Rinspeed head Frank M. Rinderknecht poses with the iChange at the Geneva Auto Show. (Anja Niedringhaus / Associated Press)
GENEVA -- When Frank M. Rinderknecht was 18, he wanted nothing more than a car that nobody else had. So he fixed one up himself.
Splash, 2004. (Rinspeed)
Then, in 1975, he went to America and brought back a sunroof -- a novelty at the time in his native Switzerland. "My mother nearly fainted when she saw me cutting a hole into the top of my car, but my friends loved it and wanted one, too," Rinderknecht says.
Soon he gave up his college studies and made a full-time job out of souping up inexpensive but bland European brands by founding a car-customization company, Rinspeed.
Senso, 2005. (Rinspeed)
More than 30 years later, the firm is turning out outlandish concepts each year. In 2008 it was the sQuba, which can "swim" underwater. The year before saw the eXasis, cloaked in ultra-light but durable polycarbonate resin.
At the Geneva Auto Show this past March, Rinspeed showed off the shape-shifting iChange. The futuristic sports car adapts to the number of passengers on board, and many of its features -- including the ignition, sliding roof and onboard entertainment system -- can be controlled by an iPod.
eXasis, 2007. (Rinspeed)
Like previous models, the iChange doesn't come cheap. It cost Rinspeed about 1 million euros to build and promote. Rinderknecht regards the expense as a costly but effective way of advertising the company's design skills to major car companies.
"I've worked for them all, from Japan to Europe to America," Rinderknecht says, adding that Rinspeed's base in neutral Switzerland has helped it overcome the auto industry's widespread suspicion of other firms.
sQuba, 2008. (Rinspeed)
Last year, Rinspeed stopped souping up cars to concentrate on developing green technologies. Rinderknecht likes to point out that his 2001 offering -- a sports car running on biofuel made from kitchen and garden waste -- was eco-friendly before that became fashionable.
Like all other models, it's not for sale -- unlike the company. "If someone makes the right offer, I would sell," says Rinderknecht, 53. "But nobody has."
If someone were to buy Rinspeed, however, its owner says he would probably start a new one. "It's all about ideas," Rinderknecht says. "And I've got many."
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