Is this the car of the future

Is this the car of the future? BMW builds roadster made from cloth

A car covered with cloth is something you would associate with the Flintstones, not the cutting edge of 21st century automotive design.

But BMW's latest concept car is exactly that - and it can change shape at the touch of a button.

The Gina - which at first glance looks like any other flashy sports car - is encased in fabric instead of metal panels.

Stretch limo: BMW's latest concept car has a cloth skin instead of metal

Open the door and the slinky fabric creases and wrinkles like skin.

Turn on the headlights and the covers peel up like giant eyelids - designed to make the sporty roadster more aerodynamic.

And its seamless skin - a single piece of durable fabric - can be morphed at the flick of a switch to suit its owner's mood, offering an aggressive or classic look.

BMW's Christopher Bangle said: 'This revolutionary solution opens up new design and production potential.

'The outer skin can move and do things a metal skin couldn't do.'

The German car maker's pioneering vehicle is based on the chassis of a BMW Z8.

Open sesame: The car doors wrinkle and the bonnet opens like a doctors' bag

Its skin is made of a silver expansion-resistant textile which stretches across movable metal wires controlled by hydraulics. The Gina (Geometry and Functions In Adaptions) has no bonnet, roof or boot.

Instead, a single sheet of cloth is layered over its frame, cocooning the driver in the ultra-modern cabin.

Movable parts are controlled by hydraulics operated from a driver's console

'The high-precision fit of the material to the metal mesh also allows surface changes without slackening the tension,' a spokesman said.

'It has a major impact on the interaction between driver and car and enhances it by offering a variety of entirely new options.'

Shut eye: Fabric 'eyelid covers the headlights

There is no need to lift the bonnet to get a look at the engine of this flexible motor - it opens from the centre like Hulk Hogan tearing off his T-shirt.

Opening and closing is similar to the mechanism on a doctor’s traditional medical bag, where clip-lock fasteners are held together in the middle by a rail.

Eye see: The piercing beam of the lamp is revealed