Name: Franck M. Rinderknecht
Job: CEO, Rinspeed, nr. Zurich, Switzerland
Key cars: zaZen, Splash, Presto, Bedouin, Senso
4Car - What's the most significant design element of your latest concept?
Rinderknecht - 'The radical roofline inspired by boat tails. The technology is already in use by aeroplanes in cockpits and displays, as it's light and unbreakable. It has a different chemical structure to normal plastic.
'We wanted to catch the spirit of time - what makes people think and move. My life is rushed, I'm going very fast but not below the surface. The counterpart to this is the Buddhist monk, which is above and beyond - that's why the interior orange colour was clearly taken from his clothing, while the white of the car body represents cleanliness and calm.
'We also felt the seats should be see-through so we used transparent gel-type padding which is still comfortable. It's feasible technology - of course in the beginning it's quite expensive but it can be reproduced. We worked with Bayer - one of the largest suppliers of plastic materials to the automotive industry and with Recaro for the seats.
'I was the project leader and the car was designed by Thomas Clever of Protoscar, Switzerland.'
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| Rinspeed Zazen |
4Car - How does what you do differ from conventional carmakers?
Rinderknecht - 'To make concepts is a passion for us. Our purpose is a different one from the carmakers - they want to test the market, communicate and bring the car somehow onto the market. Our cars are built as one-offs and stay as one-offs.
'We can go wilder, of course, but we have a small budget compared to the carmakers, although it's still large for us - at least £600,000 shared between the partners. We do not reinvent all the mechanical components, as it's expensive; so we take whatever platform then start building on that.
'This one took seven months. The car is made to communicate competence and vision. In the case of Bayer it's difficult to communicate because plastic is not sexy. But once you have a roof like this, it becomes awfully sexy.'
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| Rinspeed Zazen |
4Car - Design influences?
Rinderknecht - 'I don't really have any. We try to put emotions in our cars because it is emotions that move us, not technical stuff. I try to walk through life with open eyes but you cannot invent something new. You can only rearrange it differently, soak in what's around and maybe one day you can use it.'
4Car - What attracted you to car design as a career?
Rinderknecht - 'I have a mechanical engineering background but never finished my studies. This just sort of happened.
'I started with sunroof accessories. The biggest accessories we do are often unbadged to carmakers - as well as our own Porsche tuning line. Officially, Porsche don't recognise us. There are rules and they don't bother you as long as you keep within the rules.'
4Car - What's the next big car design trend/challenge?
Rinderknecht - 'People are going away from the me-too approach and following BMW's strategy of having their own design. But not retro: history is out. Like BMW but a little bit softer.'
4Car - What are you working on next?
Rinderknecht - 'My next project is a vacation.'
4Car - What other car firm /design team do you think would be interesting to work for?
Rinderknecht - 'BMW is still very prominent. It's not really my taste but it sets them apart.'
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| Lancia Stratos concept by Bertone |
4Car - What car did you wish you'd designed?
Rinderknecht - 'The original Lancia Stratos concept is perfect.'
4Car - What car are you glad you didn't design?
Rinderknecht - 'I wouldn't answer that, but there are many awful cars around.'
4Car - Give us a clue?
'No. I am Swiss, so far too diplomatic to say.'
4Car - What shoes are you wearing?
Rinderknecht - 'Routier driving shoes by Martinelli, £100.'
4Car - What watch?
Rinderknecht - 'Blancpain Flyback, £6,500.'
