The XVW, a functional, yellow sports car built from the ground up by BYU design students, was unveiled recently to representatives from General Motors and Ford.
Resembling a convertible Corvette and featuring a Volkswagen engine, the car was designed and constructed by three groups of seniors for more than two years.
Advised by industrial design professor John F. Marshall, ’66, 16 students built the one-of-a-kind automobile as part of a senior design class.
The project exposed student designers to the varied phases of automobile development.
Graduating seniors now know how to better design a vehicle because of the perspective they’ve gained from the project.
The project also fosters relationships with BYU and the auto industry, which is interested in hiring only the best and brightest talent.
The car incorporates design elements seen in motorcycles—there are no door handles and the windshield is made of polycarbonate plastic.
This year’s group of industrial design students consisted of C. Cameron Bigler, ’05, Ryan S. Dart, ’04, Trent I. Fulkerson, ’04, David J. Haskell, ’04, James D. MacNair, ’04, Matthew S. Pectol, ’04, Brian M. Sanderson, ’04, Todd C. Taylor, ’04, and Jason W. Tippetts, ’04.