 38,990 (approximately $27,700).

The post 2026 Escape Pod is more powerful, comfortable, and all set for escaping into the wilderness first appeared on Yanko Design.

This Bonkers F1 Off-Road Racer Concept Puts Senna’s McLaren MP4/4 on Monster Truck Stilts

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What happens when you yank one of the most dominant Formula 1 cars in history off the smooth tarmac of Suzuka and hand it the suspension travel of a Baja 1000 trophy truck? Pascal Eggert decided to find out, and the result is equal parts sacrilege and beautiful.

Eggert, a Presentation Director at EA DICE in Stockholm (the studio behind the Battlefield franchise) and former Art Director at Crytek, clearly spends his off-hours channeling a very specific brand of automotive madness. His latest personal project, titled “Offroad Racer,” takes the unmistakable silhouette of a late-1980s Formula 1 car and reimagines it as a lifted, wide-track off-road machine that looks like it escaped from a fever dream involving Ayrton Senna, the Dakar Rally, and a really ambitious RC car collection.

Designer: Pascal Eggert

The primary variant wears the iconic Marlboro McLaren livery in all its red-and-white glory, complete with the number 3 on the nose cone, Honda badging on the rear wing endplates, Shell logos, Canon branding, and Goodyear Eagle tires. For anyone with even a passing knowledge of F1 history, that combination screams McLaren MP4/4, the 1988 car that won 15 out of 16 races with Senna and Alain Prost behind the wheel. It remains one of the most successful single-seater race cars ever built, designed by the legendary Gordon Murray and Steve Nichols, powered by a Honda RA168E turbocharged V6. Eggert has taken that iconic bodywork and done something beautifully absurd with it.

The track width has been stretched dramatically. Long-travel double wishbone suspension arms sit fully exposed at both the front and rear, made from what appears to be tubular steel framework that would look right at home on a desert pre-runner. The ride height is jacked up considerably, giving the car enough ground clearance to tackle terrain that would shred a real F1 car’s floor in milliseconds. Up front, a pair of compact headlights sit recessed into the nose, giving the machine a menacing, almost insectoid face when viewed head-on. And at the back? The entire rear end is stripped bare, exposing a complex engine with a tangled web of exhaust headers, intake trumpets, and mechanical components that give the concept an incredibly raw, mechanical honesty. There is no rear bodywork hiding the powertrain. Everything is on display, and it looks glorious.

The rear wing, meanwhile, stays faithful to its F1 roots, mounted high on twin supports with the Marlboro branding proudly running across its main plane. It is a beautiful contradiction: a component designed purely for high-speed downforce on a vehicle that looks like it wants to jump dunes and spit rooster tails of dirt. A pretty audacious render below shows the car in full flight on a circuit, a helmeted driver hunched low in the open cockpit, flames erupting from the exposed exhaust. It captures the raw energy of the concept perfectly.

Eggert also presents a second colorway that swaps the Marlboro livery for a darker, moodier Martini Racing-inspired scheme. The base shifts to black with the signature blue, red, and light blue stripe work running across the bodywork and rear wing. This version, photographed in dramatic low-key studio lighting, feels like the nighttime counterpart to the Marlboro variant’s daytime bravado. Red LED taillights glow through the exposed rear mechanicals, and the overall effect is significantly more sinister. If the Marlboro version is the weekend warrior, the Martini edition is the car that shows up uninvited to a hillclimb at midnight.

What makes this project so compelling is the tension between two completely opposing design philosophies. Formula 1 cars are perhaps the most track-specific machines ever created, engineered down to the millimeter to extract performance from perfectly manicured asphalt. Off-road racers, by contrast, are built to survive chaos, to absorb impacts, to maintain composure when the surface beneath them is actively trying to destroy them. Eggert has found a surprisingly coherent visual language between these two worlds, borrowing the aggressive aero surfaces and low-slung cockpit from F1 while grafting on the muscular stance, generous wheel travel, and exposed mechanicals of desert racing.

It helps that Eggert brings serious professional chops to the table. His career spans time at Crytek, where he rose to Director of Visual Design and served as Art Director on titles like The Climb, before moving to DICE where he has worked on Battlefield V and Battlefield 2042. The man understands how to make vehicles look both believable and aspirational, and that game-industry sensibility shows in every render. The weathering on the bodywork, the subtle dirt accumulation, the realistic tire textures: everything is dialed in to sell the illusion that these machines actually exist somewhere, parked in a dusty garage, waiting for their next outing.

