The Rally Fighter is the first production race car to be designed and built through internet crowdsourcing. The muscly car turned heads as it drove through downtown Austin, flaunting a new, bright orange paint job and steer horns mounted to the grill.

John B Rogers, the President of Local Motors – the car company that actually built the Rally Fighter – said:

If Henry Ford had had Twitter and Internet access, he surely would have made his automobiles in a very different way.

Rogers spoke at the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas about the use of crowdsourcing as a tool to produce “the best possible automobile in the cheapest and most efficient way.”

The Rally Figher was produced in 18 months, and according to Local Motors is the world’s first crowdsourced vehicle.

A design for the vehicle by Sangho Kim from Pasadena, California was voted to the top by hundreds of people in the online community in 2009.

The car boasts a 6,2 litre engine, eight cylinders, automatic transmission, rear-wheel drive and an output of 460 horsepower.

Local Motors says it spent $3 million (R27 750 000), which according to the company is much less when compared to the development of commercial models by prominent automakers. Rogers said:

It costs $10 (R90) to design a five-point seat belt like the Rally Fighter’s, compared to the $6 million (R55 500 000) it takes to develop an airbag.

The Rally Fighter took six days to build, and has a final retail price of $99 900 (R924 000). A little pricey, but for a limited run, it could be worth it. Rogers said dozens of the vehicle had been sold, the goal being to sell at least 2 000, then start working on a new model.

[Source: CNN News]