Bumper Car Bliss: Pennsylvania man builds giant road-legal bumper car
Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania — Dan Hryhorcoff, a retired machine shopowner from Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, has built a huge, road-legal bumper car. The project occurred during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and while the finished product obviously isn’t allowed to bump into other vehicles like its more miniature counterpart, like its namesake, the vehicle does […]
Mix and Match: Ford secures patent for configurable, modular vehicle frames
Toronto, Ontario — Ford’s engineering department is working towards what could be a significant cost-cutting measure for the automaker, as a recent patent filing dug up by Ford Authority shows a design for a one-size-fits-all configurable frame for use on future vehicles. The patent design, which was filed on Nov. 23, 2022 and published last […]
Auto-Diagnosis: Ford patents camera-based damage identification system
Toronto, Ontario — A new patent secured by Ford aims to record and report vehicle body damage instantaneously from the point of impact for immediate communication directly to partners such as insurance and rental companies, according to reporting from Ford Authority. Filed on Oct. 6, 2020, published on Jan. 24, 2023 and assigned serial number […]
Accessible Autos: Humber College design Project Arrow concept for Canadians with disabilities
Toronto, Ontario – Four Humber College students have won this year’s Project Arrow Annual Mobility Design Competition, an annual design contest by the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association. This year, designers created a future vehicle accessible to Canada’s disability community, with the possibility of autonomous system integration. By the end of the competition, the Humber College […]
Off-Road Offerings: Ford files patents for sand ladder running boards, ‘tank turn’ feature
Toronto, Ontario — The mad scientists in Ford’s engineering division have been busy churning out all sorts of innovative mobility concepts over the past several months, with the latest being a pair of patents yet again geared toward off-road enthusiasts. One of the patents, titled “Integrated Sand Ladders,” conceives of detachable running boards designed to […]
Two Tonne Shimmy: Ford patents off-road ‘crawling’ technology
Toronto, Ontario — Ford appears to be taking cues from the GMC Hummer EV with reports circulating that the automaker has been granted patent approval for a piece of tech called “Crawl Operations for Four-Wheel Steering Vehicle.” Not wanting to be the only OEM in Detroit without crawling cars, a report from The Drive found […]
Pillar of Promise: Patent approved for GM’s see-through A-pillar design
Detroit, Michigan — General Motors may have found a clear path forward in addressing pedestrian safety around SUVs, as the automaker has been granted a patent for a see-through A-pillar to potentially be used on GM’s larger vehicles. The idea is a fibre-reinforced composite A-pillar that includes one or more openings filled with a transparent resin […]
Wind In Your Shins: Jeep unveils sketches teasing ‘donut door’ designs
Toronto, Ontario — Jeep appears to be toying with some tasty new design patents, as the Stellantis-based automaker released some sketches this week, featuring a Jeep sporting “donut doors”. Jeep filed patents for the experimental transparent half-door design back in 2017, which prior to the release of the sketches, had only been seen on prototype […]
