A concept car or show car is a car prototype made to showcase a concept, new styling, technology and more. They are often shown at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not have a chance of being produced. General Motors designer Harley Earl is generally credited with inventing the concept, or show, car, and definitely did much to popularize it through its traveling Motorama shows of the 1950s. Concept cars never go into production directly; in modern times all would have to undergo many changes before the design is finalized for the sake of practicality, safety and cost. Concept cars are often radical in engine or design:
- Some use non-traditional, exotic, or expensive materials, ranging from paper to carbon fiber to refined alloys.
- Others have unique layouts, such as gullwing doors, 3 or 6 (or more) wheels, or special abilities not usually found on cars.
Because of these often impractical or unprofitable leanings, many concept cars never get past scale models, or even drawings in computer design. Other more traditional concepts can be developed into fully drivable (operational) vehicles with a working drivetrain and accessories. The state of most concept cars lies somewhere in between and does not represent the final product. A very small proportion of concept cars are functional to any useful extent, most cannot move safely at anything above 10 mph. Inoperative "mock-ups" are usually made of wax, clay, metal, fiberglass, plastic or a combination thereof. If drivable, the drivetrain is often borrowed from a production vehicle from the same company, or may have defects and imperfections in design. They can also be quite refined, such as General Motors' Cadillac Sixteen Concept [1]. After a concept car's useful life is over, the cars are usually destroyed. Some survive, however, either in a company's museum or hidden away in storage. One unused but operational concept car that languished for years in the North Hollywood, California shop of car customizer George Barris, Ford Motor Company's "Lincoln Futura" from 1954, received a new lease on life as the Batmobile in the Batman series that debuted in 1966 on the ABC Television Network.
Notable Concept cars
| Model | Notes |
| Buick Y-Job | designed in the late 1930s by the famous General Motors designer Harley Earl. Picture. This is considered by most to be the first concept car. |
| Chevrolet Corvair Monza GT | 1962 mid-engined experimental prototype |
| Chevrolet Corvette Mako Shark | Previewed the design of the 1968-1982 production Corvette |
| Ford Nucleon | a nuclear-powered car |
| Ford SYNUS | mimic the modern obsession with safety |
| General Motors Firebird | a series of gas turbine-powered cars |
| Holden Efijy | a concept car based around the Holden FJ |
| MIT Car | The Massachusetts Institute of Technology concept car with Frank Gehry [2] |
| Phantom Corsair | a 1930s concept car, developed by Rust Heinz |
| Pontiac Bonneville Special | Pontiac's first 2-seater sportscar that debuted at the 1954 Motorama |
| Pontiac Club de Mer | Pontiac's all stainless steel sportscar that debuted at the 1956 Motorama |
| Porsche 989 | Porsche's first 4-door car, a predecessor of the Porsche Panamera |
| Volvo YCC | the first car designed entirely by women |
| Lancia Megagamma | the prototype for the modern MPV (minivan) |
| Alfa Romeo BAT cars | 1950s aerodynamic studies by Bertone |
See also
External links
- Encyclopedia of Concept-Cars (information on 1000+ concept cars) at Conceptcar.ee
- Information on 250+ concept cars at Diseno-art.com
- Concept Cars & Car Design Information at ConceptCar.co.uk
- Article about Concept Cars Read
