Tag Archives: Automotive

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.

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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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Ducati Formula 73: Bologna Reaches Back 50 Years to Build Its Most Soulful Cafe Racer in Decades

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There are motorcycles built to go fast, and then there are motorcycles built to make you feel something. The Ducati Formula 73 sits firmly, defiantly, in the second camp, and Ducati knows it. Unveiled on February 12, 2026, as part of the brand’s centenary celebrations, the Formula 73 is a love letter to one of the most consequential machines ever to roll out of Borgo Panigale, the 750 Super Sport Desmo, wrapped in modern engineering and limited to just 873 numbered units worldwide.

The story starts in 1972, at the 200 Miglia di Imola, Europe’s answer to the Daytona 200 and the first major competition for production-derived motorcycles. Paul Smart and Bruno Spaggiari crossed the finish line in a 1-2 sweep aboard the 750 Imola Desmo, a moment so electrically important to Ducati’s identity that the brand built a street-legal replica for the public the very next year. That replica became the 750 Super Sport Desmo, the first road bike Ducati ever equipped with its now-legendary desmodromic valve timing system. The Formula 73 name connects all the dots: the FIM Formula 750 series began that same year, 1973. History, compressed into two words on a steering plate.

Designer: Ducati

Fast forward to 2026, and Ducati’s design team dug deep into the company’s historical archives to resurrect the look with surgical accuracy. The result is a silver and aqua green livery that mirrors the original 750 SS almost note for note, right down to the vertical gold stripe running down the fuel tank. That stripe, easily the most poetic detail on the whole bike, references the unpainted strip on the original Imola racer that allowed the team to check fuel levels at a glance without adding any instruments or weight. On the Formula 73, it becomes a design flourish that ties the bike to its racing lineage without saying a single word.

The silhouette is pure café racer: clip-on handlebars with bar-end mirrors, a short and sharp front fairing, tapered tail section, single seat, and a steel trellis frame painted green to echo the original Desmo’s frame. Spoked 17-inch wheels reinforce the period-appropriate aesthetic, swapping out the standard Scrambler’s cast units in favor of something with far more visual character.

Under all that gorgeous bodywork beats an 803cc Desmodue engine, an air-cooled L-twin with two-valve desmodromic distribution that happens to produce exactly 73 horsepower at 8,250 rpm. That number is deliberate, almost theatrical, and completely perfect. Torque comes in at 48.1 lb-ft at 7,000 rpm, and while those figures won’t rattle any Panigale V4 cages, that’s entirely beside the point. The engine’s voice, amplified through a custom Termignoni silencer developed specifically for this model, is the real headline. Raw, characterful, and loud in the best possible way.

The Formula 73 rides on the Scrambler platform, which turns out to be a genuinely smart choice. That means KYB suspension front and rear (a 41mm inverted fork up front, preload-adjustable shock out back), Brembo four-piston radial-mount brakes, and a wet weight of 403 pounds. It handles like a Scrambler, which is to say it handles accessibly, predictably, and with enough personality to keep city riding engaging and canyon roads entertaining. Pirelli Diablo Rosso IV tires add a layer of grip that the original 750 SS could only have dreamed about.

Ride-by-wire throttle, cornering ABS powered by an inertial measurement unit, Ducati Traction Control, a bidirectional quickshifter, two ride modes, and a 4.3-inch TFT display with Ducati Multimedia System and navigation are all standard equipment. Rizoma billet aluminum components including brake and clutch levers with integrated oil reservoirs, footpegs, and a fuel cap add premium texture to every surface your hands and eyes land on.

Each of the 873 units comes serialized on the steering plate, accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and a collection of period images and sketches from the Ducati Style Centre, all presented in a special collector’s box. Ducati has also produced a short film called “A Piece of Timeless” featuring Italian actor Stefano Accorsi, a committed Ducati enthusiast, exploring the emotional experience of riding the bike for the first time. It’s the kind of cinematic treatment usually reserved for something you’d hang in a gallery.

Pricing starts at $19,995 in the US, and £15,095 in the UK. European dealerships get first crack at the 873 units this spring, with global distribution completing before the end of summer 2026. For a machine built on half a century of mythology, with the kind of detail obsession that makes collectors and riders equally weak in the knees, $20,000 feels less like a price tag and more like a conversation starter.

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Wingcube transforms from compact box trailer into spacious family camper

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Camping by the lake or on the beach has many facets. For some, it means camping inside their toned-up vehicles, and for others, it’s to snuggle up in a towing mobile home at the end of the day’s fun. In the latter category, there are choice and one that’s really caught my attention is the new Wingcube. This is a compact box when in tow, and at the camp, it opens up like a butterfly to become a complete, weatherproof home you can casually live in with your family for a few days.

