Audi, Apple and Arc'teryx designers reimagine the beach buggy

Certain projects are difficult to categorise and the Amble One is certainly that.

This open-air, all-terrain buggy was conceived as a replacement for the slow, uncomfortable and dorky electric caddies that can be found at resorts, plush hotels, golf courses and beach fronts. It is neither an exterior project nor an interior one, an off-roader or an on-roader. It is not directed at one particular user, or buyer, and while it has four wheels it could not feasibly be defined as a 'car'. It is not particularly quick, but is nippy enough for plenty of use cases. 

It is however a strong exercise in design restraint and comes from a team with experience from the likes of Apple, Audi, Lamborghini, NIO and more. Car Design News caught up with two of the brand's figureheads in Michael Tropper and Julian Hönig, who explained that the aim was to ultimately create something honest.

“That’s why it doesn’t look like a car,” says Hönig. And he knows a thing or two about car design having worked on the Audi R8 and Lamborghini Huracan among other things. “We didn't look sideways at what's happening in automotive design now, and more at things that have really endured, inspired and create this emotional connection.”

Meanwhile, Tropper’s varied experience across all manner of industrial, product and clothing design is a fitting complement. The founder of independent studio forpeople has worked with brands like Herman Miller and Arc’teryx among various others. All in, it was a happy combination of skill- and mind-sets.

“Julian and I have been working in automotive long enough to know the game,” says Tropper. “There is a race for features and for specifications [in the industry] so we made a very conscious decision to be a counterpoint and flip that script: you don't need to have the big screen, you don’t have to add things or make things bigger. It was an exercise in reduction and simplicity, and that opened new opportunities to pare things back. I guess that's where the industrial/product design approach comes in.”

With a top speed of 40mph the Amble One is still objectively slow by conventional automotive standards – hence ‘amble’. But in the intended context it will happily zip off the line, and is far more usable and better-equipped than the buggies it aims to replace. The One's minimalist yet rugged design also makes it desirable as an all-round daily driver, particularly in environments like the Portuguese coast where the vehicle was developed. Electric range is quoted as “more than 100km” per charge and is formally homologated for public roads. The tag line sums things up nicely: to the beach, to dinner, into town.

From side profile, the structure almost carries the form of a pergola or luxury four-post sun lounger, with a fabric canopy suspended by strong, almost architectural pillars that are rounded at each corner. The base is formed of a flat skateboard-like architecture which rises at each end to house chunky wheels at the very furthest corners – so much so that they protrude beyond the front and rear overhangs. A tray at the front serves as a conventional bonnet but more importantly as a cargo hold.

There is no boundary between interior and exterior design with this project. There are no doors – or bodysides full stop – and the pair of bench seats front and rear are on full display. As is the steering column which juts out from the base of the ‘IP’ like it might on an old American pick-up truck. “We were really thinking about usability and trying to find the essence of things versus the styling of an exterior or interior,” says Tropper. “Plus when you've got an open vehicle, you can't separate those two elements. It was a really joined up exercise and very natural way of working.”

The CMF treatment signals a theme of utility, with muted anthracite and flat metal paired with tan leather, brass, knurled aluminium and burnt orange accents for a modern twist. It would not look out of place on a Willy’s Jeep and feels like an intersection between techy and beachy. Indeed, much of the press material depicts the One at or near some form of sand dune.

“The main idea was to create something that ages beautifully,” says Tropper. “We are designing this for resorts, it might be near the sun, sea and sand, so all of that is quite hard on the materials. We looked at outdoor furniture and the yacht industry where materials are robust but sophisticated, and a lot of our suppliers do actually supply the yacht industry. Because we pared the design back so much, the materiality really is key.”

Cork, for example, was something the team always wanted to use. “We love cork, and it was a nod to some of our Portuguese origins," says Hönig. "Canvas, too. The original prototype has leather, but that has to be vegan leather in reality.”

The CMF theme reflects the vibe of the car well, which evokes timeless utilitarian designs like the Land Rover Series, Mini Moke and Meyers Manx all the way to the ’71 Lunar Rover. Hönig and Tropper throw out the original Fiat Panda and Cake electric bikes as other sources of inspiration. It would be unfair to describe the Amble One as a regurgitation of any of those classics — it stands as its own original design — but that intent for a purposeful yet aesthetic solution remains.

The tyres are a giveaway for the One’s capabilities – you’d struggle to lose traction during an oil spill on a frozen lake, we suspect – and the nose of the car appears to be a formidable skid plate (we presume to protect the battery in the same way it would usually protect the sump of an engine). The core structure looks rock solid, almost like a chassis upon a chassis.

“Choosing chunky tyres was a very conscious decision, especially for the prototype,” recalls Hönig. “We wanted to have something that emphasises that look; if you see it in the city, it should look as though it comes from the countryside, a similar principle to those early Land Rovers. The One can actually ascent a 25-degree angle at full load because a lot of the hotels that are in remote areas or in the countryside requested that. So it's not only looks like it can go off road, it genuinely has that capability.”

The product design influence is most evident when it comes to the switchgear and UX as a whole, not overtly ‘Apple’ but certainly Cupertino-adjacent. Hönig did indeed spend a significant portion of his career at Apple, working with Jony Ive’s team on the Watch. But he is keen to underline there is no command-C, command-V going on.

“Of course, there are a few things that we liked to do at Apple, such as those pill sections, and we did take a bit of inspiration from that, but it’s nothing literal,” says Hönig. “I certainly don’t see a lot of Apple in the final design,” adds Tropper. “That was not the benchmark for us. You cannot just slap on Apple on everything. You can use the mindset, for sure, but not the formal design language one-for-one.”

We are often told that lighting design is the next frontier of brand differentiation, but Amble keeps it simple with a pair of friendly circular headlamps and a Rivian-esque wraparound lightbar at the rear, one of the few design elements that appears to follow contemporary trends. It is cohesive with the rest of the design though and gives width to the rear, balancing a vehicle that could easily appear top heavy.

The idea for the Amble One was kicked around in 2020 but began with earnest in 2021. The design itself was signed off relatively quickly through the power of CAD – there was no clay model and only an interior buck to get a sense of scale – but the practicalities of building a business took a little longer. And as the name suggests, the Amble One will most likely be followed by the Amble Two and other variants beyond. Pre-orders are open with deliveries penned for 2028.