Concept car  

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A concept vehicle or show vehicle 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 have a chance of being 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 never 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 and cost. A "production-intent" vehicle, as opposed to a concept vehicle, serves this purpose.<ref>Chrysler "Jolts" PHEV Race; PHEV Ads; V2Green Acquired, Sep 24, 2008, CalCars (California Cars Initiative)</ref>

They are also known as prototype cars, but should not be confused with prototype race cars such as the Le Mans Prototype.

Design

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, 3 or 6 (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, some cannot move safely at anything above 10 mph. Template:Citation needed

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 refinedTemplate:Citation needed, such as General Motors' Cadillac Sixteen concept.<ref>Cadillac Sixteen, by Nick Hull, Detroit Auto Show 2003 Highlights, Car Design News, Inc.</ref>

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.

Notable concept cars

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}}</ref> |- | MIT Car || The Massachusetts Institute of Technology concept car with Frank Gehry.<ref>Concept Car w/ GM & Frank O. Gehry</ref> |- | Phantom Corsair || A 1930s concept car, developed by Rust Heinz. |- | Pontiac Bonneville Special || Pontiac's first 2-seater sportscar that debuted at the 1954 Motorama. This nameplate carried over to a Pontiac sports car of the 1950s. |- | Pontiac Club de Mer || Pontiac's all stainless steel sportscar that debuted at the 1956 Motorama. |- | Porsche 989 || Porsche's first 4-door car, a predecessor of the Porsche Panamera. |- | Rolls-Royce 1EX || The first in a series of 'experimental models', the 1EX was built by Rolls Royce in 1919 on a 40/50 h.p. chassis to test and develop their cars. Individual EX models were produced for over 40 years ending with the 45EX in 1958.The Ghost name Rolls Royce Ghost was adopted in 2011 as a production vehicle. 1EX was also used for the concept version of this Rolls-Royce vehicle. <ref>{{

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}}</ref> |- | Mercedes-Benz F700 || Its Pre-Scan feature allows you to not feel any bumps and humps on the road. This design will lead to the development of the next-generation Mercedes-Benz A-Class, Mercedes-Benz B-Class, and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. |- | BMW GINA || 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. |}

See also

• Auto show
• Car design
• Future car technologies
• Pre-production car
• Production vehicle
• Product lifecycle management
• Proof-of-concept
• Prototype
• Serial production
• Show car