The ultimate car
By H. Kishie Singh

THE Axcess Australia is just that-- exciting and exotic. And the only one of the two cars in existence. It sat on show like a sculpture-- smooth, rounded, with flowing lines and windswept curves. An impish grin on the front end with slanting eyes and lower jaw hanging open to give a mean, hungry look. The car sits on four massive low profile tyres mounted on five spoke mag alloy wheels. The steeply raked windscreen goes all the way to the rear to become the rear windscreen, giving the car a bald look.

And the look is simply stunning. As is the car itself. It has been put together by 130 components manufacturers of Australia to demonstrate to the world that Australia is slated to be the world’s number one original equipment (O.E.) component supplier to auto-manufacturers in the world.

The car is not the result of a car manufacturer but the brainchild of 130 companies.

The car has voice-activated controls. It has a memory bank of about 40 words that controls cabin temperature and the music system. One has to give stop-start-go commands to start the engine and select the gears — to move off. You will have to steer the car yourself.

One gets into the door via the "passive entry system". No keys are used — It’s all voice activated. And there are no ‘B’ pillars. The doors open away from each other allowing unhindered access to the four luxurious seats. The front seats have small TV screens. You could watch a movie or the children could play games.

The engine is from Orbital. It is a uniquely Australian company making uniquely Australian engines. They specialise in 2-stroke technology. So the Axcess has a 2-stroke, 6-cylinder, super charged 2000 cc engine.

The engine puts out 180 b.h.p. of power i.e. 120 kilo watts. It’s eco-friendly and meets California emission norms, the toughest in the world.

The car took one year to design and one year to build. Far better than any manufacturer could do. It has been on the road for the last one year. It has generated great interest from every major car manufacturer from Japan to Europe to America.

The instrument cluster is so slim that it fits into the steering wheel. Lights come on automatically as daylight fades. The climate control system would automatically adjust from A/C to heater.

There is an on-board satellite navigation system to make sure you never get lost.

As you come to a halt, the car engages ‘P’ (for park) in the gear selection console. This is an order to the computer to put on the hand break, switch off the lights. The car turns itself in for the night!

The 4-speed automatic transmission is computer-controlled and voice activated. Four disc brakes stop the car.

But sadly this car won’t be going anywhere. It’s a one-time affair to show the world what bits and pieces can do if they are properly put together.

In its one year of existence, the car has barely 500 km on the odometer, that too being pushed in and out of containers!

The whole exercise cost the strategic Industry Research Foundation and the Federation of Automotive Products of Australia (FAPM) over two years in time and about 20 million Australian dollars.