The Rinspeed X-Trem is one of the experimental concept cars built by Rinspeed, the Swiss design house founded by Frank M. Rinderknecht in 1979. Like the rest of the series, it was a design study rather than a production model.
Rinspeed X-Trem at a glance
| Maker | Rinspeed Inc., Switzerland |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1979, by Frank M. Rinderknecht |
| Type | concept car, design study |
| Production | none, a show car |
| Shows | Geneva Motor Show and CES, Las Vegas |
| Company base | Zumikon, Switzerland |
The sources describe Rinspeed and its concept-car series but give no separate technical details of the X-Trem; this page therefore covers the company and the series the car belongs to. Based on one source.
History of the Rinspeed X-Trem
Rinspeed Inc. was founded in 1979 by Frank M. Rinderknecht, and by the 1980s it had become the exclusive Swiss importer of AMG and AC Schnitzer vehicles. The company became known for a new show car at the Geneva Motor Show almost every year, starting with a turbocharged Volkswagen Golf GTI with a squared grille and headlamps and continuing with the Aliporta of 1981, a Golf with gullwing doors like those of the DeLorean.
After a run of modified Porsches such as the R39 and R69 Turbos, and a hand-painted Nissan 300ZX made with the Swiss artist Rolf Knie, Rinspeed moved through the 1990s and 2000s with a broad mix of heavily modified and unique concept cars. The X-Trem belongs to that period, alongside the aluminium-bodied R Roadster, the single-seat kompogas-powered Advantige R1, a Bugatti EB110 called the Cyan and a two-door, low-roof Porsche Cayenne.
The later studies took the same approach further into engineering: the Splash crossed the English Channel as a hydrofoil in 2006, the sQuba of 2008 could be driven underwater, and the iChange, Budii and Oasis examined electric drive and automated driving. Rinspeed continues to present new projects at Geneva and at CES in Las Vegas, and its cars remain show pieces rather than products.
Design and features
- Design study: the X-Trem was built to show an idea, not to be sold.
- Rinspeed workshop: it came from a company that began by rebuilding and rebodying production cars.
- Show-car tradition: Rinspeed presents its studies at the Geneva Motor Show and lately also at CES.
Rinspeed X-Trem versions
- X-Trem: the study itself.
- Other Rinspeed concepts: the series also includes the Splash, sQuba, iChange, UC, Budii and Oasis.
- Rinspeed show cars of the 1980s–1990s: the Golf GTI, Aliporta, R39 and R69, and the Rolf Knie Nissan 300ZX.
The Bamboo is another study from the same series, and the Chopster shows Rinspeed reshaping a Porsche Cayenne. Everything is under Rinspeed.
Video: Rinspeed X-Trem 1999
Video on YouTube.
Sources
- Rinspeed, English Wikipedia: company history and its concept cars