The post This Bonkers F1 Off-Road Racer Concept Puts Senna’s McLaren MP4/4 on Monster Truck Stilts first appeared on Yanko Design.

5 Best Electric Motorcycles of February 2026 That Finally Prove Electric Doesn’t Have to Play It Safe

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The electric bike has never been more interesting than it is right now. Designers are throwing out the rulebook entirely, drawing inspiration from anime, music culture, and aerospace engineering to produce machines that feel less like transportation and more like strong, deliberate statements of intent. Each design on this list represents a strikingly different vision of what riding could — and should — feel like in 2026. These are the bikes defining the moment.

From a mobile DJ booth on two wheels to a hydrogen-powered, enclosed cockpit that blurs the line between motorcycle and sports car, the range of ambition represented here is staggering. What unites them is an unrelenting push to make electric mobility something worth getting genuinely excited about. These five machines are not just bikes. They are bold, considered answers to a world demanding something far more extraordinary than a quiet motor and a charge port.

1. Ayra

The Ayra does not whisper its intentions. Designed by Radka, it sits at the intersection of street racer and city machine, carrying both identities without apology, and the body language is pure confidence from every angle. Every surface has been shaped around the idea of cutting through air with as little resistance as possible, and the handlebars are pulled flush into the main body of the bike to eliminate the sideways drag that conventional handlebar setups typically introduce. It is the kind of detail that suggests the designer was thinking about airflow first and aesthetics second, with the two arriving at the same place anyway.

The engineering logic running through the Ayra is tight and purposeful. Front and rear monoshock swingarm setups preserve the frame’s structural integrity while pulling the ride height down into a more planted, confident stance. The wheelbase stretches wide enough to spread the machine’s mass evenly, giving the Ayra a naturally settled feel that most bikes of this silhouette have to work much harder to achieve. A compact electric motor sits at the core of the central unit, likely connected to a fast-charge system, though Radka has kept the powertrain details close to their chest for now.

What We Like

  • The handlebar integration into the main body is a sharp aerodynamic solution that also gives the bike one of the cleanest, most uninterrupted silhouettes in its class.
  • The wide wheelbase distributes weight with real engineering intelligence, delivering a composed, balanced ride without relying on complex or costly suspension architecture to get there.

What We Dislike

  • Radka has offered nothing on the powertrain specifics, which leaves a significant gap in the story for a machine whose entire identity is built around performance and speed.
  • The monoshock setup reads as elegant from the outside but offers little in the way of rider-adjustable tuning, which will frustrate anyone who wants to tailor the ride to their own preferences.

2. Ichiban Electric Motorcycle

No motorcycle has approached the drivetrain question quite the way the Ichiban does. Proposed as the world’s first electric bike to run a full-wheel drivetrain, this Japanese machine channels power through both wheels simultaneously, producing a performance envelope that single-motor setups cannot touch. A 45kW dual-motor system launches it from a standstill to 100 km/h in 3.5 seconds, which is a number that lands with full weight when you sit with it. That kind of instant, seamless acceleration is entirely native to electric, and the Ichiban leans into it without hesitation.

What separates this machine from its contemporaries is a firm, principled resistance to digital overload. The HUD elements lean analog wherever possible, removing the layer of screen management that has quietly crept into so many modern electric bikes. The design philosophy is rooted in the relationship between the rider and the road rather than the rider and a dashboard. The result is a machine that communicates through feel first and data second, which is a brave choice in a category that has increasingly defaulted to connectivity as a selling point. For motorheads, it is an immediate draw.

What We Like

  • The full-wheel drivetrain is a genuine industry first, delivering traction and acceleration performance across both wheels in a way that repositions what electric motorcycle engineering is capable of achieving.
  • The analog-leaning interface strips away the screen dependency that burdens so many contemporary electric machines, restoring a more direct, instinct-driven connection between rider and motorcycle.

What We Dislike

  • The full-wheel drivetrain remains at the concept stage, meaning real-world data on handling behavior, heat management, and long-term reliability is absent from the conversation.
  • Riders who have built their habits around connected dashboards and live ride data may find the deliberately minimal interface more limiting than liberating in daily use.

