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Filed under: Concept Cars , Etc. , Lexus The Lexus Nuaero concept would look right at home running alongside its movie star sibling that appeared in Minority Report , though that concept vehicle got all the looks. Unfortunately, that's not saying much. Jon Radbrink has penned a futuristic blade of a car that comes out looking for all the world like a Stanley Pocket Surform. The forward thinking doesn't stop with the Hobie-Cat exterior, there's plenty of future-dreaming inside the Nuaero. Pedals have been banished for a steering wheel-based setup that operates sort of like an aircraft yoke. Radbrink thinks that people's hands are better for driving than our feet - something about accuracy. Mhm. John must ride the train a lot; we see plenty of inaccuracies happening out there by people using all four extremeties. While we're all dreaming, the Nuaero is intended to be rendered in lightweight materials, so it would theoretically offer the space of a larger vehicle while...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Etc. , Euro , Supercars , Lamborghini Click above for a gallery of the Veno. Apparently, dreaming up a new design for a rarefied vehicle is too difficult for Veno Automotive, a Polish spinoff of UK-based Heros Capital Ltd. Rather than relying on design experts, with their fancy degrees and engineering knowledge, the company cribbed the Lamborghini Reventon so closely that we predict flying lawsuits. Veno's car not only looks like a Lamborghini, the company claims it will perform like one, too. Underpinning the bodywork is supposedly a chassis that can make use of more than 1,000 horsepower. Coupe or convertible flavors are planned, with a low yearly volume of about 15. Carbon fiber will make up the bodywork, carbon-ceramic brakes are part of the package and there's an array of tech like night vision and an on-board computer with internet access. Power will initially come from Audi's 4.2 liter V8 in various levels of tune, and the company suggests...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Etc. , Videos , Lotus , UK Click above for high-res gallery of the Lotus Concept Ice Vehicle We can forget all about the price of gas when we get news like this. Sure, we'll probably never ride in the Concept Ice Vehicle (CIV), but just knowing that folks at Lotus are working on things like this while we sleep... well, it's like finding out that there is a Santa Claus. The CIV was developed to aid research for the Moon Regan TransAntarctic Expedition . The biofuel powered, propeller-driven trike on skids is 4.5 meters long and 4.5 meters wide with an independent suspension all around. It also has an ice penetrating radar to detect crevasses and is light enough for a man to pull it across difficult terrain, which basically makes it an Elise for explorers. It also appears to have a spiked "foot" under the cockpit, perhaps for stopping on icy terrain. The CIV will lead the way for two other, heavier support vehicles as the explorers make their...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Motorsports , Etc. , Special/Limited Editions We criticize the idea of design by committee when it comes from a major automaker, but Local Motors touts its open, inclusive process of collaboration as a deep strength. LM has decided to put Sangho Kim's Rally Fighter concept into production. Just like a proper automaker, lots of words bloom on the webpage -- most of them the etymological equivalent of weeds. The Rally Fighter is intended to scream across a variety of surfaces in glorious four-wheel drifts. Watching the progression of Kim's styling from sketch to metal will be intriguing. The drawings show a vehicle with the typical bombastic proportions of a concept, but if this thing ends up in production with its outlandishly large wheels, impossibly low roof, and exoskeleton-inspired body sculpting, we'll definitely be clamoring around the auto show stand to check it out. Gallery: Local Motors Rally Fighter [Source: carbodydesign.com ] Read | Permalink...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Etc. , Euro , Volkswagen Click above for a high-res gallery of the VW Touareg North Sails Volkswagen has treaded carefully down the path first blazed by the largely ignored Mercury Villager Nautica with a sailing-themed Touareg concept that has debuted at the famous Travemünder Woche, which we're told is the second largest annual race week for sailing in Germany. Teaming up with a company called North Sails , which actually sells boat sails unlike Mercury's branding partner, Nautica, which sells polo shirts, VW has added a new ground effects kit, a yellow rub strip, watery-blue reflectors, and 19-inch wheels. Stepping aboard, occupants will find a cabin decked out with teak flooring, LED lighting accents, white leather seats with aquamarine stitching, and an alcantara headliner. We think we've seen that window tint color on our beloved Matchbox SuperFast cars from the early 1980s, too. North Sails branding shows up in the form of logos on the...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Etc. , Ford , Lincoln , Mercury Back when it was virtually guaranteed 20% US market share, Ford would redesign its vehicles every five or more years. The Ford Ranger, Focus, and Crown Victoria changed even slower, with mostly only new lights and grilles. When competitive pressures started to put the Blue Oval into an anaconda death grip, that once guaranteed share began to shrink. To battle those competitive forces, Ford is looking to do a major redesign on its vehicles every three years from now on. Ford design director Peter Horbury told Automotive News that minor styling changes just aren't effective, and that future redesigns will include changes to everything but the doors, roof, and glass. That leaves bumpers, hoods, trunks, lights, quarter panels and front and rear facias as some of the items that can be refreshed in a much more timely fashion. Horbury claims the Dearborn, MI automaker listened to the press with regard to styling changes, which emboldens...