Skip to Content

New York 2009: Counter Balance - the batmobile of yellow, expandable trucks


Counter Balance – Click above for high-res image gallery

Sometimes the words fail me. Here in the press room at the New York Auto Show, though, people had all sorts of things to say about the Counter Balance, um, truck ... thing ... concept ... vehicle. The best of the bunch: "that's what happens when the Carbon Motors police car had a night of illicit sex with the Batmobile." However you want to describe it, the Counter Balance demands your attention. So, now that we're all looking, what is this thing, exactly?

The designer, who runs Barkan Designs, says the Counter Balance is a compact pickup truck (seriously). Where most designers would put a pickup's engine (i.e., in front), the Counter Balance has empty space and there is an 5-ft. bed in back (expandable to 7 feet). The engine sits low in the middle of the vehicle, which necessitates that the second row of seats be bumped up a level and adds that second hump of a window. If you want to believe all you read, then the Counter Balance is also "light, efficient and environmentally friendly," mostly because you could theoretically burn biofuels or CNG to move down the road and because, the designer says, the vehicle "keeps its dimensions as compact as possible." Yeah, becasue no one could imagine a truck that's smaller than a Counter Balance truck.


[Source: Barkan Design]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Add your comments

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.



Featured Galleries

  • 1 Liter Racing League
  • Suzuki Alto in Global Green Challenge
  • Proterra Electric Bus
  • Local Motors Rally Fighter
  • 1916 Woods Dual Power Model 44 Coupe
  • Audi Avatar
  • Global Green Challenge Tesla Roadster goes 313 miles
  • Meyers Motors NMG
  • Cozmo NEV
  • Tokyo 2009: Suzuki Swift PHEV
  • Tokyo 2009: Suzuki SX4-FCV
  • Honda mobility devices

Categories


Autoblog

Daily Finance

Download Squad

Engadget

Joystiq

Autoblog Spanish

Switched.com

FanHouse

Asylum