The Open Sourced Car

Here's a very interesting application of opensource technology - the open sourced car.

Here's a brief description from an eNewsletter I get called Innovation:

OPEN SOURCE CAR
Automobile enthusiast Markus Merz is on a mission -- to design and produce a car based on the anarchic principles of open source. Merz is relying on a small army of volunteer car designers, 60% of whom are moonlighting from day jobs in the auto industry. Decisions are based on the democratic system and everyone -- including designers, corporations, academic institutions and other groups -- can participate. (Sign up at www.theoscarproject.org.)

OScar, as the car is known, uses a modular concept borrowed from computer manufacture and is composed of six discrete modules: drivetrain, engine, power, body, and safety and information systems. The idea is that the modules could be mixed and matched with other modular components, enabling manufacturers to swap parts as needed. In performance terms, OScar will focus on functionality, topping out at about 90 mph. There are still barriers to overcome, admits Merz, who notes that one of the biggest problems could be legal. "If someone is, for instance, a drivetrain engineer working at, say, Mercedes Benz and they are working anonymously on our platform, it could conflict with their working contract because of the knowledge they put in to the project." But Merz sees the concept as beneficial to auto production in the developing world, where manufacturers would be freed up from paying licensing fees to produce the design. (The Guardian 12 Apr 2007)