Recently, we at CDf  have been making the rounds at various art & design schools for their annual shows, often fondly remembering the days when we “used to design cool cars”.  We’ve been ogling vehicle designs, sketches, models… secretly critiquing, and always wondering if the student concepts could foretell the future design direction of some giant automotive OEM.

While not a said gaint OEM, Local Motors has emerged as a way for students, designers, and enthusiasts to create compelling vehicle designs that may one day actually make it to market as an LM product.  Utlizing a crowd-sourcing concept, LM has created a community (heavily designer-centered… yay!) where individuals submit work to their pre-defined competitions (such as the recently completed California Off Road Machine).  The winning design receives a monetary award, with the possibility to sell the concept to LM for an additional sum.  We will do a full deep-dive of Local Motors very soon.

To find out how you can enter the latest competition, and to see entries from the previous competiton, read on!

The most recent competition, the Miami Road Racer, kicks off today, the 20th of May.  Designers have four weeks to create the vehicle concept, which will net them a winning prize of $10,000.  As a subsequent event, one design may be chosen as a limited-run vehicle and earn the designer $10,000.  Should that be the competition winner, the designer will receive $20,000 total for the concept.

The Local Motors community votes for their favorite designs, allowing a hands-on approach to vehicle selection by Designers themselves.  The voting process is fairly extensive as well, allowing for communication between the Designers and the voters through comments.  A secondary value to entering the competitions is the notoriety Designers can receive.  It can be a terrific way to create industry contacts as well as get one’s name out during these difficult economic times.

If you’re a designer like us who has always thought “what if?” then this is what you have been waiting for.  Being rewarded for designing is a dream, especially when the limit to the design is only our imagination.

The full press release follows, preceded by concepts from the first competition.

Concepts from the California Off Road Machine competition:

Winning entry PanTerra by Filip Tejszerski

Markek Rakucak’s PROJECT Gravemaker

Benjamin Louis’ Opportunity

Press Release:

May 14, 2008

Local Motors Announces $10,000 Competition, with $20,000 Potential
WAREHAM, MA - (FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE)

The Competition: Local Motors is hosting a $10,000 car design competition starting May 20th. Designers will have four weeks to design the most exciting Miami Road Racer; submissions will be accepted through June 17th. The Local Motors Community of car designers, builders, and car lovers will vote for their favorite designs and help choose the winner.

There will only be one winner for the $10,000 Miami Road Racer Competition, however, if a vehicle is chosen for production Local Motors will award another $10,000 to the chosen designer. If the same vehicle wins the competition and is chosen for production, one designer will win $20,000.

Why Design & Compete: By inviting the automotive community to participate in choosing the next great American Car, Local Motors is providing a platform for designers to prove themselves. The climate in the auto industry is increasingly competitive, and design jobs are scarce. Local Motors Competitions will quickly elevate capable designers to new heights by recognizing and celebrating talent. The best designers will earn the ultimate recognition; they will see their car on the road with their name on it.

Why Vote & Drive: Car enthusiasts have long loved exciting design bred with performance. Unfortunately, the magic of a great car is often subdued by the sameness of many designs. The enjoyment of driving a typical performance car or SUV is rivaled by the impact of contributing to a growing oil crisis. This paradigm of mass produced and typically unexciting design is old school automotive, Local Motors is Next Generation Automotive.

The Local Motors Community is yours to champion the designs and designers you love. You will choose which designs are worthy of your vote, and eventually worthy of the limited space in your garage. Not only will you find designs you love, which will not be mass produced (we build limited production vehicles), each Local Motors vehicle is engineered to be the most efficient per class. Local Motors is an opportunity to reduce our carbon footprint and reliance on foreign oil all without giving up exciting performance and design.

The first Local Motors cars will be built with your participation, both in choosing the winning design and in physically building the cars. Local Motors is offering the option of Factory Assist, which is geared to accommodate both beginners and technical veterans. Join Local Motors to design and build the most exciting ride of your life.

Local Motors is focused on community, sustainability, and unparalleled design. Go to www.local-motors.com to Design, Vote and Drive Next Generation Automotive.

All images and information courtesy Local Motors.