the buggy reboot by joey ruiter
all images © dean van dis
by unleashing his design philosophy on the automobile – particularly the notion of a city car – grand rapids-based designer joey ruiter has developed a back-to-the-basics all-wheel drive vehicle in a project entitled ‘reboot buggy’. built from scratch, the initiative – which commenced earlier in 2013 – investigates what a car would be like without a ‘user-centered’ philosophy: ‘the fluff, the marketing, the gadgets, the nicknacks, and the do-dads are overwhelming’ says ruiter. ‘its basically an exercise in creating a capable vehicle with really common parts. it doesn’t fit into a category since it came from nothing. as the thoughts started to become reality, I shifted towards something more fun for me personally.’ he adds
with little body work highlighted and no decorative grille shapes to design around, the raw parts necessary for movement become highlighted. the resulting vehicle boasts 40 inch tires a 470-horsepower small block v8 engine from an old chevy built from local resources and even a 10,000-pound winch. to see the buggy in action, check out the video below.
reboot buggy test
video courtesy joey ruiter
the buggy reboot is a stripped down, back-to-the-basics all-wheel drive vehicle
the raw parts necessary for movement become highlighted
the vehicle boasts 40 inch tires a 470-horsepower small block v8 engine from an old chevy
the stripped down car highlights little body work and no decorative grille shapes to design around
the project investigates what a car would be like without a ‘user-centered’ philosophy
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It’s an interesting thought experiment, but the write-up is not honest. There is a user in mind during design: Joey Ruiter. He even says so, “I shifted towards something more fun for me personally.” It’s pretty cool and looks like a blast to drive, but it isn’t that different in concept from the stripped down hot-rods and motorcycles guys have been building in garages for decades. It didn’t come from nothing, it came from readily available “really common parts” which WERE guided by a user-centric design process. I applaud the removal of gimmicks and fluff, but even a hammer, one of the simplest tools humans use, is still made for a user. As soon as a design takes physical form, the practical choices demand a user. Try designing anything for no-one. Design without a user is theory and air.
i want it!!!
absolutely love it
if you build it they will buy
This is perverse. What’s the point of a car without a user? Especially a car with a 470-horspower gasoline engine? The idea already exists in NASA’s extraterrestrial Rovers. And some of the stuff the designer’s jettisoned are functional: safety systems, bodywork that’s aerodynamic, etc. Perverse and potentially lethal.