[FrodoOfTheShire]

Concept cars. Those futuristic, out-of-the-world and ahead-of-its-time beauties that look straight out of science-fiction! Enthusiasts love them and the average Joes are fascinated by them. These are showcased around the globe in auto shows and expo and the huge footfalls they attract is proof of their intrigue and popularity. So let's dive into this fantasy land and see the various aspects surrounding a concept car.

WHAT IS A CONCEPT CAR?

Wikipedia says that "A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often shown at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not be mass-produced."

BMW Vision M Next

[FrodoOfTheShire]

WHY DO MANUFACTURERS MAKE CONCEPT CARS?

Concept cars are basically a proof-of-concept exercise for the automakers to push the boundaries of design, technology and innovation.

Thierry Metroz, design director at the French premium car brand DS, explains, "A concept car is a development accelerator. Its role, is to test the new technologies that we imagine for the future, and accelerate their development"

The DS X E-TENSE concept is an electric 3-seater concept car. For road use, peak power stands at 400 KW (540 Horsepower), which can rise to 1000 KW (1360 Horsepower) in ‘circuit’ mode. Its most eye-catching design touch, is the asymmetric shape that puts its driver out in the wind but keeps the passengers enclosed. The vehicle body is capable of recovering its original form after an impact and the headlights replaces traditional light units by turning entire areas of bodywork into lights themselves!

DS X E-TENSE Concept





Stephane Janin, design director for concept and show cars at Renault says, "A concept car is the object into which we'll put all of our know-how and our innovative force in terms of style and technology".

The Renault TREZOR concept is 2-seater electric coupé with no doors. The roof lifts up forward to let the driver and passenger into the car!

Renault TREZOR Concept





Automakers also invest in concept cars to explore new design ideas or styles to gauge customer reaction to any radical designs. This also helps as a brand building exercise to push the perception of the public in the right direction with respect to brand image, just like TATA Motors did with the H5X and 45X concepts. Not to mention the publicity, attention and anticipation that follows the concept to production!

[FrodoOfTheShire]

HOW ARE CONCEPT CARS MADE?

At the beginning of each concept car project, designers think about the core philosophy and values they wish to express. The initial design sketches are usually no more than rough drafts drawn with pencils on paper. Later, more detailed sketches are made on digital tablets. These drawings reveal the car’s overall dimensions and surfaces.

Hyundai's Le Fil Rouge Design Sketch



Once a basic design has been established, it is put together with design data and a digital design model is produced on a computer. Once discussions have taken place between designers and engineers, a 3D model is produced on a computer, where further details and enhancements can be added.




After sketches and computer models have been produced, a scaled-down clay model with a 1:1 ratio is created to provide designers with a realistic interior and exterior view of the future car. Even at this stage, the design can be fine-tuned for further modifications.

Land Rover Discovery Sport clay model



The next stage is to develop the concept car’s interior design, including seat materials and colors. These are put together with computer visualizations.

BMW i Inside Future sculpture



The development process for a concept car that will be unveiled at an auto show is always faster than that of production vehicles. Once a design is ready, the full-size concept goes into production ahead of being presented to industry experts and the international media.

Hyundai Le Fil Rouge Final Concept

[FrodoOfTheShire]

WHAT HAPPENS TO CONCEPT CARS AFTER AUTO SHOWS?

In most cases, concept cars aren't fully functional and may not even be of full size. That's why they're often displayed where onlookers can't get close enough. A non-working mock-up of a concept car is often adequate for display at auto shows and for publicity pictures. To make a concept car that can actually be driven, automakers sometimes take the drive-train from an existing car and insert it into the concept car, thus saving the expense of developing a custom drive-train.

In some cases, automakers do build the interiors and some of the innovative technological features of the car. These parts are often custom made only for one or two cars and are expensive to manufacture since they don't enjoy economies of scale. For example, the functional touch panel in the rear seats of the H5X concept as shared by our mod Aditya -

https://youtu.be/xy09YbOsuWM

When a concept car's time is up, one of several things can happen to them: They can be displayed in the automaker's offices or production facility, donated to a school for teaching purposes, a fire station for training, dismantled or crushed, or sold. Though concept cars aren't sold very often, in part because of liability and also because it doesn't make business sense. But it does happen from time to time where concept cars were sold with complicated contracts that prevented buyers from registering them or even driving them on the street. Even drive-able, fully functional concept cars are not built to production standards. Volkswagen, for example, sometimes sold functional, less-extreme concept cars to race teams, simply to avoid crushing them.

Christie's Auction of Aston Martin DB10 Concept



Sometimes, automakers pay to maintain warehouses of yesterday's new cars. Greg Wallace, manager of the General Motors Heritage Center in suburban Detroit, explains, "We've got a great history, and this is how you tell the story. We keep vehicles we think will be important to the future of the brands. It's important to our identity. It's important for design and research. And it's important to people outside the company."

