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Concepts & prototypes

27: briefs
9:41: average
262 min: in total
21: designers

All briefs27

Alfa Romeo Carabo

Marcello Gandini · 1950

The Alfa Romeo Carabo is a 1968 concept car designed by Marcello Gandini at Bertone. It debuted at the 1968 Paris Motor Show. It used the chassis of an Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale with a mid-mounted 2.0 L V8 engine and 6-speed Colotti manual transmission. It featured scissor doors — the first known use — and iridescent green-orange colouring inspired by Carabidae beetles. Built in ten weeks using fiberglass, it was never intended for production but was fully functional. It helped establish the wedge shape trend in 1970s supercars and concept cars. Gandini’s design philosophy prioritised vehicle architecture and mechanics over styling.

BMW Vision Neue Klasse

Domagoj Dukec · 2023

The BMW Vision Neue Klasse is an electric concept car unveiled at IAA Mobility 2023. It previews next-generation BMW design. Its linear body features a tilted-forward 'shark nose', 21-inch aerodynamic wheels, and sensor-activated doors. Headlights integrate into the kidney grille. Taillights use 3D-printed light elements. The interior omits chrome and leather, includes BMW Panoramic Vision on the windshield, a square center display, and operable steering wheel controls. It uses the sixth-generation eDrive system and a newly developed cylindrical-cell battery — improving charging efficiency and driving range by up to 30% each.

Buick Y-Job

Harley Earl · 1950

The Buick Y-Job is the first concept car — a 1938 Buick convertible built to test design ideas, not sell units. Designed by Harley Earl, it used a Buick Super chassis and featured power-operated hidden headlamps, electric windows, and styling cues that defined Buick for decades. It became Earl’s daily driver after public debut. It changed how mass manufacturers develop cars: by treating design as a public-facing experiment.

Cadillac Sixteen

Brian Smith · 2005

The Cadillac Sixteen is a 2003 concept car. It has a proprietary 13.6 L V16 engine. It uses a four-speed automatic transmission driving the rear wheels. It references the 1930s Cadillac V-16. It weighs about 5,005 lb. It influenced later models including the Celestiq.

DeLorean DMC-12

Giorgetto Giugiaro · 1981

The DMC DeLorean is a rear-engine, two-seat sports car designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and produced by the DeLorean Motor Company from 1981 to 1983. It features gull-wing doors, unpainted brushed stainless-steel body panels, and a 2.85 L PRV V6 engine shared with Peugeot, Renault, and Volvo. Approximately 9,000 units were built before the company’s bankruptcy. Though criticized for modest performance and build quality, it gained iconic status through the Back to the Future films.

Ferrari Modulo

Paolo Martin · 1970

The Ferrari Modulo is a static concept car built by Pininfarina on a de-powered Ferrari 512 S chassis. It debuted black at Geneva 1970. Its wedge shape, sliding canopy and exposed V12 defined a new visual language — one that influenced 1970s car design more than any production model.

Ford Shelby GR-1

George Saridakis · 2005

The Ford Shelby GR-1 is a Ford-built concept car. It appeared first as clay at Pebble Beach 2004. It ran as a prototype at Detroit 2005. Its shape recalls the Shelby Daytona. Its chassis comes from the 2004 Shelby Cobra Concept. Its V10 engine shares components with the Ford GT. It makes 605 hp and 501 lb⋅ft. Superformance later built a V8 version in 2019 because no production V10 was available.

Italdesign Aztec

Giorgetto Giugiaro · 1988

The Italdesign Aztec is a 1988 concept car built to mark Italdesign’s 20th anniversary. It features driver-passenger separation enforced by physical barriers and electronic communication. Its speedster body uses removable gull-wing visor sections. A turbocharged Audi engine and Lancia Delta HF Integrale–derived four-wheel-drive system power it. Compact srl licensed it for Japan; Carrozzeria Savio built 18 units. It was never a production car — it was a demonstration of interface-first automotive thinking.

Lancia Megagamma

Giorgetto Giugiaro · 1978

The Lancia Megagamma is a 1978 Italdesign concept MPV commissioned by Fiat. It originated in a 1976 taxi study with the Museum of Modern Art. It debuted at the 1978 Turin Motor Show.

Mercedes-Benz C111

Bruno Sacco · 1969

The C111 is a concept car built by Daimler-Benz in 1969. Bruno Sacco designed it. It was never intended for sale. Sixteen were built across four generations between 1969 and 1979.

Renault DeZir

Laurens van den Acker · 2010

The Renault DeZir is a 2010 electric concept coupe unveiled at the Paris Motor Show. It has two seats, butterfly doors on the driver’s side and suicide doors on the passenger’s side, and a red leather interior. It uses a mid-mounted electric motor driving the rear wheels via automatic transmission. Renault claims 0–60 mph in 5 seconds, a top speed of 112 mph, and a range of 99 miles. It served as the design basis for the petrol-powered Renault Sport R.S. 01 race car. It was Laurens van den Acker’s foundational design statement for Renault’s new direction. The same team that developed it also revamped the Renault Clio IV. It is categorised among Renault’s concept vehicles.

Renault Fiftie

Benoit Jacob · 1996

The Renault Fiftie is a 1996 concept car, designed by Benoît Jacob under Patrick le Quément, to mark the 4CV’s 50th anniversary. It used the Renault Sport Spider’s aluminium frame and D7F 1.2L engine, placed mid-ship. Its body was carbon fibre. Front styling referenced the 4CV’s 'mustache bars' and added apostrophe-shaped headlights. The targa roof had four removable panels that stowed beneath the rear window. Interior materials included cotton, linen and rattan; a picnic basket sat in the boot. Renault did not develop it further.

