Is This The Car Of The Future?

Mercedes SLK Aphelios

Nature has inspired man and his machines for centuries. Biomimicry was what inspired Leonardo da Vinci to develop an early version of the helicopter based upon bird flight.

However, designer Apostol Tnokovski's SLK Aphelios has taken inspiration for his Mercedes concept from a rather unlikely source.

The humble trout and its slender body shape were the basis for Tnokovski's car. From the side, you see the stubby, angled front, leading into a wider cockpit/main section before following through into a stretched tail with the rear lights forming a fin-like shape.

The only discernible feature on the car is the front grille with Mercedes' trademark single chrome strip suspending the three-spoke badge in mid-air.

Large vents in front of the rear wheels resembling gills provide airflow both along the SLK and through it. While the trout's body has been honed by nature to pass through water over millions of years, we're not sure how it would fare as a car cutting through thin air.

Still, the idea of borrowing from natural selection is a far better one than spending millions trying to discover ideal designs that already exist all around us.

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