Audi R8 and Apple Watch designer reveals new off-road microcar
A Portuguese start-up is aiming to reinvent the microcar class with a tiny, sub-450kg off-roader designed by the man behind the Audi R8 and Apple Watch.
Amble’s debut model, the One, is a quadricycle homologated to the same L7e standard as the Isetta-inspired Microlino and the old Renault Twizy. But, unlike most microcars, it has been conceived as an off-roader for use across a wide range of climates and applications.
The One was designed by Julian Hoenig who, in a previous job at Audi, styled the RSQ concept featured in 2004 film I, Robot, as well as the Mk1 Audi R8, Mk4 Audi A4 and Mk1 Audi Q3. He later moved to Apple, where he led the design of the firm’s eponymous smartwatch.
The project began four years ago when Hoenig was contacted by a friend in the hotel industry in search of a golf buggy that was suitable for ferrying guests around luxury resorts.
Nothing fit the bill, Hoenig told Autocar, so he set to work on his own design and soon realised that there could be greater demand for such a vehicle if it could also be made road-legal. “At this point we said ‘this is a real project’,” and Amble was founded as a result.
The One’s look is inspired by Nasa’s lunar rover from the 1960s, although Hoenig also cites the Series I Land Rover and his own 1972 Ford Bronco as inspirations.
“It was clear we needed a good stance and proportion so it sits well on the street,” he said, “but we didn’t want to overstyle it we didn’t want to have something that tries too hard.”
The open sides are a product of the One’s origins as a golf cart. “You can hop in and out, you can go for two minutes into a shop and get a drink, then go to the next one,” said Hoenig, adding that the One is also intended to bring “more connection to nature”.
It will be offered with “full” weather protection, including a canvas roof, so it can be used at European ski resorts, for example.
Amble co-founder Adrien Roose suggested that work has already begun on the company’s next model, which will be “slightly more weather-protected” and “more convenient for northern European weather”-suggesting that it could have a more traditional body.
However, Roose is a keen proponent of an al-fresco driving experience. “I think removing the bubble [provided by a car] and having humans in the open next to each other will make friendlier ecosystems and communities,” he said.
Although L7e regulations allow for a top speed of 56mph, the Amble will be limited to 40mph.
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