Nature manages to create spectacular things in graceful ways, so why not draw on nature to create the things we use every day? Mercedes Benz submitted this rather off-the-wall design to the Los Angeles Design Challenge 2010, proposing that future generations of cars could actually be grown – rather like plants – in laboratories. The Mercedes Benz BIOME concept car is fantastical, impossible and more than a little weird – but it sure does look cool.

The idea is that the car’s DNA would be contained in the star logos at the front and rear of the cars. Specific preferences (interior color, body shape, etc.) The parts would spring forth from these stars, growing and developing until the car is mature enough to drive. The fuel used by the vehicle would be completely clean, leaving behind only oxygen. At the end of the car’s useful life, it would be 100% biodegradable.

Is there a chance this design will ever become reality? If so, it’s a very small, very remote chance. But there is no denying that it’s fun to think about driving around in a luxury car that has been grown specifically for you in a lab full of test tube automobiles.