The LM3D Swim was designed by Kevin Lo, a Local Motors community member who won the company’s Project Redacted challenge in July.

Many were skepticαλ about Local Motors’ commitment in user-designed, 3D-printed cars, but the Arizona-based company came through and presented a finished product at this year’s SEMA show. We actually knew the small company had big plans with the controversial car building process ever since they constructed such a vehicle live, last year, at the same event.

Now, with the unveiling of the LM3D Swim, Local Motors moves into the intensive testing and development phases that will eventually spawn a series of fully-homologated, road-worthy, production vehicles – built using direct digital manufacturing (DDM), of which 3D printing is a part. Or at least that’s the plan, as Local Motors CEO Jay Rogers told the crowd at SEMA:

“In the past few months our engineers have moved from only a rendering to the car you see in front of you today. We are using the power of DDM to create new vehicles at a pace unparalleled in the auto industry, and we’re thrilled to begin taking orders on 3D-printed cars next year.”

In fact, the car maker plans to release several new models in the LM3D series throughout 2016, and before you start bashing its oddball design, bear in mind that when Project Redacted was hosted by Local Motors, the model passed a judging panel that included Jay Leno and SEMA Vice President of Vehicle Technology John Waraniak. It’s obviously not a beauty – no matter which way you look at it – but its intriguing, buggy-like design is something you don’t see every day.

According to the car’s maker, software developed by Siemens allowed the Local Motors development team to quickly transform the original “idea” into a real vehicle. Moreover, LC partnered with IBM in order to create “interactions between the microfactory, 3D-printed vehicles, their drivers and the outside environment in ways never achieved before”. Basically, the company wants to develop and launch a series of apps to optimize the driving experience.

If everything goes as planned, and Local Motors gets all the federal crash testing and highway certifications, the cars (including the variants) are expected to hit the streets in early 2017, after presales begin in spring 2016. That is if the $53,000 manufacturer’s suggested retail price won’t be a hinder.

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