Concept cars are nothing new, for decades car manufacturers have been pushing the boundaries of design and creating incredible cars way beyond their time. Usually, these cars are created to gauge public interest atthe big motor showsbefore production begins in earnest, but sometimes they’re just a way for carmakers to demonstrate creative abilities and show off new technologies.
We recently covered incredible new concept cars from the last couple of years, but what about concept cars from the past. Incredibly, some of the vehicles we’ve found date back to the 1930s and yet they’d be just at home on today’s roads or those of the future.
BMW iX Flow
BMWdid something interesting atCES 2022by showing off a colour-changing car. The outside of the car uses aspecial wrap with E Inktechnology. This means the car can change colour between light and dark with just the press of a button.
Citroen Karin Concept
At the 1980 Paris Motorshow, Citroen unveiled the Karin concept car. A three-seater vehicle with a design as quirky inside as it is outside.
The driver would sit in the middle with passengers riding on either side. An unusual pyramid-like outer shell, flush glass panels pyramid-like doors made this a car to remember.
The addition of onboard computer screens and pop-up displays really set the car ahead of its era.
Chevrolet Astro III
The Chevrolet Astro III was a sleek experimental vehicle produced by Chevrolet in 1969.
With a rocket-ship-like design both inside and out right down to joystick control, the Astro III was an incredible view of the future.
Powered by a gas turbine engine and housed in a light fibreglass body, the car was as light as it was quick with 317hp available to blast it down the American highways.
BMW Turbo Concept
The BMW Turbo concept, also known as the E25 Turbo, was a sports car built by the German car manufacturer for the 1972 Olympics.
This gull-winged monster featured a mid-mounted turbocharged engine capable of powering the car from 0-60mph in 6.6 seconds.
Only two of these cars were ever built, but it’s easy to see how the design themes influenced BMW’s future cars.
Alfa Romeo Navajo Bertone
The Alfa Romeo Navajo Bertone was a concept car based on Alfa' race car chassis and the 33 Stardale. The familiar wedge profile is brought to life again, complete with active spoilers and a tapered body. The car embraced its futuristic theme with colours inspired by Colonial Vipers fromBattlestar Galactica.
Light and compact, the Alfa Romeo Navajo Bertone was also interesting because of its shape and size. It was shorter than aMini Cooperand even lower to the ground than most modern supercars. Powered by just a 2.0-litre V8 engine the car boasted 230hp so it was as fast as it looked.
Dodge Deora
The Dodge Deora is something of an oddity on this list as it’s not a concept car in its own right, but a heavily customised vehicle given a new lease of life. The Deora is actually an altered Dodge A100 truck that was chopped up to create afuturistic-looking vehicle. This one proved extremely popular and won multiple awards at the time.
In 2002 the original Dodge Deora was restored and put on display as part of the 50th-anniversary celebrations of the Detroit Autorama car show. A few years later, the restored car would go on sale at auction fetching a cool $324,500.
Lamborghini Athon Speedster
Not one to be left behind, Lamborghini also unveiled its own concept car in 1980 in the form of the Athon Speedster.
This car was a 3.0-litre V8 capable of 260bhp allowing it to reach 60mph in 7.3 seconds. This one-off vehicle never made it into mass production as Lamborghini concentrated its efforts on updating the Countach instead.
Still, the working concept car was remarkable and sold at auction in 2011 for $487,000.
Ferrari Pinin
This unusual design from Ferrari came about as a celebration of Italian design studio Pininifarina’s 50th-anniversary celebrations and represented the first and only four-door Ferrari to ever be built. This saloon appeared in the 1980s and originally hinted at a production vehicle that never came about.
The car was mocked-up with a 4.8-litre flat V12 engine but didn’t actually run until 2010 when an engineering team was given the task of getting the vehicle working.
Fiat Abarth 2000 (1960s)
The racing chassis and aerodynamic designs of the Fiat Abarth 2000 allowed it to put the 220hp to good use to reach a top speed of 167mph.
The Fiat Abarth 2000 is said to be one of the first cars to use angular sloping lines in place of the usual flowing designs of the 1960s. Its shape would later influence other manufacturers' designs, including cars like the Lamborghini Countach.
The racing chassis and aerodynamic designs of the Fiat Abarth 2000 allowed it to put the 220hp to good use to reach a top speed of 167mph. An impressive feat for a road legal car from that era.
Ford Gyron
The Ford Gyron was unveiled at the Detroit Motorshow in 1961. This gyrocar had just two-wheels like a motorbike and was stabilised by gyroscopes and the distribution of the weight of the passengers. When stationary, the Ford Gyron was supported much like a motorbike, with legs that came out from underneath to keep it steady.
Alas, the Ford Gyron was never intended for mass production, but once again we have to enjoy the rocket-themed design from this era.