Aston Martin Bulldog

William Towns · 1979

A one-off 1979 concept built to show off Newport Pagnell—and chase a title it never claimed.

Chrysler Turbine Car

Elwood Engel · 1950

The Chrysler Turbine Car was an experimental two-door hardtop coupe designed by Elwood Engel and built by Chrysler with bodywork by Carrozzeria Ghia. It used the A-831 turbine engine, was produced in 55 units between 1963 and 1964, and featured power brakes, power steering, and a TorqueFlite transmission. All were finished in 'turbine bronze' paint.

General Motors Firebird

Harley Earl · 1953

The Firebird I is a 1953 GM concept car designed by Harley Earl. It was the first gas turbine-powered car tested in the United States. It features a single-seat cockpit under a bubble canopy, a bullet-shaped fiberglass fuselage, short wings, and a vertical tail fin. It was built for the 1953 Motorama show. GM never intended it for production.

Volkswagen W12

Giorgetto Giugiaro · 1997

The Volkswagen W12 was a series of five mid-engined concept cars developed by Volkswagen Passenger Cars between 1997 and 2001 in collaboration with Italdesign and Giorgetto Giugiaro, featuring a 5.6 L W12 engine and designed to showcase Volkswagen Group's supercar and high-performance engine capabilities; variants included the W12 Syncro Coupé (AWD), W12 Roadster (RWD), and W12 Nardò Coupé/Record Car (high-speed variant), with the latter setting a 24-hour endurance speed record at the Nardò Ring in 2002.

AMC Pacer

Dick Teague · 1975

The AMC Pacer is a design document in motion: a cab-forward, wide-small compact that prioritised interior volume and visibility over mechanical convention or market realism. It succeeded as a statement of spatial logic—not as a viable economy car.

Ford GT90

John Coletti team · 1995

The Ford GT90 is a 1995 concept car that launched Ford’s 'New Edge' design language. It uses a carbon-fibre body over an aluminium monocoque, and mounts a 5.9-litre V12 mid-ship. It shares only roof-cutting doors with the GT40. It was never intended for production or racing. As of 2025, it resides in the Hajek Motorsports Museum.

Hyundai N Vision 74

SangYup Lee · 2022

Hyundai N Vision 74 is a functional, road-capable concept that tests hydrogen-electric drive in a rear-wheel-drive sports layout. It is not a production preview, nor a styling manifesto — it is engineering made visible.

Jaguar C-X75

Ian Callum · 2010

The Jaguar C-X75 is a 2010 concept car designed by Ian Callum. It uses four wheel-mounted electric motors and two diesel-fed micro gas turbines. It was intended to influence future Jaguar design and technology. Production was announced in 2011 for 2013–2015 but cancelled in December 2012 due to the Great Recession.

Lancia Stratos Zero

Marcello Gandini · 1950

The Lancia Stratos Zero is a 1970 Bertone-Lancia concept car designed by Marcello Gandini, built on a crashed Lancia Fulvia HF1600 rally chassis, featuring a radical low-slung fiberglass body, digital instrumentation, and a mid-rear-mounted 1.6 L V4 engine.

Lincoln Futura

Bill Schmidt · 1955

The Lincoln Futura is a 1955 concept car designed by Bill Schmidt and John Najjar, built by Ghia in Turin, Italy, at a cost of $250,000 (equivalent to $3,000,000 in 2025). Its styling was original by 1950s standards, featuring a double clear-plastic canopy, exaggerated hooded headlight pods, and very large, outward-canted tailfins. The car had a complete powertrain and was fully operable, in contrast to many show cars. Its official public debut was on January 8, 1955, at the Chicago Auto Show; it had been shown to the press at the city's Congress Hotel on January 5. While being displayed elsewhere in the U.S. that spring, the Futura was seen by the country's television audience on Today ("The Today Show") on March 3, 1955. The idea for the Futura came from designer Bill Schmidt, who got the idea while he was diving, after an encounter with a shark.

Peugeot Quasar

Gérard Welter · 1950

The Peugeot Quasar is a 1984 in-house concept built on the 205 T16’s chassis and engine. It features scissor doors and an exposed engine bay. Its interior draws from science fiction. It never entered production. It now resides at the Peugeot Adventure Museum.

Alfa Romeo BAT

Franco Scaglione · 1953

The BAT series is a focused, documented exercise in aerodynamic research—not styling, not engineering for power, not market readiness. It is a rare case where form follows one measurable physical constraint, iterated across three years, with no deviation from that brief.

Lamborghini Estoque

Filippo Perini · 2005

The Estoque is a speculative, non-production sedan that tested whether Lamborghini could stretch its brand into four-door territory without abandoning its core engine layout or visual aggression.

Maserati Boomerang

Giorgetto Giugiaro · 1950

The Maserati Boomerang is a 1972 concept car designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and produced by Italdesign. It debuted at the 1971 Turin Motor Show as a non-functional Epowood model, then reappeared at the 1972 Geneva Auto Show on a Maserati Bora chassis. It uses a 4.7L V8 engine producing 310 hp and 460 N⋅m, driving the rear wheels through a 5-speed manual. Its interior features a rotating steering wheel around stationary gauges. Though registered as a road car, it was intended solely as a one-off show car.

Peugeot Onyx

Gilles Vidal · 2012

The Peugeot Onyx is a 2012 concept car designed by Gilles Vidal. It uses a 3.7 L V8 diesel hybrid powertrain. Its body combines hand-beaten untreated copper and carbon fiber. Copper panels oxidise from mirror to blue-green. It features a double bubble roof, three-claw taillights, Cd 0.30, recycled interior materials—including felt, compressed newspaper-resin 'wood', blown crystal, and aluminum controls—and a 100 kg carbon fiber chassis in 12 parts.