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October 5, 2006
About Freakin' Time
I know a few mountain bikers out there that would probably drool for the FlexFix bicycle rack system. You see, the entire rack system is hidden inside the rear bumper of the Opel Antara, a crossover SUV for Europe. The rack slides out to reveal a locking-pin mechanism to hold your bikes.
It's an idea long overdue and why should people in North America care? Simply because the Opel Antara will be sold here as the 2008 Saturn Vue. Do you guys love it or what?
more pictures after the jump
via autoblog
Posted by tranism at 2:00 AM | Permalink
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Comments
That is fascinating!
I've thought about getting a bike rack for my car, but it always seemed like such a hassle to put it on and take it off all the time. Better to just shove the bike in the trunk, I figure.
I'm not a huge fan of Saturn cars, but this might make me take a closer look at the Vue the next time I'm in the market.
Posted by: Kelly at October 5, 2006 5:44 AM
This is pretty cool. Alot of the transportation design students here in Pasadena Art Center have actually tried to tackle this same problem stated above.
This same idea was brought up and we came to the conclusion that at the current crash safety standards this will not pass California DOT crash safety tests. We'll see...new materials have shown promise of being lighter, smaller and stronger than current crash bars on US Spec vehicles....so, something like this could possibly show itself to us state side very soon.
Posted by: Vince at October 11, 2006 6:41 PM
Stupidest.Idea.Ever.
The whole point of a bumper is as part of a car's crumple zone. Let's compromise that by inserting i metal construction into it...
Then again, given the inappropriateness of most 4WDs anyway, why not? Let's ALL drive Hummers, that'll solve the problem.
:-/
Posted by: crystalsinger at November 20, 2006 7:37 PM