LA Design Challenge: Honda Helix

Another Japanese automobile manufacturer interested in coming up with the car of the future is Honda with their Helix designed for the 2009 L.A. Design Challenge. The Helix is made out of adaptive polymers, capable of changing everything from shape to color and even properties. Just like the DNA that makes up every living being, the Helix can adapt to three distinct driving situations: A, B and Z. The Honda Helix is capable of adapting, evolving, and conforming to the driver’s needs using insight gained from the human genome, biotechnology and environmental forecasting making it the perfect vehicle for environments ranging from the congested city streets of Japan, to the wide open highways of America.

The "A" configuration is short and wide for cities that have very tight and interwinding roads, where agility and speed allow the vehicle to easily negotiate chaotic traffic patterns. The "B" layout is long and low for the sprawling cities of the world, where the long stretches of road allow for high speed commuting. When in the "Z" configuration the Helix transforms into a tall and thin automobile for congested cities of the world, where occupants sit vertically giving the 2030 Helix the most volume per square footage of any vehicle that has come before.