Having accelerated out of the gate with multiple industry event appearances and even a feature on NBC’s Today Show, Local Motors has been enjoying their moment in the spotlight with their first 3D printed car, The Strati.
The design and production of the Strati began with a crowdsourced design competition on Local Motors’ unique crowdsourced design platform and had its official launch at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in Chicago earlier this summer. The single-print 3D printed electric car is pushing Local Motors into a new territory as an on-demand automobile manufacturer and Local Motors expects to be shipping highway-ready printed cars in 2015.
Today, Local Motors announced a new competition to propel the design of the Strati even further with their ModMen Challenge. The challenge asks designers, engineers and anybody with an interest in car design to “hack up” and modify the existing Strati body.
Participants are expected to submit design modification proposals for an online voting round that will see 12 winners receiving their own personal 3D-printed vehicles modded with their design.
“From racing, to street, to show, car modification has always been the true soul of vehicle innovation,” said Local Motors Co-founder and CEO John B. Rogers, Jr. “At Local Motors, our goal is to fuel the next great generation of ‘Hot Rodders’ by putting the newest technology in their hands, and the ModMen Challenge does exactly that. These are not just 12 cars customized with aftermarket parts, but a peek into the future of automotive re-imagination. I cannot wait to see how this group pushes the boundary of 3D-printed cars.”
The competition will open up in January of 2015 and the 12 winning design proposals will be announced a couple months later in March. For those who win, they can expect to be driving around their neighborhood in a 3D printed car as early as May of 2015.
The ModMen Challenge is open to the public and you can find out more by signing up here.
(Feature image via Masters of Chicken Scratch)