Of course, when you see the press image,s you feel it’s another AI hoax. But it’s not really that, however, it is still a work in progress. The Wingcube is only a prototype at the time of writing but substantially a perspective gamechanger if it can be pulled of as is in the near future. The design is under constant change, so we cannot for a fact say what’s going to be what when it hits the market, but that’s not going to stop me from enjoying what it is at this point in time; that is a two-bedroom folding tent box with its own outdoor dinette, kitchen and lots of storage inside.

Designer: Wingcube

Conceived with the idea of making your family adventures more enjoyable and convenient, the Wingcube is easy to handle on the road and effortless to setup and repack. The trailer-based folding tent is extremely lightweight to tow behind any vehicle type (actual specifics of weight and dimension are not available). When you have reached your destination, the two main wings (on either side of the box) fold out manually (yes that can be electronic, going into production), parallel to the ground with the tent canvas – attached to the frame – folding down along with it.

The Wingcube, interestingly, doesn’t come with an integrated trailer. If you choose to dismount the box from the trailer, the latter can be used for a range of other tasks. Similarly, the cube itself can pitch in as extra bedroom at home. In the given form factor, Wingcube, according to the makers can sleep eight people, but from the images it seems comfortable for a family or group of four. The fold-down wings on either side of a central frame (comprising storage shelves) are the two bedrooms of the Wingcube, while on one portion of the central frame, you have the outdoor kitchen with a fold-out prep area which doubles as a dining table with stackable chairs.

A small ladder is provided to climb in and out of the bedroom, each of which feature a window and a large skylight. The introductory video (above) will give you a clear picture of what to expect from the final product, but it’s fitting to reiterate that this is still a prototype and a great deal of changes can be expected in the final version.

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This $15K Electric Mini Morphs Into 3 Car Styles – And It’s Only 8 Feet Long

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There’s something cheeky about mini cars that grabs attention. The MINI Cooper and Fiat Topolino are very good examples of compact hatchbacks carrying the aura of a supercar. The small size of a four-wheeler is more valued in modern times, where roads are flush with vehicles, and the maneuverability of a mini car promises so much value.

Now, designer Wini Camacho takes the Topolino as his canvas to graduate into a versatile mini car dubbed Topolino XS that morphs shape depending on the rider’s intent. It can be a roofless targa on a bright sunny afternoon, a coupe for a ride to the party in the evening, or a roadster for late-night skirmishes on the freeway. The versatile three-in-one system of the modular concept vehicle nevertheless preserves the minimalist appeal and simplistic design approach.

Designer: Wini Camacho

Wini retains the basic DNA of the mini hatchback while exploring the elements like the balanced out front and back section for a more flowy design. All this while making the overall footprint of the electric vehicle smaller and compact at 2.4 meters long and 1.4 meters wide, even though the Topolino itself is quite compact. The headlights on the XS modification have a more human-like character to them – they actually do look like a real pair of eyes with the circular dots encapsulated by the white LED beams. Tailights on the rear are made up of hundreds of little LEDs that the rider can customize to their liking.

On the inside, the driving dynamics take a huge leap with the central steering wheel hub for more centralized control of the instruments and safety features. This doesn’t affect the driver’s style of driving in any way, as the vehicle is already quite small to make much of a difference. If it were a Dodge Viper, Rolls-Royce Phantom, or Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, this would not have been an optimal strategy. The display elements with the Topolino XS are kept to a minimum in line with the less-is-more wireframe.

To spice up things for the prospective riders, the designer imagines the XS in two variants: PURO and ABARATH. While the PURO stays close to the roots with respectable performance figures and a rear carry-on luggage accessory for daily driving, the ABARATH is more of a beast with its bumped-up performance rating for adrenaline-pumping weekends. The looks also take a more aggressive positioning for the ABARATH in glossy black skin paired with the contrasty red wheel rims.

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Awaken RV’s MorningStar camper blends dual-hull fiberglass design with all-weather durability

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Fiberglass makes a camper lightweight and durable, and double-shell fiberglass construction makes it doubly tough, all-weather proof, and sublime to live in. This is the new MorningStar from Awaken RV, a manufacturer in Ohio, that’s changing the image and construction parameters for a traditional travel trailer and giving it a sleeker but tougher makeover, which is surprisingly pleasing to the eye.

This is perhaps because of its curved appearance, which is interestingly achieved by piecing the camper body together with an inner and outer shell of molded fiberglass boosting design, ruggedness, and of course, all-weather insulation. Talking about insulation, Awaken has provided the MorningStar with a bright and airy interior, and filled the split-shell fiberglass body with reflective bubble foil insulation that makes the space cozy for living in all types of weather conditions.

