Hot wheels, indeed! When Ford rolled into this year's New York International Auto Show, they came packing a complete home theater on wheels. However, this Skyliner Transit van includes more high-tech goodies than a lot of homes out there.
First off, the van has a full Crestron control system to adjust lighting, shades, HVAC, AV systems, security, and power seating. Users can tap into all of those goodies via two 5-inch in-wall touchscreens, which are located near the driver's seat and the rear bulkhead. There's also another three iPads docked throughout the vehicle.
You're going to want to be close to one of those control panels, since it provides access to a motorized 53-inch Firehawk screen from Stewart Filmscreen and the integrated Kaleidescape movie system. The latter can provide Blu-ray-quality films, whether imported from a disc or downloaded from the Kaleidescape Store.
And this is all inside the van!
Other features include Wolf Projectors' SDC6 3D 1080p projector with an outboard scaler, a KVH DIRECTV satellite system, four plush leather theater seats, and a built-in bar. It also has Crestron's Digital QMT shade motor, the company's new brushless DC motor with solid-state control.
The van's audio system is just as awesome as every other part of this luxury vehicle. The Focal Utopia 7.2 surround sound system has speakers that were handmade in France and the Marantz AV 7701 Theatre Controller adds AirPlay, Pandora and other Internet radio options into the ride.
All of the van's mechanical systems, the lighting layout and the HVAC relay interface were created by Galpin Auto Sports, with The Source AV Design Group coming in to take care of the AV and control systems.
"The Crestron RMC3 controller gives us the capability to provide integrated control of all the vehicle's systems through the familiar, user-friendly interface of an iPad or Crestron's TSW-550 wall-mounted touchscreen," says Jason Lord of The Source AV. "Its small footprint allowed us to mount the RMC3 in an equipment rack in the rear 18 inches of the van, along with the Kaleidescape server, theater controller and amplifiers, packing a lot of technology into a compact space."
While there's no plan to offer this exact model to consumers, the Ford Transit will go on sale this summer. This model, as well as many other current vehicles, do offer plenty of interesting entertainment options, including web radio, dual second-row DVD players and Bluetooth connectivity.
"The new Ford Transit Skyliner custom van shows that luxury transportation can be outfitted with the same level of luxury and convenience found in the highest-end homes," says Tom Barnett, Crestron's marketing manager. "From the complete home theater to the motorized, near-silent window treatments, many luxury residences would envy the technology in this van."
The Ford Skyliner Transit van will be on display at the New York International Auto Show at New York City's Jacob Javits Center through April 27, 2014..
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