Imagine growing up a gearhead in a country where gasoline is taxed prohibitively, cars are taxed up to $70,000 on the displacement of their engines and speeding is strictly punished with license suspension.
Then, imagine watching Vin Diesel play badass street racer Dominic Toretto in The Fast and the Furious .
That’s what happened to designer Imran Othman. A mild-mannered design engineer in Singapore by day, Othman used his CGI skills to create a concept car with all the torque and efficiency of a hybrid engine that runs on diesel, and all the tough-guy swagger of Vin Diesel.
When we first saw the Diesel concept at AutoMotto, we had to find out more. We got in touch with Othman, who told us the design was inspired by street racing. “The car design will have Vin Diesel’s fast and furious presence with him,” Othman told Autopia. “Who’s a better ambassador than him being the inspiration behind the diesel hybrid design?”
There’s that shared name thing, too. While Vin Diesel was born Mark Sinclair Vincent, he chose his fuel-oriented last name after friends joked that his energy level was so high, he must run on diesel.
Turns out, even Vin Diesel’s Toretto wouldn’t be able to escape the cops in the strict city-state of Singapore. “We don’t really have a freedom to really cultivate a racing culture in Singapore,” Othman told Autopia. “As you probably know, laws in Singapore are very tight and you can’t get away easily in Singapore. There’s cameras everywhere.”
According to Othman, most Singaporeans satisfy their need for speed on the roads of nearby Malaysia. They better get to the border with a full tank of fuel purchased in Singapore, though, as border guards keep Singapore residents from crossing over to Malaysia with fewer than 3/4 of a tank — lest they evade the steep gas tax.
Since the Diesel concept is unlikely to ever be put into production, we can only speculate on what kind of engine would lie under the hood. If xXx is any indication, we imagine that muscular, bald pistons will beat the living daylights out of any anarchist fuel vapor that dares to enter the combustion chamber.
The characteristic diesel clatter will, of course, be replaced by a growling baritone with a New York accent.
Images: Imran Othman
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