BMW GINA Light Visionary Model, Champagne

A conventional car body is a collection of separate parts: front apron, bonnet, side panels, doors, boot lid. The GINA's has four. The largest runs from the nose to the edge of the windscreen and down the sides to the rear edges of the doors; two side pieces begin where the sills emerge and sweep over the rear wheel arches; a fourth covers the central rear deck. Each is a sheet of water-repellent fabric, resistant to heat and cold, stretched over a movable wire substructure, which is why the finished car shows almost no shut lines. Underneath, the running gear comes from the BMW Z8, V8 included.

Champagne metallic suits those uninterrupted surfaces: a pale gold-beige with a fine flake, warm on the upper surfaces and cooling towards silver where the flanks turn under. The cabin is white and light grey, with a white-rimmed steering wheel, a stack of round dials in the centre console and grey lower trim. Outside, the stalk-mounted mirrors, open headlamps, kidney grilles, split-spoke wheels and paired tailpipes are cleanly executed. The plaque on its stitched grey base marks it as one of 7. Built at 1:18.