From the ashes of the BMW Streetcarver

BMW chassis engineer Rudi Mueller and product designer Stephan Augustin were the two minds behind the original, short-lived BMW Streetcarver, an interesting but impractical idea that was too heavy and too expensive, and ultimately limited to only being useful in mild downhill situations. Stephan is not letting the dream die. He’s come up with another set of alternative trucks that might make you think of Stoker’s if you squint your eyes and look at them over your shoulder. Curfboard trucks are actually a little hypnotizing to watch in action. They look really smooth. I would love to try some out for fun, but even a quick peek will tell you these trucks are once again limited in use. Any sort of truck grind (even off the edge of a sidewalk!) is potentially going to destroy these things quickly. Two crucial, structural elements hang dangerously below the hanger of the truck. Also, it’s unclear how these would handle with any sort of speed. There is no kingpin and thus no bushings, but does not appear to be any resistance or adjustments of any kind possible. You’re stuck with “as is” performance that lends itself well to generating motion through carving, but maybe not so much stability with speed. There’s interesting tidbits of Streetcarver history on the Kickstarter page. If you want to get these at a reasonable price, pledge now, or you’ll suffer sticker shock as the “retail” value comes in at $100 more expensive than the original BMW Streetcarver did at $500. That’s right, completes are expected to sell at an absurd $600. You can still get them at amore reasonable early bird pledge price of $168 for now. There is no option to buy the trucks separately.