3. BMW DE-02 x Deus

The BMW DE-02 x Deus is arguably the most culturally self-aware electric motorcycle collaboration in recent memory. Co-developed with Deus Records and built on the foundation of the CE 02 eParkourer, the bike arrives as a full reinterpretation of what that platform can carry — literally and conceptually. Where the base model might accommodate utility-focused cargo, the DE-02 replaces it with four Marshall Middleton speakers and a centrally mounted turntable. The idea of mixing a track from a mountainside or a back alley, with no power source needed beyond the bike itself, is as absurd as it is completely compelling.

The craftsmanship holding the concept together is what keeps it from feeling like a novelty. The saddle is hand-stitched leather carrying the Deus Records logo in embroidery, seamlessly woven into the speaker housing and turntable assembly as though it was always meant to be there. BMW Motorrad has long been willing to push at the edges of motorcycle culture, but the DE-02 is perhaps the most fully committed lifestyle statement the brand has produced. It does not try to be everything. It picks a lane — music, movement, and genuine rider culture — and occupies it entirely.

What We Like

  • Four Marshall Middleton speakers and a built-in turntable transform this into a genuine mobile venue, making it one of the most conceptually ambitious and culturally resonant electric motorcycle designs in years.
  • The hand-stitched leather saddle and Deus Records embroidery bring real artisanal craft to the build, elevating the collaboration well beyond what most concept projects manage to deliver in terms of finish quality.

What We Dislike

  • The weight and bulk of the integrated sound system will inevitably affect the handling dynamics and off-road agility that the original CE 02 platform was designed and optimized to offer.
  • There is no confirmed production intent behind the DE-02, which means the vast majority of people will only ever encounter it through photographs rather than from the saddle.

4. J Balvin x DAB Motors Electric Bike

The backstory alone is remarkable. Designer Mattias Gollin and the Vita Veloce Team built this machine in three weeks flat, delivering it as an unannounced birthday surprise to J Balvin at a celebration in Tuscany. Conceived and constructed using AI-powered design tools and 3D printed bodywork, the prototype sits on DAB Motors’ proven 1α platform and arrives as something genuinely difficult to categorize — part rolling sculpture, part rideable anime, completely unlike anything else on the road. The VVT team later confirmed that Shotaro Kaneda’s iconic red motorcycle from the 1988 film Akira was a core reference point throughout the design process.

Gollin’s stated ambition was for the experience of riding this bike to feel like moving through a dream, and the details reflect that goal with real commitment. Sound-absorbing foam packed between the wheel rims and covers generates a low, hypnotic frequency hum as the bike cruises, while purplish-blue LED strips running through the wheels produce a visual sense of motion that reads almost like a trail of light. The frame carries a deep matte red finish that has been hand-patinated with deliberate scuffs and marks, giving the machine the remarkable quality of looking like it has already lived a complete and eventful life before a single rider ever climbed on.

What We Like

  • Compressing the entire design-to-prototype timeline into three weeks using AI tools and 3D printing is a significant statement about how rapidly extraordinary machines can now be brought to life outside of conventional development cycles.
  • The sound-absorbing foam integrated into the wheel covers to produce a low-frequency ride hum is a wholly original sensory design idea, one that no other electric motorcycle in recent memory has come close to exploring.

What We Dislike

  • Built as a one-off prototype, the bike’s exclusivity is essentially total, and any future limited production run would almost certainly carry a price that places it firmly out of reach for the overwhelming majority of riders.
  • The deliberately worn, hand-patinated finish is a strong and intentional creative choice, but riders who value a clean, unmarked surface will struggle to see the appeal of purposeful imperfection applied across an entire frame.

5. Karver Cycle Concept K1

Designed by Kip Kubisz, the Karver Cycle Concept K1 challenges what a motorcycle is fundamentally permitted to be. The silhouette reads as a compact sports car until you look more carefully and find a two-wheeler operating by entirely different rules. Four hubless wheels are arranged in close pairs at the front and rear, each running its own independent wishbone suspension system, delivering a stability and cornering confidence that conventional two-wheel geometry rarely achieves. It looks like a vehicle from a decade that has not arrived yet, which is exactly the point.

The enclosed cockpit defines the riding experience entirely. Panoramic glass wraps the rider in a 180-degree field of view, offering full visual immersion without the wind and weather exposure that traditional motorcycles accept as unavoidable. Inside, an ergonomically tuned bucket seat and a steering yoke replace conventional handlebars, and a clean dashboard displays speed, motor temperature, and core ride data without visual noise. The powertrain is a hybrid electric and hydrogen system tuned primarily for torque, and aerodynamic fins at the rear keep the K1 tracked and stable when speeds climb on open freeways and highways.

