If you like to drive pantless, the Rinspeed eXasis may not be the car for you. This Swiss tuner is famous for wild concepts-usually based on Porsches-and more recently, for the use of high-tech plastics, but the clear plastic-bodied eXasis makes last year's zaZen and 2005's Senso concepts (both also built in cooperation with Bayer MaterialScience AG) look like Camrys. Rinspeed founder Frank M. Rinderknecht commissioned this project to celebrate his company's 30th birthday, and it looks like the largest victory cigar ever made.
Along with Bayer, partners for this project included Swiss engineers Esoro, seat builders Recaro, and a few small Swiss molding firms. The engine for the eXasis comes from Weber, and it's a 750 ccm bioethanol-fueled two-cylinder that produces 150 hp with help from a supercharger. Routed through a transmission that actually sits right below the motor, the Weber unit allows for a power-to-weight ratio "that is about the same as a very nippy Porsche." We didn't know Porsches were "nippy." And why is there a horse in one of Rinspeeds photos? Your guess is as good as ours.