When Honda dropped images of its Project 2&4 Concept just under a year and a half ago, we were all stunned and it seems that we weren’t the only ones, as the Project managed to claim the win of an internal design competition.
At the time it was assumed that the Project 2&4 was nothing but a design project but a recent patent filing by Honda could suggest the brand’s plan on building this machine, with a few slight adjustments.
The lightweight car-motorcycle hybrid would make use of a die-cast aliminium beam for the chassis to give it the rigid feel of a car while power would be derived from a 158 kW 1,0-litre V4 MotoGP engine through a six-speed dual clutch.
At 405 kg this car is very light, but if you still feel you need to remove a little more weight to improve the 95 kW/ton power to mass ratio you can throw out the passenger seat and replace it with a cowl panel for better aerodynamics.
Where safety is concerned, Honda would explore two options; airbags before and after each seat or telescoping rods which would deploy once a roll-over is detected.
Just because Honda filed this patent, it doesn’t mean that it will produce the Project 2&4 as it could just be a defence to prevent other manufacturers from creating something similar. In an interview with Top Gear UK when the project was first revealed, however lead designer Martin Petersen said that there will be a next step for this concept.