What We Like

  • The panoramic enclosed cockpit delivers genuine all-weather riding capability without surrendering the essential two-wheeled character of the machine, which is an exceptionally difficult engineering balance to achieve at the concept level.
  • The hybrid electric and hydrogen powertrain positions the K1 as a forward-thinking mobility platform, anticipating the kind of clean energy infrastructure that is only just beginning to take meaningful shape around the world.

What We Dislike

  • The enclosed cabin removes the open-air riding sensation that most dedicated motorcycle riders regard as the fundamental, non-negotiable quality of the entire experience, which will be a hard trade for many to accept.
  • The four-wheel hubless configuration raises unresolved questions around street legality, production engineering, and regulatory classification that the concept stage entirely sidesteps.

The Future of Two Wheels Is Already Here

These five designs do not simply point toward where electric motorcycles are heading. They make the destination feel immediate and urgent. From the Ayra’s aerodynamic precision to the Karver K1’s fully enclosed cockpit, each machine argues for a future that is more considered and more daring than anything the combustion era managed to produce. Electric is no longer a concession to practicality. It is where the sharpest creative thinking in motorcycle design now lives and operates.

What makes this particular moment so compelling is the sheer breadth of intent across the five. The Ichiban defends riding freedom from digital noise. The BMW DE-02 x Deus turns the road into a stage. The DAB Motors and J Balvin collaboration is art that moves under its own power. None of them chase the same idea, and that is precisely the point. When electric motorcycle design starts feeling like genuine self-expression rather than an engineering exercise, the whole conversation shifts somewhere worth paying attention to.

The post 5 Best Electric Motorcycles of February 2026 That Finally Prove Electric Doesn’t Have to Play It Safe first appeared on Yanko Design.

Formula 1 ‘Closed Cockpit’ Concept shows the future of the Halo as a Safer Enclosed Canopy

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In the 2021 Italian GP, Lewis Hamilton nearly had his head crushed when Max Verstappen’s car literally climbed on top of his, with the car’s bottom grazing past his helmet and onto the protective Halo. Later on, Toto Wolff of the Mercedes team breathed a sigh of relief, also reflecting on how much he fought against the addition of the Halo to the F1 car design. This isn’t the first time a Halo has saved a life. Leclerc’s helmet showed the battle scars of Fernando Alonso’s tire from a similar incident in the Belgian GP in 2018.

The Halo has played a controversial but incredibly pivotal role in F1. Most teams hated it, but now thank its presence in the face of nearly fatal accidents. The FIA also dabbled with the idea of a closed cockpit for even safer driving, but the ideas were all shot down because a closed cockpit proved to be more harmful in the event of a bad crash. What if the driver couldn’t exit a blazing vehicle? Or get out swiftly in the middle of a race? Designer Olcay Tuncay Karabulut has a clever fix to these questions. Dubbed the ‘Canopy’, this design detail takes the Halo and gives it a set of upgrades… in a way that still makes it safe for drivers to exit vehicles.

Designer: Olcay Tuncay ‘Karabulut’

As much as the Halo obscures a driver’s vision, it’s also incredibly good at obscuring dangerous obstacles that could smack the driver at forces of nearly 10 Gs. There’s no way a helmet could protect against something that powerful. The advantage the Halo has had over most closed cockpits, is that the two sides make it easy for drivers to enter and exit vehicles. More components, more details, and more safety can often mean more time required to exit a car. The seatbelt, as safe as it’s claimed to be, has been responsible for multiple people being trapped in cars longer than they need to be. For the FIA (the regulating body for the Formula series), the closed cockpit has had the exact same set of problems.

Olcay’s ‘Canopy’ concept addresses this by borrowing from the closed cockpit designs of a jet. The canopy hinges at the front, opening and closing to allow the driver to enter and exit on demand. However, in the case of an emergency, multiple panels in the canopy can be pushed out to provide different points of egress. If the canopy ever breaks or fails, simply ditch any of the transparent panels on the top or the sides and the driver can easily make an exit, just the way they would through the Halo.

