Love/Hate Relationship with Concept Cars

Concept cars are awesome. Automakers get to showcase thelatest and greatest features, while at the same time innovating the nextgeneration of vehicle specifications. As cool as concept cars are though, the versionthat eventually makes it to production is usually a watered down shell of whatcould have been the greatest thing ever. An epic concept with a revolutionarycar navigation system that integrates with your smartphone turns into a base production model  that you feel lucky they included a car CD playerin. Lame.

 

Lamorghini Spiga concept

 Still, even getting to set eyes on some of these is worthit. Just look at this Lambo Spiga concept. Its wheels look like a revolverchamber. The world is a cooler place because this exists, even if no one willget to drive it. Hopefully they will take feedback from what people like aboutthese cars, and incorporate it into later production models. Even if theydon’t, making concepts allows automakers free reign to design new crazyfeatures and innovate the most cutting edge technology for automobiles today.

 Even better,occasionally a company will sell a concept car so at least a tiny handful oflucky people get to drive it around. This was the case with the FerrariAvendator J we wrote about the other day. They only sold the one unit they made–to the tune of 2.8 million dollars – but someone gets to take it home and putit in their garage. Same with FAB Design’s take on the McLaren MP4-12C Terso ondisplay at Geneva this year – they’re making and selling five units, so ahandful of people can create an extra-exclusive cool kids club of vehicles thatstorm troopers drive.

These are not the concepts you're looking for.

 All in all, even with the frustration of knowing they won’tmake it to production, concepts are an interesting and necessary fixture in theauto industry to push the limits and discover new technologies. Even if we don’tget the chance to drive these ourselves, at least we can admire them and hopethe features we fall in love with will make it to production someday. How doyou feel about concept cars?

How Many Knots per Gallon Does Your Car Get?

If you’ve ever owned a boat you know there is almost nothingmore relaxing than being out on the open water. However, if you don’t have adock or want to pay an arm and a leg to store it at a boat yard, you’re lefttrailering it back and forth from the water every time you want to use it. That’swhere the day-dream of amphibious vehicles comes in: cars you can drive intothe water like a boat without worrying about destroying your engine,transmission, fuel pump or navigation units. Well, there seems to be an answer fromthe company WaterCar and it goes by the name “Python”.

This five passenger land/water-craft is almost 21’ in lengthand looks like one heck of a good time. They claim it hits speeds of 60mph inthe water and is made of non-corrosive materials such as fiberglass to avoid wear.The vehicle will need to be registered as a boat and a car, but you only need alicense to operate it on land. What’s the catch? Well, the first catch is thatit runs at roughly $200,000. Ouch. The second? It doesn’t come with an engineor transaxle, which is quite the “disclaimer”. They estimate this install wouldcost about $40,000, but if you have enough money to spend $200,000 on anengine-less car-boat then it shouldn’t be the biggest drawback.

This year I keep seeing more and more crossovers on the road,but these vehicles bring a whole new meaning to “crossover”. While this isn’tthe only concept of its kind, the fact that WaterCar makes the experience look likea Jimmy Buffet tailgate on the water has gotten them a bit of attention. I want.

The Detroit Auto Show is in Full Swing

On Monday one of the most important auto shows in the US gotunderway. This is not just a time to show off in-dash navigation screen systems andcar radio units that are smarter than the average college grad. No these showsare about all things new and automotive. Each year the Detroit Auto Show is thespot where the car industry strut’s their stuff for the US audience. Not onlydo they show what they can do but they also show what “you” as a consumer canbuy.

Honda came in with new models under the Honda name as wellas some updated Acura models.  Over thelast few years the Honda models have become kind of stagnant, boring style andout dated looks. The reveals of two of their major designs may have changedthat, the Accord Coupe and TL Sedan both got a major 2012 update, which looksgreat. Chrysler showed off a number of new updates for current models, the 200got the super S pack which seems to be the closest thing to a tuner package Chryslerhas ever offered.

Chevy stepped into the arena with a few concept cars thatare supposed to be aimed at the younger crowd. While they are unique, I thinkmany car companies forget that a car has to look good before it can be “cool”.The example of this sis the 130R and the 140S which both are supposed to be hip…butare not good looking. This is an issue that many car companies run into, in conceptvehicles or production.  Toyota and Subaruare a great example together they created the FT-86 concept. A great looking 2door coupe but once it hit production it had been so toned down and softened itjust blend into the car world like a failed Taurus model.  Mini stopped by to show off the Mini coupeconvertible which looks great while Cadillac showed off their new 3 series competitor.

The show continues till the end of the say today and givesthe people of Detroit the chance to get an up close and personal look at theideas coming up for grabs. Not only could people see the concepts but they alsoget to give input and change how the future of the automobile will change.