Concept cars have always fascinated audiences because they presage the automotive industry of tomorrow. And while these days that can literally be tomorrow, with many "concepts" being thinly disguised production cars, the most alluring are often the most fanciful, those that seduce with artful design and promises of what the automobile eventually will be. Here we present our favorites from the past year, some selected for what they represent and some because they're simply damn fine to look at. Enjoy the list, and feel free to chime in with your favorites via the Backfires comments!
The Aston Martin CC100 Speedster concept was built to celebrate the firm's 100th anniversary. It has no windscreen, a dual-cockpit passenger compartment, and holes in the bodywork where doors should be, the better to view the carbon fiber and vintage-look leather of the interior. These are precisely the kinds of details that don't make it to production, but they also make the CC100 Speedster one of the best show cars of the year. That its full-width interpretation of the brand's signature grille could wind up on a future saleable model, well, that's just icing on Aston's birthday cake. FULL STORY >>
Yes, the Audi Sport Quattro concept looks similar to the Quattro concept that debuted three years ago, albeit with updates to adhere to the brand's current design language. But who cares? The more muscular fender flares and larger intakes of the aluminum and carbon-fiber body show that it means business, a visual threat backed up by a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8. The engine is tuned to produce 560 horsepower, and is paired with an electric motor that brings system output to 700 horses. It might not be the ultra-lightweight rally monster that its name implies, but it's awfully hard to argue with that much muscle, especially as something similar to this concept is likely to reach production. FULL STORY >>
Like the Audi above, this is another case of "Wait, didn't that concept come out, like, years ago?" Indeed. Buick showed a Riviera concept at the 2007 Shanghai auto show, and then it turned around and showed a Riviera concept at this year's Shanghai affair. Both successfully integrate gullwing doors into fastback profiles, and both are powered by unspecified hybrid powertrains. Yet the tech team at Shanghai GM has been hard at work in the intervening six years: The new Riv features four-wheel steering, magnetorheological dampers, and see-through A-pillars. The Riviera concept may be a sequel, but our interest remains piqued. Buick just needs to build it. FULL STORY >>
That Cadillac has been working on a flagship isn't exactly a secret, and when its Elmiraj concept debuted at the Pebble Beach festivities this summer, many wondered aloud if this was the form it would take. Cadillac assures us that it hasn't yet decided whether it will build this exact car, but much of the styling and details form the basis of its latest iteration of the Art & Science design language. Beneath its 17-foot-long body sits architecture related to the Alpha platform that underpins the ATS and CTS, as well as a twin-turbocharged 4.5-liter V-8 making 500 horsepower. We'll take Cadillac at its word that the Elmiraj isn't its forthcoming range-topper, but we hope the company is lying through its teeth. FULL STORY >>
Italian design house Italdesign Giugiaro, now a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, introduced the jaw-dropping Parcour concept at a private event on the eve of the Geneva auto show. Lamborghini-based, it's a fully capable SUV with the shape, performance, and stance of a sports car. The heart of the Parcour's platform is borrowed from the Gallardo, as is its 5.2-liter V-10, while the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic and all-wheel-drive system come from the Audi R8. The rest of the Parcour is bespoke, including its trick dual-suspension setup. We had the chance to drive the thing shortly after its debut, and neither its road manners nor its off-road chops left us disappointed. (Six months after its debut, Audi showed a restyled version called the Nanuk at the Frankfurt show.) FULL STORY >>
Jaguar's F-type is wonderful, so our infatuation with the brand's F-type–based Project 7 shouldn't come as any surprise. Prepped for the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Project 7 replaces the F-type's passenger seat with a helmet holder, and Jag also affixed a buttress to the rear deck, chopped the windshield, and made some aero tweaks. Oh, and then painted it a hue of French Racing Blue that recalls the brand's racing D-types from the 1950s. To top it off, the F-type V-8 S's 5.0-liter supercharged V-8 has been bolstered by 55 horses, to 450. FULL STORY >>
Kia's rise as a style leader can be attributed almost entirely to chief designer Peter Schreyer and his team. Not only has the brand won numerous design awards since it swiped the Bavarian from Volkswagen in 2006, its cars are finding homes in an ever-growing number of garages. The brand debuted three handsome concepts this year, and we couldn't pick just one for our list—so we included them all. We love the Niro's scissor doors and urban-assault attitude, the Provo's nifty LED lighting/message board, and the CUB's tidy dimensions and cutesy hot-hatch looks. FULL STORY NIRO / PROVO / CUB >>
According to the head of Mercedes-Benz AMG, Tobias Moers, the Vision Gran Turismo concept has little to no basis in reality; it's the result of what dreams come to engineers and designers when they aren't required to report to accountants or government regulators. (Watch Mercedes explain the design process.) Despite that, the Vision GT's platform and powertrain are rather formulaic—a revision of the SLS's underpinnings and S-model–level output (577 horses) from the brand's ubiquitous 5.5-liter twin-turbo V-8—but its skin represents a peek at future styling. Some design elements, albeit not the LED-lit grille, the gullwing doors, or the lack of a rear window, will appear on the SLS-succeeding GT AMG. You can drive this concept right now if you'd like—in Gran Turismo 6. FULL STORY >>
The innovative narrow front track of the DeltaWing race car isn't as shocking as it once was, but here's something that blew our caps clean off: Nissan said at this car's Tokyo show debut that it's an "exploratory prototype of an upcoming production vehicle." Thanks to wedgy styling that tones down the DeltaWing's "sex toy on wheels" look, the BladeGlider has some curb appeal. The three-person interior features a single pilot's seat flanked by a pair of passengers just aft of the driver and a yoke rather than a steering wheel. FULL STORY>>
Subaru lifted the sheets off its WRX concept at the New York show in the spring, and the collective crowd went crazy—it was fantastic. Clearly a Subaru yet bulged, flared, and creased to a fare-thee-well, it was everything we hoped the 2015 WRX would be. Of course, concepts rarely make it to production undiluted, and the latest Rex was no different. The production car still looks good and drives quite nicely, but we still have fevered dreams about this conceptual version. FULL STORY>>
from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com
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