A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling or new technology. Concept cars are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not be produced. General Motors designer Harley Earl is generally credited with inventing the concept car, and did much to popularize it through its traveling Motorama shows of the 1950s.
Concept cars typically do not 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, regulatory compliance, and cost. A "production-intent" prototype, as opposed to a concept vehicle, serves this purpose.[1]
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, three or five (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, and some cannot move safely at speeds above 10mph.[2]
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,[3] such as General Motors' Cadillac Sixteen concept.[4]
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.
| Model | Notes |
|---|---|
| Alfa Romeo BAT cars | 1950s aerodynamic studies by Bertone. |
| Designed in 1939 by Claude Hill. Fully functional and still in road-worthy condition, it was adopted by Aston Martin owner David Brown into a racing car that won outright at the 1948 Spa 24 Hours and became the basis for the DB1. | |
| Auburn Cabin Speedster | Considered the first concept car,[5] it was built in 1929 and used for publicity, touring the car show circuit until it was destroyed in a fire at a Los Angeles exhibit that also consumed about 320 other cars on display.[6] |
| Late 1960s Bertone (Marcello Gandini) designed sportscar. | |
| Early monovolume concept (mid 1960s) by, Michael Conrad, and Pio Manzù. | |
| A fabric-skinned shape-shifting sports car. This platform (aside from the body material and changing shape) was adopted in 2012 for the BMW i3 and BMW i8 Electric Vehicles. | |
| Designed in the late 1930s by the famous General Motors designer Harley Earl. Considered by most to be the first concept car. Inspired many other Buick vehicles, including the Buick Blackhawk Concept. | |
| Built by Harley Earl in 1951, it helped introduce 12-volt electrics and the aluminum 215 ci V8 to GM. This nameplate was transferred over to be a production vehicle. | |
| Built in 1959, it is one of Harley Earl's last designs. Its futuristic styling was heavily influenced by 1950s aviation and rocketry. | |
| Reputedly the most luxurious car ever built at the time of its construction, the Cadillac Debutante was fitted with a leopard skin interior and 24 karat gold instrument panel and fittings. | |
| Previewed elements of the second (1963–1967) and third (1968–1982) generations of the production Corvette. | |
| Project by Cornell University Aeronautical Laboratory and Liberty Mutual insurance company (mid 1950s). | |
| 1962 mid-engined experimental prototype that featured design elements of the third generation (1968–1982) of the production Corvette. | |
| A 2003 V10-powered four-wheel motorcycle-like design that drew attention for its audacity, and the debunked claim that it could hypothetically reach speeds of 300mph420mph. | |
| Designed by Paolo Martin of the Italian carrozzeria Pininfarina, unveiled at the 1970 Geneva Motor Show. | |
| Styling exercise (not intended for production) by Marc Newson and J Mays first shown at the 1999 Tokyo Motor Show. | |
| Futuristic two-wheeled gyrocar designed by Syd Mead and McKinley Thompson first shown in 1961 at the Detroit Motor Show. | |
| A nuclear-powered car (scale model only). | |
| A series of four designs between 1979 and 1983 of which the Probe III was eventually developed into the Ford Sierra. | |
| First shown in 2005. This design was developed to explore the creation of an ultra-safe roadgoing environment. | |
| A series of gas turbine–powered cars. Pontiac adopted this nameplate based on the Chevrolet Camaro. The nameplate was retired in 2002, along with the Chevrolet Camaro, which was revived in 2010. | |
| Based around the Holden FJ, named the United States concept car of the year for 2007.[7] | |
| A Hummer branded off-road compact SUV vehicle that is smaller-sized and lower-priced than the H2 and H3. | |
| The prototype for the modern MPV (minivan).[8] [9] | |
| Marcello Gandini designed sportscar presented at the 1970 Turin Auto Show. | |
| A series of experimental automobiles produced in the 1960s and 1970s. The company was experimenting with new engine technologies, including Wankel engines. | |
| Its PRE-SCAN road-scanning suspension enables a perfectly smooth ride, even on rough or bumpy terrains (developed later into Magic Body Control). This design will lead to the development of the next-generation Mercedes-Benz A-Class, Mercedes-Benz B-Class, and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. | |
| The Massachusetts Institute of Technology concept car with Frank Gehry.[10] | |
| A 1930s concept car, developed by Rust Heinz. | |
| Open roadster with asymmetric features by Virgil Exner. | |
| Pontiac's first 2-seater sports car that debuted at the 1954 Motorama. This nameplate carried over to a Pontiac sports car of the 1950s. | |
| Pontiac's all stainless steel sports car that debuted at the 1956 Motorama. | |
| Porsche's first 4-door car, a predecessor of the Porsche Panamera. | |
| Used as testbed in the development of safety features incorporated into the Volvo 240 series cars, used by the NHTSA as a basis for later safety standards, including self-retracting three-point seatbelts, crumple zones, head restraints, rollover protection, and shock-absorbing zero-damage bumpers.[11] [12] | |
| The retro-futurist design by J Mays and Freeman Thomas first shown in 1994 is a rare example of a concept car that was later produced. | |