BMW designers have broken the rules of traditional automaking with their revolutionary BMW GINA Light Visionary Model concept. GINA is an acronym for "Geometry and Functions in 'N' Adaptations". The most evident innovation in the design is the use of textile fabric to form the automobile's body instead of conventional sheet metal.

This fabric skin will be stretched over a skeleton of metal and carbon fiber wires, controlled by a system of electro-hydraulic devices that will allow the car's structure to shift beneath the textile surface, changing its shape.

While the fabric skin appears remarkably like sheet metal, it soon becomes obvious as the material adjusts to accommodate the car's shape when the doors lift up in their semi-scissor fashion, and when the fabric opens in the center of the hood to reveal the engine.

Designed to hide features when they are not in use, the headlights remain hidden under the fabric skin until turned on. This same concept continues in the car's interior, with instruments remaining concealed behind another fabric skin until needed. The futuristic design was revealed last week and is available for public viewing at the BMW Museum in Munich.