The Inspiring Power Of A Boxfish
“Imagination,” said writer Brenda Ueland, “comes, works, when you are not trying, when you have a peculiar passive clarity.”
Who would ever think that a fish, yes you read it right, a fish—specifically a boxfish or uncommonly known as Ostracion Cubicus (At least to widen your knowledge on scientific names), has inspired Daimler Chrysler’s car engineers to create an aerodynamic as well as safe and environment-friendly automobile concept.
The Mercedes-Benz’ bionic car, a two-door compact car, first launched in June 2005, is the first car to feature Benz’ latest Bluetech technology which allows reduced emissions along with fuel economy. From the word “bionics,” the Mercedes-Benz bionic car combines essential qualities from biology and technology, daimler.com said. After conducting an extensive research, Daimler Chrysler’s engineers found the creature that best resembles its ideal car—the boxfish–resistant to pressure with its outer skin composed of hexagonal bone plates that allows it to survive collisions with other marine beings including coral reefs. According to go-cars.org, it has a remarkably low cd value of 0.06, another quality desired by Daimler Chrysler in its bionic car concept, which has a drag coefficient of 0.19. Aside from its excellent aerodynamic quality, this concept car also boasts of ultimate Merceds-benz performance that goes along with fuel-economy. It delivers 140 horsepower by consuming only 4.3 liters of fuel per kilometer. Thus, it claims to be 20 percent more cost-efficient compared to other production models.
Starting last February 24 until May 12, this four-seater concept car, with a height of 1.59 meters, 4.24 meters length and 1.82 meters width, will be exhibited at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in line with its “Design and Elastic Mind” theme for this year, which aims to showcase the hottest developments in science, design and other fields of technology.
The Mercedes-Benz bionic car is indeed an amazing example on how Daimler Chrysler remains true to its philosophies that entail “thinking the unthinkable, looking beyond the horizon, leaving familiar paths and giving new ideas a chance.”
