Rinspeed shows off iChange

Frank M. Rinderknecht, 53, chief of the car company Rinspeed, poses next to his latest design model called iChange. Photo / AP

GENEVA - When Frank M. Rinderknecht was 18 he wanted nothing more than a car that nobody else had. So he fixed one up himself.

Then, in 1975, he went to America and brought back a sun roof - a novelty at the time in his native Switzerland.

"My mother nearly fainted when she saw me cutting a hole into the top of my car, but my friends loved it and wanted one too," Rinderknecht told The Associated Press.

Soon he gave up his college studies and made a full-time job out of souping up Volkswagens and other cheap but bland European brands by founding his own car customization company, Rinspeed.

Thirty-five years later, the firm is turning out one outlandish concept each year. In 2008 it was the sQuba, which could swim under water. The year before saw the eXasis, cloaked in ultra-light but durable polycarbonate resin.

At this year's Geneva Auto Show, Rinspeed is showing off the shape-shifting iChange. The futuristic sports car adapts to the number of passengers on board and many of its features can be controlled using an Apple iPod, including the sliding roof, the ignition and the onboard entertainment system.

Like previous models, the iChange doesn't come cheap. It cost Rinspeed about 1 million to build and promote. Rinderknecht regards the expense as a costly but effective way of advertising the company's design skills to major car companies.

"I've worked for them all, from Japan to Europe to America," Rinderknecht said, adding that Rinspeed's base in neutral Switzerland has helped it overcome the industry's widespread suspicion of other firms.

Last year Rinspeed stopped souping up cars to concentrate on developing new green technologies.

Rinderknecht likes to point out that his 2001 offering - a sports car running on biofuel made from kitchen and garden waste - was eco-friendly before that became fashionable.

Like all other models it's not for sale, unlike the company.

"If someone makes the right offer, I would sell. But nobody has," Rinderknecht said.

And if someone were to buy Rinspeed, its owner says he would probably start a new one.

"It's all about ideas, and I've got many," the 53-year-old said.

- AP