Life-sized cardboard Lexus hits the road (slowly)

(Courtesy of Lexus)


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BIRMINGHAM, England — Lexus' new origami-inspired car puts all those homemade cardboard vehicles from your childhood to shame.

For the Grand Designs Live show in Birmingham, England, the luxury car company commissioned two teams in London to turn stacks of cardboard into a replica of the Lexus IS. The impressive, full-sized copy includes details like cup holders and air vents in addition to bigger features like wheels and seats. It even drives.

"This was a very demanding job, with five people involved in the digital design, modelling, laser cutting and assembly," project member Ruben Marcos, founder of Scales and Models, said in a Lexus blog post.

Courtesy of Lexus
Courtesy of Lexus

While Lexus said the replica was inspired by origami, there was a good amount of water-based wood glue involved to hold the 1,700 laser-cut pieces of cardboard together. Designers used a digital 3D model of the real Lexus IS to render the car into 10mm slices for assembly.

The body of the vehicle sits on a steel and aluminum frame fitted with an electric motor. It can't travel too fast — and it probably wouldn't be a good idea to take the cardboard car out in the rain — but it makes for an amazing toy.

If seeing the cardboard car puts you in the mood to create something out of paper, Lexus also shared a video that explains how to make an origami cat using only your non-dominant hand. The cat can be seen inside the car in photos.

Courtesy of Lexus
Courtesy of Lexus

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Natalie Crofts

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