When Dreams Barely Meet Reality
Concept cars are automotive fantasy brought to life. They are visions of the future unconstrained by practical limitations, conceived to propose new technology and styling ideas in an exciting package often not meant for production. Concept cars can also serve as experiments in novel methods of manufacture, the use of new materials, and even the form and configuration of the car itself.
Like the famed space-age concept cars of the mid-20th century, those of the last thirty years reflect significant shifts in automobile design resulting from technological advancements and evolving predictions of motorists’ future needs, desires, and tastes. The era from the mid-1990s to today has been a transitive period that has seen the reintroduction of electric power, at the same time when internal combustion engines have achieved horsepower figures never before imagined. While family cars have transitioned from sedans and minivans to sport utility vehicles, there has also never been more variety in the types of vehicles and form language available to drivers. New automobile categories have been introduced, from crossovers to hypercars to high-performance luxury SUVs. Many of these developments were predicted by concept cars, the most recent of which serve to excite today’s motorists about what may still be to come.