Gordon Murray, the designer of F1 and Mercedes SLR Gullwing fame, creates the iStream manufacturing process, rethinking the traditional auto manufacturing process.

The man behind one of the world's fastest production cars, the McLaren F1 (capable of 240 mph), has redesigned the manufacturing process for cars, calling it the iStream process. He suggests that his new process could be "the biggest revolution in high-volume manufacture" since Ford’s Model T from a hundred years ago.

The iStream process is based on the concept of using a separate chassis frame and a composite body (in the case of the company's T.25, made from 720 upcycled plastic bottles), which eliminates the need for pressed steel panels, cutting the tooling costs and simplifying the carbuilding process. Different models can be built onto the same chassis, allowing cars, trucks, or vans to go down the same assembly line, saving money, factory space, and energy.

According to Murray, instead of physical re-tooling for model changes, 80% of the tooling for the iStream process is in writing the software to manipulate the machines which build the cars. He's quoted in InsideLine as saying "You don't need to be a carmaker to build the T.25 or use the iStream process because it's so disruptive," - it helps to lower the bar to new entries in auto making, because it's such a different process than the current one.

The T.25 is the company's city car entry, which is claimed could be sold for as little as $10,000. It weighs only 1,200 pounds, powered by a three-cylinder, 660 cc motor which has a potential fuel efficiency range of 80 miles per gallon. The chassis is built from steel tubing and it has a recycled plastic body, resulting in a light and easily maneuverable vehicle for city driving.

In addition, the size of the T.25 is perfect for the urban environment - it's only 4.27 feet wide, so two of them fit side-by-side in a garage, or three at a time in one parallel parking space by parking nose to the curb. Two of these will also fit into one standard traffic lane, which could radically change how our urban streets are now used.

With a top speed of 100 mph, and tailpipe emissions low enough to be eligible for tax breaks, the T.25 seems like it fits the bill for a cheap, efficient vehicle that makes sense for the people who can't afford the Prius or an electric or other hybrid car. So what's the hitch? Nobody is making them yet, and Murray doesn't plan to make them himself. But according to SpeedNews, "the first licensing deal should be signed in six to nine months."

Here's hoping we soon start to see some of these innovative little cars parked three to a space in a neighborhood near you!