Kit car lovers eat your heart out. What you see before you is not Photoshop or some trickery, it’s indeed a working cardboard Lexus IS and it’s pretty damn cool, unless it’s raining of course. Since the invention of the automobile people have been making cars out of different materials, and opting for the unique over the traditional sheet metal.
So it’s no wonder why this full scale Lexus is so remarkably cool to look at, because it’s actually a functioning automobile! Lexus takes the sheet metal, glass and plastics out of the equation and instead replaced it with laser cut cardboard for exacting fitment.
Coined the origami Lexus IS this crazy ride definitely speaks to the quality and craftsmanship muscle that Lexus has been proud to flex recently. Building on their Creating Amazing global brand, this latest invention is as remarkable as the Lexus hover board.
This one of a kind Lexus boasts fully operational doors and what’s even better, you can drive it! Fully equipped with an operational interior, headlights as well as a full drive train powered by an electric motor, it’s a remarkable feat in engineering.
It’s cardboard panels were made to exacting measurements by UK-based specialist LaserCut Works and Scales and Models. Comprised of 10mm slices of cardboard to give the Lexus depth and to fill out the fantastically unique exterior, there’s over 1,700 sheets to this build. Glued together with water based adhesive, each junction needed 10 minutes before the next step could be taken.
This kind of meticulous build can be demanding on the build team, a fact not lost on Scales & Models and LaserCut Works, the two companies tasked by Lexus UK. Inspired by the Japanese art of origami, this cardboard Lexus IS took 3 months from start to finish.
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