Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Ford Asks Students to Create 21st Century Model-T

As part of the celebrations for the iconic Model T’s 100th birthday, Ford is asking students from five universities around the world to create Model T concept for the 21st century. The participating schools are: Aachen University in Germany; Art Center College of Design in California, USA; Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia; Lawrence Technological University in Michigan, USA; and University of Michigan-Dearborn, in Michigan, USA.

The teams from the selected universities are challenged to create a vehicle that can accommodate at least two passengers and is simple, durable and lightweight. More importantly, the modern Model T must have a range of at least 200 km / 125 miles and come equipped with a base target price of only $7,000. Each of the participating universities received $75,000 in funding from Ford in order to help the creation of a vehicle concept through sketches, models, research papers and potentially, even working models.