For the past three months, the team have been busy creating ice wheels for a Lexus NX promotion. The challenge was to recreate the Lexus five-twin-spoke alloy wheel and its Yokohama winter tyre.
The Hamiltons’ hand-sculpted wheels do not only hold up the 2.2 tonne car, it’s also able to drive on them with the help of some acrylic rims. This is no mean feat of precision engineering.
The team used a combination of laser-scanning, CAD designs and multi-axis machining during the production process, which also necessitated the whole car being frozen at -30 degrees centigrade for five days.
No one really knew how the NX would react to its emergence from the freezer after such a prolonged period, but rumour has it that it started with the first push of the ignition.
Perhaps the only question left, is why? Lexus say, ‘Part engineering, part art, this unique project came together to prove that anything is possible with the right combination of desire, skill and dedication.’ And the team will certainly drink to that ethos.
Watch the making of video below to see how it was done and click here to check out some photos from the shoot.