Checkout the collection at GM's Heritage Center here - https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/gm-...ion/index.html

[FrodoOfTheShire]

WHY CONCEPT CARS DON'T MAKE IT TO PRODUCTION?

More often than not, concept cars do not make it to production, atleast not in their original form. They are either completely scrapped or heavily modified in the final production versions.

Many factors contribute to this - The technology showcased in the concept may not be mature enough for production feasibility. Or the world might go on to discover a better technology than the one proposed by the concept car. Some of the outlandish design elements might be impractical or would make the car unfit to achieve road-worthiness. Some elements of the concept car might just be too expensive for the targeted price bracket. Various other economic and production challenges may also moth-ball the concept car.

Let's look at some weird concept cars that didn't make it to production -

Ford Nucleon

The Ford Nucleon concept car was designed in 1957 as a future nuclear-powered car. The concept was only demonstrated as a scale model. The design did not include an internal-combustion engine; rather, the vehicle was to be powered by a small nuclear reactor in the rear of the vehicle, based on the assumption that this would one day be possible by reducing the size of the reactor. The car was to use a steam engine, powered by uranium fission similar to those found in nuclear submarines. Unfortunately, this technology was never put into production because of the obvious safety issues concerning the atomic reaction.




Chevrolet Astro III

The Chevrolet Astro III from 1969 was designed for travel on restricted interstate highways of the future. The issue of stabilizing the center of gravity (a common issue while designing tri-cycle type cars) had to be achieved before the design got approval for mass production, but the Astro III never made it past that stage.




BMW GINA

BMW's 2008 concept car, the GINA Light Visionary Model is a fabric-skinned shape-shifting sports car concept. GINA stands for "Geometry and functions In 'N' Adaptations". BMW claims the elastic, water resistant, translucent man-made fabric skin—polyurethane-coated Spandex—is resilient and durable. It resists high or low temperatures, does not swell or shrink, and the movement does not slacken or damage the fabric. The body changes its shape according to exterior conditions and speeds, and it also allows the driver to change its shape at will. The fabric is stretched over a frame with moving parts; shapes are formed beneath the skin by an aluminium wire structure, though at points where flexibility is needed (ducts, door openings, spoiler), flexible carbon struts are used.




Honda Fuya-Jo

The Honda Fuya-Jo is an entertainment-focused, four passenger compact car that has a raised roof to allow passengers to both stand and sit in the cabin. The vehicle's name means "Sleepless City" and was designed specifically to transport “party animals who demand the full excitement of night life.”

[FrodoOfTheShire]

CONCEPT CARS IN POPULAR MOVIES

The Tumbler (Dark Knight Trilogy)

Director Christopher Nolan wanted a real working prototype for his iteration of the iconic Batmobile. Since his vision for Batman was more grounded and realistic, he chose to have a design closely resembling a tank rather than the flashy sports car type design of previous iterations of Batman. The entire car was made from scratch and each and every part was custom made. The engine was a 5.7-litre Chevrolet unit, 350 cubic inches pumping out 400bhp. Each vehicle cost £200,000 to produce and there were multiple such vehicles made for the movie.




LEXUS 2054 (Minority Report)

For the 2002 sci-fi movie Minority Report, director Steven Spielberg asked Lexus to design a futuristic car set in the year 2054. Designed as a high-performance two-seat personal sports car for the year 2054, the futuristic Lexus flexes a muscular design with the ultimate in cab-forward seating, a low, enclosed wheelbase for sportiness, aggressive lines, and proportions so unexpected that, at first glance, it's not entirely evident which end is the front and which is the rear.




The Gigahorse (Mad Max: Fury Road)

The Gigahorse is a fully-functioning hybrid beast owned by the film’s villain, Immortan Joe. It’s made from two 1959 Coupe de Villes built on a custom chassis powered by pair of Chevrolet 502Cid (502HP) Big Block V8 crate motors. It rocked up to 120 horse power and could reach maximum speeds of 125 km/h.




ACURA NSX (The Avengers)

Although Iron Man's ride of choice is usually an Audi, in the 2012 movie The Avengers, Robert Downey Jr's character Tony Stark drove the Acura NSX. This new convertible Acura sports car, which is basically a roadster version of the Acura NSX concept was created specifically for the film.




Mercedes AMG Vision Gran Turismo (Justice League)

Back to Batman or this time his alter-ego Bruce Wayne. For its role, Mercedes-Benz had to update the Vision Gran Turismo concept substantially, designing and building a full interior with illuminated elements, racing seats, and a virtual dashboard section. The car is also 110 percent larger to accommodate the 6-foot-3 ½ inch-tall Ben Affleck. However, Mercedes-Benz ensured the roofline retained its sleek look.




AUDI RSQ (I, Robot)

The Audi RSQ is a mid-engined concept car developed by Audi AG for use as a product placement in the 2004 sci-fi film I, Robot. It is meant to depict a technologically advanced automobile in the Chicago cityscape from the year 2035. The car uses spheres instead of conventional wheels. Its two reverse butterfly doors are hinged to the C-posts of the body.