Olcay’s design relies on a robust canopy built using Carbon-Ti, a strong carbon-fiber, titanium, and aluminum alloy known for its ability to withstand pretty much any sort of abuse. Unlike the Halo which is Y-shaped, the Canopy is H-shaped, with panels on the front, top, and the sides. The front panel acts as a windshield, while the top and side panels can be ejected during an emergency exit.

Is the Canopy better than a Halo? Well, yes and no. Sure, a closed cockpit is way more secure than an open one. We all remember Felipe Massa getting struck by a loose spring in the 2009 Brazilian GP. A canopy would absorb that impact, shielding the driver from damage. However, that impact would also crack the glass, obscuring the driver’s vision and probably making them less safe. In the rain or in muddy conditions, drivers keep their vision clean by simply peeling away protective film from their helmet visors whenever it gets dirty. There’s really no way to peel mud or water away from a canopy, so this would be a nightmare in rainy races… provided the sheer force of wind pushes any dirt or debris away from the clear glass. We’re also completely sidestepping the potential worst-case scenario where the Canopy along with its ejectable panels fail to open, trapping the driver in a nightmare situation with really no exit until someone intervenes.

Olcay’s justification for designing the canopy is to protect the driver from any form of tiny debris that the Halo would miss. Sure, the Halo keeps the driver safe the way a car’s roll cage keeps drivers safe in regular vehicles. But the Halo would do nothing to stop shrapnel from the car in front of you flying towards your face or body. The enclosed design of the Canopy provides 360° cover, although yes, it needs to be sufficiently tested.

The Canopy tech was conceptualized for the year 2030, with 4 more years to test out the system. Current cars still use the Halo, and F1’s changes more or less revolve around the car’s power-train, moving from mainly fuel-based to an equal use of fuel and electric systems. Will we see something akin to this in future F1 cars? Well, Olcay’s work is entirely conceptual, but it bases itself in a stark reality that F1 still has ways to go when it comes to driver safety. After all, the Halo wouldn’t be able to stop what happened to Felipe Massa in 2009. Only a Canopy would.

The post Formula 1 ‘Closed Cockpit’ Concept shows the future of the Halo as a Safer Enclosed Canopy first appeared on Yanko Design.

Barefoot Caravans goes from petite to pint-sized with the ultra-compact Bothy

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If you have been following the industry, it has been raining fiberglass trailers lately. First, we saw the Escape 13, and recently the MorningStar from Awaken RV. Now, while other brands are creating new inroads, Barefoot Caravans is taking a step back and revisiting its aesthetically pleasing Barefoot travel trailer born in the UK.

The caravan, which has also been able to make a mark for itself in the US and Australia, is now being downsized further, from its otherwise petite form factor. The new skimmed-down version of the Barefoot, dubbed the Bothy, is a super-small Barefoot travel trailer without the wet washroom.

Designer: Barefoot Caravans

The original, lightweight Barefoot has already been reckoned as one of the smallest in the market. Now, even smaller Bothy, which debuted at the 2025 NEC Caravan Show recently is much lighter, but this, of course, doesn’t come without some limitations. The most important of it is the absence of a bathroom, as mentioned earlier.

In spite of missing the wet bathroom found at the back of the original Barefoot, the Bothy is an incredible little rig for those who prefer compact trailers at the back of their riding vehicle. Instead of the bathroom, the Barefoot Bathy accommodates a small sofa, which converts into a sleeping arrangement. Just close by is a slide-out Porta-Potty. The interior is finished with overhead and underneath storage, and netted pockets to make space for your supplies and amenities.

A slightly ahead, in the middle of the trailer is the galley, complete with a 2-burner gas cooktop, sink and storage cabinets. There is a dedicated space for a coolbox on the opposite side, while other parts of the trailer, including the U-shaped dinette cum bed in the front of the trailer, remain undisturbed. For the shell, the Bothy is built from a single piece of molded fiberglass and is apt for sleeping up to three people inside its compact belly. The exact size of the Bothy is not confirmed by the company.

As mentioned, most of its design inheritance is influenced by the original model, which includes a gray retro interior with shades of electric blue, wood accents, and interesting interiors. Being compact and trendy, the Barefoot Bothy can be towed behind any size vehicle or an electric vehicle. This is possible because of the trailer’s rounded corners and narrower design than other similar caravans on the market. That said, the trailer weighs only 1,556 kgs (going up to a maximum of 1,874 kgs), and it comes with 16L freshwater and 23L wastewater tanks onboard. Power needs of the Bothy are taken care of by a 110Ah battery, a 120W solar panel, and it starts at just £25,500 (rightly $35,000).

