One of our good friends, Rory Craig, who is a student at the Art Center College of Design, has designed a sweet carbon fiber baby car seat prototype. He developed the prototype as a Sparco product (and is trying to pitch the concept to them), with the idea of a race-inspired child seat for those car enthusiast fathers that want to get their kid a really unique baby seat.
The entire body is carbon fiber that was done with a wet layup over a cnc’d foam core. The seat is not only extremely lightweight strong, but suits the needs of all three stages a child goes through when using a carseat. The first is a rear facing infant seat, the second and upright forward facing toddler seat, and third a youth booster seat. This carseat achieves this by having a central pivot that is not only adjustable but also removable to allow for these three different configurations. By combining all these stages it allows the buyer to not have to purchase three different carseats throughout the childs carseat years. Note that this design is purely conceptual and does not fully function.
All straps are Sparco race harnesses and all plastic insert and parts were made using rapid prototyping machines. Interior is fully padded and snaps out of carbon shell for washing. The many holes down the back of the seat allow for harness adjustment as the child grows.
The project was done for a fourth term product design class where the assignment was to design a softgood product (Rory based this on the interior). Here’s some info from Rory regarding the development and cost:
The class is 14 weeks long, however when we walk into the class we have no idea what we are going to design, I actually didn’t know i was going to design a carseat until about the 5th week of class. I did lots of ideation and computer models for the next 2-3 weeks and then came up with a final design. Once I had completed the design on the computer I sent out the files to be cnc’d, by a local company. It cost $2300 just for the machining. I then met someone at cerritos college in LA to help me do a wet layup over the foam parts. Him and I worked solid for the next 2-3 weeks, fiber glassing first then bondo, sanding making sure the surface was smooth. Then we applied the carbon, which was donated to me by cerritos college. We finished the carbon with a acrylic urethane. I have never done more sanding in my life. I had concepts for the interior and took it to a local car interiors place, called henkel’s upholstery in pasadena. The grand total of the seat was around $4K, alot more than i wanted to spend, but the resulting presentation piece was well worth it.
Rory branded the prioduct as a Sparco Wingman seat, he even created a poster to help the overall package:
I was in Monte Carlo a few months back and caught this mom in her Ferrari F430 with the baby in the passenger seat…what a perfect product this would have been!
Awesome! Go, go, go!!! I want one with wheels and a solar panel.
I’ll take two right now!!
I would also incorporate mounting brackets in the rear so that if Dad has a car with no rear seat and only a roll bar. The seat could, say with the addition of an additional bar; be mounted directly to it.
The restraint would also need to be a 5 point solution. I would use a center “cam-lock” solution.
My 4 year old noticed the picture and is already asking me if this is going to be his new seat.
I want one yesterday
…..my 3yr old daughter already rides in my 911 to daycare but this would be goldplating the experience. I hope it comes in production 
Interesting concept, but definitely needs some work. The seat is very narrow, and age three is far too young to be using a backless booster.
Excellent! There’s definitely a market for these after a bit of refinement.
Klyve
Interesting presentation. Get in touch with us to talk about some ideas that might lead to a usable product. By the way, the photo from Monte Carlo showed an infant forward facing—at high risk of death or permanent disability if that vehicle were in a crash.
Perfect! I will buy it for shure!
Rory, you make a best seller.
Decided to leave a comment. I think the seat looks interesting. I think that specially men and boys might prefer this seat because of its´ looks.
However, child restraint systems (CRS) are safety devices. Cool design is good. Safety is a totally different and extreemly important issue.
This seat converts to a backless booster. Backless boosters are legal. But this does not mean they are good. Highback booster seats offer superior protection.
Also, you should read up on what ANEC has to say about child car restraint systems in Europe – especially the age group 0-4 years.
Many parents in Scandinavia keep their children rearfacing until they are at least 4 years old. Rearfacing longer than 1 year is strongly recommended. So this could be worth looking into as well.
yea i was wondering how much this baby seat is i am interested in it im a import driver i have a 94 honda civic with a gsr swap i am a father to be so im interested in this seat for my new born so if u please send me a price range to my email ill be more than happy to reply to ur msg ok thanks
hola me gustaria seber cuanto cuesta?
hey i want one asap , i have a baby on the way and i would love to have one so please let me know asap when they coming out with it so i can buy one ..
how can i get one???
Awsome concept man ! Cant wait to see it on the market . As much as my wife complains about my auto shoping she did O.K. this purchace when it hits the market ! Great work man
im ready to buy one of these also
Great design! The shoulder belt need to be redon as in that position during an impact they can cause a major spinal injury. The should belts need to come off the shoulers at no more than a 10-15 degree angle up or down. Best of luck with the seat…
how can i buy one???
It is not safe to place a car seat in the front of a vehicle.
Obviously this is impossible to do in a Ferarri like the one pictured above. Clearly… they need a different vehicle if they’re driving their child to daycare.
I agree. Also being a convertible isn’t safe as well as all that air blowing into the baby’s ears and face. Not really smart but what do I know? I’m poor.
LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT….. Please get it made i work for honda and used to be a mechanic for renault and nissan too love my cars and anyting i put my little boy into that is a baby bucket seat would be ace please get them produced quick i want one and would pay whatever i have to to get my boy into one!!!!
Amazing! x x
Awesome seat and great design. Only if the student had a child and there would be many other functions to really sell this thing. It is really on the right track for future seats. As long it passes all the safety guidelines then it would be good as gold. Sign my child up.
A must have for Father son car enthusiasts .Current the Simpson/Graco is available and some Recaro-But nothing as cool as this.
you’ve got my e-mail address message me back when ever this product goes for sale will definitley buy one thank’s.
my girlfriend and i are performace vehicle enthusiasts…range rover supercharged sport, lamborghini gallardo, bmw m-5 and 1965 shelby caobra. secondary to safety, i am very interested in the weight of the car seat with my daughter (izzie) in it. when izzie is in the car seat, it currently weights 26 pounds. this is a lot of weight for a 5′1″, 104 pound woman to be hoisting in and out of a car. i think the car seat weights 14 pounds empty. i would be very interested in the “to market” design of this seat. i look forward to seeing it happen…hopefully!
When this comes into market please hit me up so I can buy one!!!
on my email address! please and thank you (=
how much are these? i want one for my daughter!!!