In Wikinomics we talked about the open source movement expanding out from the virtual to physical worlds – to things like motorcycle design and manufacturing in China. In an attempt to take this a step further, OScar – the brainchild of Markus Merz – is trying to bring the power of open source to automobile design.

While the initial plan to get from concept creation to prototype in about a year proved optimistic (the project is still in early concept phase seven years in), the most vexing issue concerns the need to “bring the right people together.” You see, not everyone has the same notion of what a car should be. In the words of Merz, “This is not supposed to be a race car or a tech monster, but that’s what some people, particularly car enthusiasts, tend to think. They’re more into designing an über-car than a smart car.”

In many open source projects, there is no “should” or “supposed to be” – there is only what people collectively create and vote on. But when people have mutually exclusive expectations for a given project, trying to unleash the wisdom of crowds risks simply amplifying their collective madness – and the final outcome could end up more like Homer’s Car than a Smart one. That being said, appropriate rules and parameters appear to have been put in place. Perhaps OScar could change how Smart cars are made afterall.