Aston Martin DB10 (Spectre)

Aston Martin has a long history with James Bond and for the movie Spectre, 007 drove the DB10. Ten DB10 cars were manufactured in total – eight were used for filming, along with two show cars. British auction house Christie's auctioned the only DB10 to be sold to public, to the highest bidder at £2.4 million. Though the car has a working 4.7-liter V8 engine and should be able to get up to 190 mph, it isn't certified or approved for use on public roads and it comes with no warranty!




Thanks for reading!

Note: Most of the content in this post have been reproduced verbatim or with slight modification from below sources. Images featured in this thread are also mostly taken from below sources or from Google Images

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concept_car
https://www.dsautomobiles.co.uk/insi...s/ds-x-e-tense
https://www.motorauthority.com/news/...nault-explains
https://www.autotrader.com/car-shopp...ld-them-215703
https://www.hyundai.news/eu/stories/...-are-designed/
https://www.theverge.com/ces/2017/1/...ulpture-photos
https://auto.howstuffworks.com/cost-...oncept-car.htm
https://auto.howstuffworks.com/buyin...than-seems.htm
https://autoweek.com/article/car-new...rs-huge-hassle
https://www.damninteresting.com/the-atomic-automobile/
https://www.msn.com/en-in/autos/phot...BUU7D0#image=7
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_GINA
https://www.techradar.com/news/car-t...mobile-1166564
https://web.archive.org/web/20070927...w.html?id=1415
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[GTO]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[sandhyab]

First post made me think, why start a thread about what is a concept car on a auto forum? but rest of the post made me realise how little I know about the history of concept cars

[jailbird_fynix]

Here are some older concept cars that were used in the movies.

1. Durango 95 (Probe 16) - A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick - 1971)



2. Mach 5 - Speed Racer - built on a 2001 Chevrolet Corvette chassis.



3. Lancia Stratos Zero - Michael Jackson's "Moonwalker" (1988)





4. Other popular Batmobile Concepts

1966 - The Batmobile was based on Ford Motor Company’s concept car, the 1955 Lincoln Futura.



1989 - Anton Furst's Batmobile

[karan561]

Good Thread, particularly Post #6 was entertaining.

Just earlier this week i was in Los Angeles & spent some time around the Tumbler & other concept vehicles.

Here are some pictures i clicked;



^ The Tumbler in real life is not as large as it looks on screen.

This Batmobile featured in the Justice League i believe;



^ Equally badass as the Tumbler in real life (but larger)

Batpod - Not sure what its based on but had a Honda engine;



^ Huge indeed, in fact i did sit on one in another section (to produce a short movie with the green screen in the backdrop) no pictures were allowed. Was very uncomfortable.

Batwing - Not sure if this actually works;

[FrodoOfTheShire]

Originally Posted by karan561

Just earlier this week i was in Los Angeles & spent some time around the Tumbler & other concept vehicles.

Batpod - Not sure what its based on but had a Honda engine;

Here's an interesting video of Jay Leno driving the actual Tumbler used in Batman Begins -

https://youtu.be/ydtGew7bWuw

I had read that the actual Batpod used in Dark Knight was driven by a stuntman using his shoulders!

The Flip car or the Ramp car is another fascinating one used by the villain Owen Shaw and his crew in Fast and Furious 6. It flipped other cars using the wedge shaped ramp in the front. Completely custom built, using a 6.2-liter LS3 V8 from the GM, stretching out about 160 inches over a 130-inch wheelbase driving on 419/55R17 rear and 315/35R17 front tyres! (Source)

[SideView]

Check this out:

Bmw vision next 100, what bmw predicts cars could look like in next 100 years.

https://www.bmwgroup.com/en/next100/brandvisions.html

https://youtu.be/6tUWYXe9qbY

How they have managed the area around the wheels just blew my mind. The alien like stuff in the interior is freaky and cool at the same time.

[RedTerrano]

Am I the only one worrying the back seats will get wet when you open the rear doors in case it's raining?
And that flexible wheel housing? That sounds like intentionally creating a problem and then fixing it with some "cool tech".
I would rather car companies invest in some useful tech.. Say analyze the driving pattern of vehicles in your immediate vicinity and rate their driving skills so that it helps the driver keep safe(r) distance from them as required.

[VaidhiR]

This video was sent to me by a colleague who works on concept design and their feasibility study.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_adJBzQgfsg

Not really a "car", but these tire concepts also really piques my interest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27iJWJXBmnc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tyc4Apyk2Rc

[sandhyab]

Originally Posted by SideView

How they have managed the area around the wheels just blew my mind. The alien like stuff in the interior is freaky and cool at the same time.

Personally to me this concept car is what tickles my bones. And its a fully drivable car as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsWxMoh3_50