Designer: Awaken RV

Measuring 23.9 foot long, the trailer, owing to its construction, is almost corrosion and rot resistant, and should be able to carry a payload up to 6,235 lbs. The MorningStar itself weighs only 5,320 lbs., and its interior is designed to accommodate a small family on a journey of their lifetime. The smooth exterior with a curvaceous detail is provided with windows on practically all sides, in fact you get a skylight for a captivating view of the starry night, when you’re at your favorite stargazing spot, doing what it demands, practically lying comfortably on the bed with your partner and kids.

The timeless interior of the MorningStar has a full standing height of 6.8 feet and an open living layout that makes space for everything from cooking to dining and from sleeping to washing up. What really comes in handy for the storage inside is the specially designed storage case on the outside, behind the hitch of the trailer. The long kitchen inside features a three-burner glass-top stove, rectangular sink, microwave, and a 212-L dual door refrigerator.

The wraparound sofa on the opposite side faces a dining table comprising two swiveling tables that offer flexibility in their usage – from dining in the day and converting into a flat bed in combination with the sofa. The entertainment suite adjacent comprises a 32-in smart TV and Klipsch Bluetooth speakers, which you can detach and carry outdoors as well. The cabin is provided with cable and Starlink internet for uninterrupted entertainment and work.

The bedroom with a twin (or queen bed, if you choose) has a good view of the TV but is at the far end from the bathroom. The bathroom featuring a fixed porcelain toilet, a vessel sink, and a separate shower compartment is placed on the left of the entrance, so you can also use it to your advantage when you’re getting into the camping trailer after drenching in the rain or with a muddy pair of shoes from a hike.

A trailer these days is incomplete without an off-the-grid support system. Awaken has provided the MorningStar with a 250-Ah lithium battery and 500 watts of solar power for this. The travel trailer also features a 3,000-W inverter and a ducted heating and AC system for your comfortable travel all-year long. With a 147-L fresh water tank, an outdoor shower and other add-ons like a power awning, this fiberglass travel trailer starts at $88,900.

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South Africa’s TrailPod brings retro teardrop camping to 2026

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Like it’s the case with the other parts of the world; in South Africa too, teardrop campers are becoming adventurous but with a very contemporary approach and a high-ticket price. TrailPod, an outdoor adventure brand in Cape Town, is doing things differently to keep their generation of teardrop rigs closer to the good old past, while integrating features that make it completely modern and dependable.

TrailPod shares our love for adventure and is therefore providing bespoke 4×4 teardrop trailers, which are designed for off-roading, but have a very nostalgic appearance to them. These rigs are made from zero-wood composite construction and feature a suspension system ready to deal with all road types.

Designer: TrailPod  https://trailpod.co.za/

The TrailPod Cricket series teardrop trailers are therefore cut out for off-roading, but they are subtle, competitively priced, and retro-inspired. Staying true to the teardrop shape and style from the past, these are ideal for adventurers seeking a variety of camping options without breaking the bank. For this, the foam composite body trailers have an aluminum layering underneath, prioritizing durability and retro-aesthetics.

The Cricket series may be new, but the first Pod was made in a garage setting during the Covid-19 pandemic. The idea back then was to build a vintage-style teardrop, close in aesthetics to the ones built in the 1940s with aircraft aluminum and army jeep wheels. “Feeling a bit like Pinocchio’s Geppetto,” this rig was called Tintin. Over the years with tweaks and perfection, the Tintin prototype is now evolved into a fully-fledged TrailPod Cricket teardrop series, which people are loving for obvious reasons, which definitely starts with the woody construction that dates back to the teardrop’s earliest days. It looks woody, but as said, it features a foam-composite body and no wood is involved (so not roting, mold and corrosion at any moment of its lifetime).

Tough laminate finish on the inside of the Cricket and thin aluminum cladding on the outside, which is overlaid with foam composite, make it a completely different teardrop option we have seen in recent memory. The comfortable and spacious interior of this trailer, which measures just 3.5 m long, is provided with a sleeping arrangement for two people, a small side-mounted kitchen, and cupboards for storage. Internal and external lighting are provided with energy by a 100-Ah lithium battery onboard and solar panels. Owing to its size and lightweight build, the TrailPod Cricket can be towed behind almost any vehicle.

Available in wide and extra-wide body options, Cricket can hold up to 200 kg on the roof when camped, so it’s possible to fit a rooftop tent on it. TrailPod has three teardrop variants in the Cricket series: Cricket, Cricket Lite, Cricket Max. While Lite is the smallest and cheekiest of the three, the TrailPod Cricket Max is the flagship model designed to go off-roading and ensure a prolonged off-grid stay. Its extra-wide body makes space for a double bed and a tailgate galley (a teardrop charm). Though TrailPods come in standard color options, they can be customized in a color of your choice, if you want.

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