If there’s one thing the modern era has proven, it’s that retro will never go out of style. There’s clearly something about the past that draws us all to it. From the leather-clad 60s and 70s to the funky aesthetic of the 80s to the carefree vibe of the 90s, it’s clear that Nostalgia will always be in vogue, and nothing’s going to change that.
Now, I’m a '90s kid, and stuff like the Nintendo Game Boy, Sony PlayStation, Nissan Skyline, Ducati 916—the list goes on—all hold a special place in my heart. Clearly, lots of people all over the world share this sentiment, and we’re seeing tons of new stuff dressed up to look like they’re old.
Sure, the retro-themed toasters, kettles, and of course motorcycles, are stuff we see pretty often. But what we have today sort of flips the script when it comes to the whole retro vibe. It’s an electric motorcycle from a company called DAB Motors, and it’s dubbed the 1α Transparent Edition.
As its name suggests, it’s well, transparent…sorta.
The 1α Transparent Edition gets see-through bodywork that allows you to see its inner workings. It also boasts a very '90s purple hue, similar to the stuff we’ve seen in gaming consoles from decades past. It actually looks like a prop in a retro arcade—you know, one of those make-believe motorcycles you’d swing a leg over in front of a screen and go on make-believe rides on.
The only difference here is that the DAB 1α Transparent Edition is a bike you can actually ride, provided you’ve got around $14,000 burning a massive hole in your pocket. And it’s quite an impressive machine, too. Thanks to its translucent bodywork, we get to see the bike’s 25.5-kilowatt brushless DC motor in all its glory. This thing is capable of propelling the bike to a top speed of 130 kilometers per hour (around 80 miles per hour), and has a claimed torque rating of 292 pound-feet.
As much as the 1α Transparent Edition is inspired by the aesthetic of the past, it also has an eye to the future. Apart, of course, from being electric, this thing has a modular battery pack that DAB says is designed to be repairable and recyclable, something that just might keep this thing on the road for longer than other EV two-wheelers.
So yeah, you could say that the DAB 1α Transparent Edition is both retro and futuristic at the same time—inspired by the past, all while having a vision for the future. It’s proof that the past will always define the present, and what we do in the present directly affects our future.
