When automakers reveal their latest and greatest concept cars it’s always a spectacle. Essentially, it is a test to see if the car company can continue to be forward thinking and innovative with their car designs. It could be a hit or a complete fail. A lot rides on these concept cars because they are so expensive to produce. Hopefully their research and development pays off, sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t. Here’s some of the cool & bizarre cars shown throughout the years.

Chrysler Atlantic

1995

The origin story of the Chrysler Atlantic is that one day two high up Chrysler execs were talking about how they both loved the car called the Bugatti Atlantic. They loved it so much that they decided to design a car that would pay homage to it. That homage turned out to be the Chrysler Atlantic. It was shown in 1995 to a disappointed crowd. Critics did not like it’s shape, “it was too shark like”. Hence it remained a concept.

Honda FC Sport

2008

Produced by Honda and shown in 2008 at the Los Angeles Auto Show, the FC Sport is a concept car to show the public what a hydrogen powered car might look like. While hydrogen fuel cells are still being debated as the cars of the future, we’ll see what happens. Though it seems electric battery cars will work better, since hydrogen is extremely flammable and you need 5x more hydrogen gas than regular gas.

GT by Citroen

2009

The GT by Citroen is a sports concept car designed by the collaboration of French auto maker Citroen and Japanese race simulator company Polyphony Digital. The car was produced to be in the racing video game Gran Turismo 5. Six were made in real life using a Ford 5.4L V8 engine with a 7 speed transmission. In the video game the car was powered by Hydrogen.

Lexus LF-SA

2015

The Lexus LF-SA was built to mark the 25th anniversary of Lexus in 2015. The LF-SA was a tiny little concept car that was 66 inches wide and 56.3 inches tall. Critics weren’t really impressed with it, it reminded them of something the car company Scion would make.

Honda Urban EV

2017

The Honda Urban EV debuted in 2017 at the International Motor Show Germany. The exterior design of the car is a homage to the first generation Honda Civic, but with rear-hinged suicide doors. The interior can fit 4 adults on two bench seats. The infotainment system is one long touch screen panel with an artificial intelligence programmed by Honda “that learns from the driver by detecting the emotions behind their judgments.”

Audi AICON

2017

The Audi Aicon was made so we can get a glimpse of what the future of driving looks like. It functions fully autonomously on four electric engines (one for each wheel) that can go about 500 miles before needing a recharge. That being said, the driver can recharge the car or it will just drive to the station itself to get the job done (it also recharges when it brakes). Since it’s completely autonomous there’s no steering wheel, the Audi AI takes care of the driving so the passengers can just relax and enjoy the ride. The passengers also have access to all the latest and greatest technology to keep them busy while on the road. The AI can detect who the passenger is by their phone and turn on all his/her personal settings. There is a large display screen below the windshield or there is a virtual head-up image that appears in the windshield. The conventional headlights are gone, instead replaced with digital display surfaces that communicate to other cars what the Aicon is about to do. There’s so much to this car it could take a really long time naming all of it’s features. I cannot wait for the future of driving if it comes anywhere close to this.

BMW Vision NEXT100

2016

The BMW Vision Next100 is BMW’s prediction of what cars will simulate in the next upcoming decades. It shares many similarities with the Audi Aicon. It is completely emission free and can drive without human assistance (called “ease mode”) or humans can drive the car using a steering wheel that looks like a PSP (called boost mode). I personally like that BMW gives you the option, call me old fashion but I like driving cars. The whole windshield provides an augmented reality for the driver to provide assistance while driving or entertainment. Another innovation on the car is called “Alive Geometry” which is the car will “mold” to what it wants to do. Becoming more aerodynamic or less. Basically the wheel fenders can move.

Peugeot E-legend

2019

The Peugeot E-Legend is an all electric car with a neo-retro exterior design to pay homage to Peugeot’s 504 coupe. It’s run by two electric motors on each axil and gets a range of 370 miles. The top speed is 137 mph and 0-60 in under 4 seconds. It has two driving modes, one is completely autonomous and the other gives the driver the control.

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