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Cessna 172 (The Most Manufactured Plane in History) Just Got Immortalized in 2,000 LEGO Bricks

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The Cessna 172 has logged more flight hours than any other powered aircraft in history. Since its debut in 1956, it has carried student pilots over Kansas wheat fields, bush flyers above the Canadian tundra, and island-hoppers between Greek archipelagos. It is the plane that taught the world to fly.

Now, LEGO Ideas builder Mike_the_Brickanic has translated that enduring icon into approximately 2,000 bricks, capturing the 172’s distinctive high-wing silhouette, its trademark strut-braced wings, and a cockpit detailed down to the dual yokes and instrument panel. The result is a faithful tribute to one of aviation’s most beloved machines, rendered in a striking dark blue and curry yellow livery that feels every bit as purposeful as the real thing.

Designer: Mike_the_Brickanic

The real Cessna 172 Skyhawk sits at about 8.28 meters long with a wingspan of 11 meters, cruises at 226 km/h, and has a service ceiling of 4,300 meters. It weighs just 767 kg empty. That power-to-weight ratio combined with forgiving low-speed handling is why flight schools worldwide still default to it after nearly 70 years. Over 44,000 units have been produced. When Mike_the_Brickanic chose this as his subject, he picked something with real cultural weight, not just a recognizable shape, but a machine with a documented, measurable legacy in aviation history.

Building aircraft in LEGO is genuinely hard. Appliances have flat surfaces, buildings have right angles, but planes demand curves that flow into each other without telegraphing the underlying geometry. The 172’s fuselage is particularly tricky because it tapers toward the tail while simultaneously curving downward, and the wing root blends into the cabin in a way that feels almost organic. Mike solved this with a combination of curved slopes, ball joints at the wing sides, and clip connections at the cabin top, which is clever because it distributes structural load while preserving that smooth visual transition from windscreen to wing.

The ailerons, elevator, and rudder all move. The flaps extend to 40 degrees, which is accurate to the real 172’s full-flap configuration used during short-field landings. The propeller spins, the wheels roll and steer, and the nose gear is mounted on Technic axles for structural integrity. Those aren’t decoration, they’re engineering decisions that required real thought about how LEGO geometry intersects with aeronautical geometry. The “Remove Before Flight” tags on the pitot cover and control locks are a nerdy touch that actual pilots will absolutely clock.

Open the door and the interior holds up. Two adjustable front seats rendered in medium brown, a rear bench, tinted rear windows, and a cockpit panel dense enough with sticker detail that you can actually identify individual instruments. The dual yokes are there. The throttle quadrant is there. This is the kind of interior work that separates builders who understand their subject from builders who are approximating it. The 172’s cockpit is famously approachable and uncluttered, and the model reflects that without oversimplifying.

The color choice is just *chef’s kiss*. Dark blue over dark yellow (curry) with white accents is not a scheme you see constantly in LEGO aviation MOCs, which tend toward red-white or military grey. It gives the model a particular visual weight, something that reads as contemporary but grounded. The way the curry stripe flows along the fuselage and up into the tail mirrors how real-world livery designers think about visual continuity across an airframe. Whether intentional or instinctive, it works.

LEGO Ideas is the official platform where fan-designed sets get a shot at becoming real retail products. Submissions need 10,000 supporters to trigger an official LEGO review, after which the company decides whether to produce it commercially. Mike’s Cessna 172 is currently sitting at just over 1,000 supporters with 598 days left on the clock, which means there is runway to work with. If you have any appreciation for aviation, precision building, or just want to see more interesting things on toy store shelves, head to the LEGO Ideas page and give it a vote.

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Transformers-inspired Shapeshifting Machine Splits Into An Entire Road-Construction Robot Fleet

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Road construction has a complexity problem. Getting a stretch of road built in a remote region, a disaster zone, or difficult terrain typically means coordinating multiple heavy machines, multiple skilled operators, and a logistical chain that can collapse at any point. Yan Zhang and Jialu Hou, two designers from Shandong University of Art and Design, spent several months in 2024 working on a concept that treats all of that complexity as a design challenge worth solving from scratch.

