New York 2009: Counter Balance - the batmobile of yellow, expandable trucks
by Sebastian Blanco on Apr 8th 2009 at 6:20PM 
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.
Gallery: New York 2009: Counter Balance
[Source: Barkan Design]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jharlan 6:42PM (4/08/2009)
It's the definition of BUTT UGLY!!
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Luke 6:51PM (4/08/2009)
Looks more like a vehicle from a Hanna-Barbera cartoon.
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Max 6:54PM (4/08/2009)
HAHAH the giant banana-goofmobile.
This's got to be the cherry on the cake of automobile insanity.
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Chris M 7:20PM (4/08/2009)
If it wasn't for the headlights, I wouldn't be able to tell which was the front end!
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Tohe 8:46PM (4/08/2009)
Wow it even has its own website, who would have thought? lol
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Sam W 11:58PM (4/08/2009)
i think we have a winner:
Best in show... for ugly
What the heck...
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mike 11:59PM (4/08/2009)
Well wait a minute.
Given that every pickup made in the last 2 to 5 decades is essentially the same vehicle, maybe we could start by analyzing whether or not this crazy design has any actual benefits.
Mid engine can be a problem with engine cooling...
What is up front? Is it covered storage (a trunk) where I could put stuff like a normal car?
It looks tall but not actually big int he pics.
Does the back end hold 4x8 sheet goods? (an insanely surprising number of 'normal' trucks cannot accomplish this task... which should be a fundamental design consideration in my book).
I just don't get why everybody is jumping on it (including the article author) because it looks funny.
How gives a crap if it looks funny....
Does the design have functional merit!?
It is a truck after all.
- Mike
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KK 1:07AM (4/09/2009)
It's not very new from a functional standpoint. It's basically a cab-over truck with a trunk added to the front end. Dual cab cab-over trucks are common in some countries ([url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Yamato-Dutoro.jpg"]example[/url]).
> It looks tall but not actually big int he pics.
Did you look at the first image at full size? The top of the truck bed is as tall as the guy standing behind it. Looks like it's almost as big as the Honda Ridgeline, if not bigger. I don't know in what bizarre reality this would be considered a "compact" anything.
> Does the back end hold 4x8 sheet goods?
It says there's a "5-ft. bed in back (expandable to 7 feet)" so I'd guess not.
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Max 2:16AM (4/09/2009)
A 7' long bed can hold 4x8 sheet material easily, its just that it has to hang over the tailgate by a half foot or so. No big deal at all. I hauled sheets in a 6' long bed.
mike 9:46AM (4/09/2009)
Cab over is new to the pick up market here in the states though, or would be.
Forward control was a great implementation as far as maximizing usable space but I don't see any modern versions, I suspect due to crash safety issues.
As somebody else mentioned, 4x8 sheet goods can go in shorter beds and hang over a bit. The question is can I easily load them flat so I'm not snapping my 3 sheets of drywall in half on the way home (or destroying the two on the bottom pile of 20 sheets).
The high sides I'd be willing to put up with if it did something.
For instance, can I haul as big a load of mulch in my short box, high side truck as somebody else in their typical box height 8 ft bed?
There is no doubt this thing has lots of issues.
I'm am just saying it is nice to see somebody considering a new design direction for trucks and possibly from an actual standpoint of what might function well rather than trying to attract me with bigger wheels or a new shape to the chrome exhaust tip.
I'd be fine with a high cab-over design. I'd be fine if the bed went right underneath it.
...something which is easily possible with modern drive-by-wire.
-mike
matt 9:10AM (4/09/2009)
Is this company for real? The concept sketches look like a 5 year olds, and the design is very un-appealing- it looks like an ocean of steel, which couldn not be good for weight. There are so many things wrong with the design that I dont even want to go into it at the risk of being to harsh.
The thing itself isnt that big judging by the design page of Barkans website, where it is parked next to a VW Van- but it is just so ridiculously high.
And, judging by the photoshopped crash image on the safety page of the website, they are clearly not even close, or that serious about real production. While I can understand, and appreciate small companies like Barkan, they would have much more impact if they seriously sat down and found a need for such a vehicle in our world today, and then create a full finished concept with very specific details, a lot more hard data/testing and a more current design language.
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NeilBlanchard 10:17PM (4/09/2009)
Fat the whuck? Why? Who? When? Never.
Sincerely, Neil
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