Canadian design students turn old tech into racecars

By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos

Talking about how recyclable new vehicles are becoming - and how little waste actually hits landfills during their construction -is a hot topic among major car companies. However, an exercise recently done by students at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) University in Halifax takes that line of thinking in a whole different direction.

Students were tasked with transforming old and tired pieces of technology and giving them a new purpose: to be racecars.

Well, drag racers, really, but racing nonetheless.

Teams were given an old Walkman (a portable cassette tape player) as the must-include piece and let them brainstorm and build their little speed machines. “The idea is to take this old technology based on spinning gears and repurpose it,” explains Professor Glen Hougan, who teaches the second-year Design Studio class.

Just looking at the pictures, you can tell that there are some seriously creative students at work here. Apparently, the teams weren't only judged on which one crossed the finish line first, but also on how 'finished' the design.

The idea for Walkman races apparently originated in Germany about 10 years ago, but this is the first we've heard of it in Canada.

What other old pieces of antiquated technology do you think would make for an interesting transportation design project? I like the idea of turning old fans into helicopters...