The result is PaveLink, an autonomous modular road-building system that arrives as a single articulated electric train and deploys into a coordinated fleet of AI-guided construction robots on site. One system. One delivery. A drone overhead, autonomous modules on the ground, and an intelligent command hub managing all of it in real time.

Designers: Yan Zhang and Jialu Hou

The truck head is a blocky, panoramic-windshield command center with a drone launch platform built right into the roof. When PaveLink reaches its target location, that drone lifts off first, ascending to map the terrain using aerial sensors and streaming data back to the cab in real time. The drone itself is worth a second look: shaped like a swept-back arrowhead with a multi-rotor configuration, it looks aggressive and purposeful in the air, matching the amber and gunmetal black palette of the ground units working below it.

Four distinct unit types detach from that spine: a front-loader with a wide scoop bucket, an excavator arm for breaking ground, a grader for leveling, and a heavy steel drum compactor for finishing the surface. On their own, each unit looks almost insectoid, riding on two or three fat rugged wheels with articulated limbs that flex and angle across uneven ground. Together, working in coordinated parallel, they turn what would normally require a crew of operators and days of staging into something that functions more like a synchronized performance.

All the modules stay tethered to the system via cables, which serve double duty as power lines and data channels. PaveLink runs fully electric, so there’s no diesel cloud hanging over the operation, and the continuous cable connection means the modules never need to stop and recharge independently. The drone keeps feeding updated terrain data overhead, flagging hazards and fine-tuning the AI’s workflow decisions as ground conditions change.

PaveLink is aimed squarely at the places traditional road construction struggles most: disaster-hit zones, remote regions with no skilled operators, and rugged terrain that conventional machinery can’t navigate efficiently. The modular autonomous approach answers all three problems at once. Fewer humans in harm’s way, fewer separate machines to transport in, and an AI coordination layer that adapts to whatever chaotic ground conditions it finds on arrival.

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2026 Mercedes-Benz Marco Polo camper van arrives with smarter pop-up roof and luxury upgrades

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Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen have produced some of the best camper vans on the market, and they’ve long shared a common collaborator. Now, with Mercedes-Benz taking the complete production of its Marco Polo under its wings, Volkswagen and other competitors can expect some serious competition. The newly updated 2026 Marco Polo is the first new addition to Mercedes in-house van life portfolio and flaunts an interesting pop-up roof, which is its main talking point.

According to Mercedes-Benz press information, the body of the V-Class Marco Polo is built at the company’s Vans plant in Vitoria, Spain. The vehicle is then converted into a pop-up camper van at the Ludwigsfelde plant in Germany. The overall in-house production of the Marco Polo means it’s of the “highest quality standard” and that the company has complete control over every detail and pace at which it is produced.

Designer: Mercedes-Benz

Substantiating the fact, Sagree Sardien, head of sales & marketing Mercedes-Benz Vans said, it is a “Mercedes-Benz through and through,” which is designed to offer buyers a more sophisticated home on wheels. “A home that effortlessly combines travel and everyday life – while making a stylish statement,” he said.

To that accord, the Mercedes-Benz 2026 Marco Polo is a compact, luxury camper van featuring a pop-up roof, convertible downstairs seating, kitchen, and ambient lighting to uplift the mood when you’re inside the van. The major update from the 2024 model of the van is focused around the improvement to the lifting roof space. The double-skinned aluminum pop-top makes for an additional 4 inches of headroom and is provided with an ambient LED system that allows the space to feel lively and inviting.

Downstairs, the Marco Polo doesn’t make many changes. It comes equipped with a kitchen featuring double burner gas stove, a sink, mini fridge, and a swiveling bench that can easily facilitate dining and sleeping. During mealtime, you have a folding table that reaches out of the kitchen block, and during the night it folds up to make room for the convertible sofa to create a double bed.

MBAC infotainment suite is another interesting facet of the new Mercedes camper van. Sitting in the cockpit, the smart touchscreen can control the interior components like the vehicle’s upgraded eight-speaker audio system and pop-up roof lighting. The infotainment system also has instant control to pop-up roof. You can deploy or retract the lifting roof remotely, while also maintaining the temperature of the van home.

The new Marco Polo will be available to order soon, Mercedes notes. It also mentions in the press release that the launch of Marco Polo Horizon is also on the cards. This model shares similar features except for the built-in kitchen unit, making it suitable for weekend outings or short holidays only.

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