TOTW: Maserati Birdcage 75th

This weeks TOTW highlights an advance in the slickness and speed of automobiles and HUDs(Heads-Up Displays) in vehicles other than jets.

Maserati’s Birdcage 75th was unveiled as a concept car at the 2005 Geneva Auto Show. Just like the Silver Lightning concept car from Mercedes Benz, it was named after an old line of Maserati cars also called Birdcages. They added the 75th because it was the 75th anniversary of Pininfarina, the team who designed it.

Other than being really thin, the Birdcage 75th doesn’t look that much different than nowadays race cars. But look at it carefully. Anything missing? Yep, IT HAS NO DOORS. To get in and out of the car, the front and back of the roof can open up, as pictured below.

Also, the Birdcage has a high-tech HUD system, mounted where a dashboard would otherwise be.  Unfamiliar with HUDs?  In movies, when the jet fighter pilot has a screen display that tracks the other planes and helps him target them – well that’s a HUD.

Fortunately, the HUD in the car will not shoot at enemies, but will more or less be just like a regular dashboard with a clock, tachometer and speedometer. Besides the HUD, the interior appears similar to today’s sports cars. The steering wheel does also have a screen, to show gas levels, mileage and mph.

Sadly, this car is just a concept, and not even a concept ultimately destined for the market. Maserati simply designed it as a birthday present to themselves for the original team’s 75th anniversary. Still, it shows that integrating things mostly found other places would be a good idea for making the next high-tech supercar.