Topic: Have Chassis, Will Travel!

[MG]

Interesting idea from a company called Trexa - a scalable, self contained all wheel drive electric platform. Just add body work and you're good to go!

Trexa

[Boxer2500]

Didn't GM do the same concept close to a decade ago? I distinctly remember seeing a display about it at NAIAS.

In our fashion-obsessed society, people often waste a perfectly good, slightly used machine in order to get the latest and greatest. With a modular platform like this, you can re-use the mechanical bits and still upgrade to the flavor of the month to keep up with the Joneses.

[MG]

Precisely so, Boxer. And yes, GM did this a decade ago but with a fuel cell providing the power.

My question is what about all the support systems that go into a modern automobile, like 16 air bags, 27 speaker stereos, heads-up GPS displays and 106 cup holders. Not to mention bluetooth connectivity. Its not like the old days when you could plunk a dune buggy body on a VDub chassis and be on the road a few hours later! 

I think the idea is great. But I question how practical this all is in the real world.   

[richard cuyler]

This lots-of-bodies-just-one-chassis idea was best done by Citroen with the 2CV. Upon that clever little platform were 2CVs, right from the start, 1948 to 1990, - several types of 2CV van, the Mehari jeep-type vehicle, the Ami, in all its guises, including a station wagon, the Dyane, in all its guises, the Acadiane vans of differing sizes, not to mention many independently-manufactured vehicles/kitcars using the same base and suspension. I doubt that any other vehicle has ever had such a versatile chassis.

[Otto Puzzell]

VW Beetle perhaps?

[richard cuyler]

I thought of the Beetle, but there were definitely fewer variants - no 4-door saloons, no small vans, etc. I think Citroen takes the prize in this case, but I'm always open to being proved wrong.