DOME-ZERO Concept '78

[xo03]

Am I the only one that thinks this is a space ship with wheels? what the heck is this thing modeled after? XD

 

[TeamOrecaViper]

The Dome Zero was a prototype sportscar from DOME Co. Ltd that was exhibited at the 48th Geneva Auto Show. The 'Dome Project', started by Minoru Hayashi in 1975, had the goal of producing small volume sports cars using knowledge gained from his racing exploits. The Dome Zero was the first of such low volume sportscars, and after failed attempts at getting Japanese domestic homologation their efforts were concentrated on overseas homologation. The project would never be completed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dome_Zero

Chicago Auto Show - 1979

 

[SkierPS3]

Good thing it never went into production, the thing is hideous

 

[xo03]

Good thing it never went into production, the thing is hideous

hahaha yes it is. and what's the deal with the headlights?! the car looks pretty aerodynamic until the headlights come up..... see the picture in my first post.. 👎

 

[Sohvakettu]

70's beauty

 

[Matteo05]

I think it's very nice! (With the headlights off )

 

[SmileyOr1]

I remember reading about it in, IIRC, Car and Driver back in the late 70's. I may even have the magazine in a box somewhere

 

[[InsertGr8Name]]

I've never seen the headlights before. Looks like one of those crabs with the stalk eyes.......
I like it. It's like someone put wheels on a triangle. Good for being unique

 

[gtnoobie]

I thought lambo countach shows some similarity. Numerous supercars of past era seems to have sharp nose.

 

[Rit]

I think the inspiration came from a log splitter!...lol...It's great fun to run the Historic supercar event on Nurburgring with it though...And yes,the headlights look hideous...Can you keep them down?

 

[Dr MacLean]

The front end reminds me of a Lancia Stratos.

 

[seanneedscar]

I thought lambo countach shows some similarity. Numerous supercars of past era seems to have sharp nose.

Yep, like the Bricklin sv1

The 1970's were all about a giant wedge of cheese rolling down the road

 

[toymdngn]

IIRC, the headlights had to be so high up because of minimum headlight height requirement laws.

 

[Nicholas9889]

You should read the in-game description for the car. It's quite informative.

 

[dr3w]

and it actually drives pretty nice, I quite like it

 

[88FoxBodyFan]

It looks a lot like this:

A 1972 Maserati Boomerang.

 

[Vol Jbolaz]

I think the Dome Zero borrowed more from the Stratos Zero. The designer of the Boomerang did go on to help on the DMC-12.

 

[88FoxBodyFan]

I think the Dome Zero borrowed more from the Stratos Zero. The designer of the Boomerang did go on to help on the DMC-12.

I had never heard of a Stratos Zero before. Just went and looked at it:

Looks like their is two different versions. Notice the side window?

 

[squirlybmx]

I had never heard of a Stratos Zero before. Just went and looked at it:

It looks... backwards?

 

[88FoxBodyFan]

It looks like the only way to get in the Stratos Zero is through the front window.

 

[oppositelock]

I think it looks cool as hell. It also drives great and has an unusually high top speed for what little power it has. One of my favorite standards, I just wish I could paint it.

 

[Zenmervolt]

IIRC, the headlights had to be so high up because of minimum headlight height requirement laws.

You're correct. This was a larger part of the reasoning behind retractable headlights on a lot of low-slung cars, especially back in the 1970s and early 1980s when the US still mandated sealed-beam headlights which were quite chunky and difficult to fit into a low-slung front end.

You don't see them as much anymore because of pedestrian safety regulations (low, pointed front ends are bad, as are protruding headlight fixtures when the lights are on) and because now that replaceable-bulb headlights are allowed there's freedom to design aerodynamic fixtures instead of being stuck with the old sealed-beam bricks.

 

[Dgan]

I think the car was modeled after jar-jar binks. Look at it from the front with the headlights up.

 

[[InsertGr8Name]]

I think the car was modeled after jar-jar binks. Look at it from the front with the headlights up.

Lol, so true. Someone should make a troll-car version and call it the Jar-Jar Have a room intro that says "THE JAR-JAR COMETH!!!" and try and ramp people off the car.

I know what I'm doing next weekend

 

[kennylmao]

It looks like the only way to get in the Stratos Zero is through the front window.

Or the front windshield.

 

[88FoxBodyFan]

Or the front windshield.

Isn't front windshield redundant?

I don't know. What's a word for "front hatchback", hatchfront, maybe?

 

[snowgt]

In performance terms, the Dome Zero is VERY fast in GT5 in relation to its PPs (in stock condition). Especially in a straight line, it leaves everything comparable miles behind. It's also quite fast around corners, but tricky to drive, mainly because it's an MR-layout.

 

[aadil717]

I really think that Gandini's Stratos Zero must of been a base or inspiration to the Dome, as they do look similar is some features. Also 'Zero' appears in both names, so that can show a relation too, but Bertone's car was a Concept while Dome's was an actual running usable model, that's the difference.

 

[xo03]

IIRC, the headlights had to be so high up because of minimum headlight height requirement laws.

oh wow lol I never knew that

 

[AlphaAndius]

Actually, I had always imagined this car had a feel from this;

I can't help but feel this car is gonna transform into a Gundam at any moment. The vectory angles are very akin to the 1979 original Gundam. ^^