For what it’s worth, the Smart->ke83 454 by Weight Watch Technologies is probably the cutest yet most perplexing entry to the 2010 LA Design Challenge. The billing alone pretty much describes what to expect from the concept vehicle: “West coast fun and innovation meets German technology, design and grannies’ hand knit socks.”

Never though we’d live to see the phrases “West coast fun” and “grannies’ hand knit socks” in the same sentence. In any case, the Smart 454 by Weight Watch Technologies is smart’s official entry to the 2010 LA Design Challenge.

Keeping line with this year’s theme of envisioning an efficient, lightweight 2+2 car that takes into account the growing shift in building vehicles while minimizing consumption of the earth's resources, the smart 454 uses a Tridion-frame chassis that’s apparently knitted out of carbon fiber by what the company is calling “Smart Granny Robots”. Go figure. Each individual part of the car uses a different material to give each piece a unique set of properties like weight and function. For the windows, fenders, and bumpers, Smart opted to use recyclable plastics while touching them up with ingrained colors. Meanwhile, the 454’s roof uses a thin, but extremely durable textile that boasts of its own different prints and weavings. Probably the work of the granny robots, we think.

The wheels of the 454 WWT are likewise made from carbon fiber with an integrated suspension and with the help of SGR technology, the wheels come equipped with some snazzy and lightweight rims.

Then there’s the matter of assembling and dissembling the car without breaking any sweat. Thanks to a modular “clip-on” construction principal, materials like the doors, the roof, the engine, and even the drive train, become extremely easy to remove or exchange, making the 454 WWT a car that can be customized for any occasion, including granny’s knitting session.

Press Release after the jump

2010 smart 454 Weight Watch

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: 2010 smart 454 Weight Watch
  • [do not use] Vehicle Model: Array

Press Release

West coast fun and innovation meets German technology, design and grannies’ hand knit socks.

Manufactured by incredibly high-tech robots that look as friendly and cuddly as our grandmothers, the Tridion-frame (chassis) is knit by our “Smart Granny Robots” (otherwise know as SGRs) out of carbon fibre. The knitting can create complex shapes and forms, enabling the geometry to be optimized in strength and weight.

We use different materials for each individual part to give every piece of the car its own specific properties and look. Each part is manufactured with the exact material necessary for an optimal balance between weight and function. Windows, fenders and bumpers are all made of recyclable plastics with ingrained colors. The roof is a thin, but highly durable recycled textile that comes with different prints and weavings.

Construction of the WWT carbon fibre wheels with integrated suspension are very lightweight and make it also impossible to run a flat tire. Our unique SGR technology allows for truly unique looking rims and the best lightweight technology in a rim.

The modular “clip-on” construction principal allows easy and endless customizing: a typical WWT of Sindelfingen and smart signature. The doors, roof, engine and drive-train are also very easy to remove or exchange, allowing for perfect functionality, looks, fun and the best tuning for any occasion.

Lightweight, fun and clever: Smart, the WWT from Germany.

Hand knit socks and grannies have never been so much fun…