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Etc. , Supercars , Ferrari As we reported not too long ago, Ferrari is not stupid , and if you've got the obscene cashflow, you can get your own design rendered in Rosso Corsa with a gen-yoo-wine Prancing Horse on the fender. Trouble is, not everyone has a shelf full of sketchbooks with multitudinous supercar designs lying in wait. Even if you do, they're probably not very good. Mastering foreshortening and perspective is not a weekend project, and designing a body that's actually capable of production is also not something the common man, even the uncommonly rich common man, is familiar with. Yanko Design has done some of the heavy lifting for those talentless hacks wanting to join the Jim Glickenhaus society. The Glick went to Pininfarina, but Yanko came up with several designs that offer alternate takes on the Ferrari theme. Some actually look good, though others would be better off as Hot Wheels cars. Wouldn't it just be cheaper to get one...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Gadgets , Etc. , Tech , Motorcycles Over the last 70 years, Batman has driven all sorts of vehicles , with a wide array of Batmobiles, planes, bikes and boats appearing in the various comic books, television series and movies. Arguably none have been as wickedly exciting, however, as the Tumbler which the superhero drove in the most recent Batman Begins . But with the sequel swooping into theaters this week, we're in store for a new piece of kit. Called the Batpod, we've been bringing you details of the new motorcycle as they've become available . The Batpod is driven by a pair of motors hidden within the giant 20-inch wheels and steered by the shoulder, allowing the Caped Crusader to operate an arsenal of machine guns and grappling hooks. We'll have to hold on just a little bit longer to see it in action on the big screen, but in the meantime you can check out the images from the Batmobile's and Batpod's demonstration at Silverstone with...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Etc. , GM To all of you Autoblog sleuths out there, it's time to go to work. The silver car in the picture above was spotted on the set of Transfomers 2 filming in Pennsylvania. The wheels (cartoonishly large out back) and lines, and the fact that GM is a major player in the film, would seem to suggest it's some sort of GM product or concept -- although not the Corvette ZR-1, as some have claimed. It's also got the same concept mirrors that GM loves to use and kind of looks like Bumblebee's evil Decepticon twin. The shooter also said that the car has scissor doors like a Lamborghini. Follow the link to see more pictures from the filming, and let us know what you think the mystery car is. [Source: Transformers Live via Shoot for the Edit ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Coupes , SUVs , Etc. , GM , HUMMER , Saab Today is a movie day, it seems, and once again, it's General Motors in the thick of things. Via HISSTank comes a new set of photos from the G.I. Joe movie set. There, we see a couple of the modified HUMMER H2s that will be used, as well as the Saab Aero X concept. No word on which character's driving the latter. Storm Shadow, maybe? At least it'd match his threads. As for the HUMMERs, they are apparently equipped to traverse hedgerows . At least that's what we gather from those tacked-on rhino-style bumper mods. See more pics at HISSTank and mourn with us for the wholesale destruction of our childhood memories. [Source: HISSTank ] Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Coupes , Sports/GTs , Etc. , Supercars , Ferrari Click the image above for more hi-res pics of the Ferrari Concept 2008 We realize that not everyone will agree with us on this one -- passions seem to run highest over the cars that the fewest number of people will drive -- but if the Ferrari California looked like this concept, we'd put down a deposit right now. Once someone else gave us the money to do so. Sure, from the A-pillar forward is pure Maserati, and there's no way a front intake like that could or should make it onto a Ferrari. Still, it's a good looking front end, and we don't mind design elements going up as well as down. Besides, a couple of keystrokes can get a proper Ferrari nose in place. But from the A-pillar to the rear... those are the kind of aggressive, subtle lines we like in our Ferraris. Which is not to say we don't like the California -- we just like this a little better... A coupe, please. That color. Gallery: Ferrari...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Etc. Click above for a gallery of the Veritas RS3 at the 'Ring. Just last week we asked you to help us identify a mystery car we caught on the Nuerburgring Web cam . Knowledgeable reader PandaBeat guessed it was the Veritas RS3 Concept car and won the admiration and respect of the staff, if not other readers. We've again spied this odd car while checking the Web cam, as well as eagle-eyed readers Eric Recher and Cole Eswein who sent us more evidence. With these much-improved views, we can see that if it is the Veritas, it has grown a hood scoop and some aerodynamic aids beneath its chin, as well as sprouted larger headlamps that wrap above the front fenders. So does this confirm that our mystery car is the Veritas Concept from 2001 with a few updates? Or are we looking at a new Veritas concept? Is this testing of a production prototype or an entirely different car? Check out the gallery for more mystery car clues. Gallery: Spied on the Nuerburgring again...
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Filed under: Aftermarket , Concept Cars , Minivans/MPVs , Etc. , Marketing/Advertising , Commercial Trucks , Hatchbacks , Hyundai , Toys Click to view more of the Hyundai i10 ice cream van We can come up with all manner of criteria for evaluating a car at any level: design, performance, spec sheet, ride, features, technology, value... but the one factor that trumps all others, what it all really comes down to, is how it appeals to our inner child. At the heart of it, that's why we love Lamborghinis and HUMMERs and Mustangs... and this particular Hyundai i10. It's just a treat. The ice-cream van conversion wasn't made for Good Humor, although it certainly put us in that state of mind. It was created as a promotional tool for the British launch of the i10 by auto innovator Andy Saunders, the same guy who gave us the neo-Picasso Citroen 2CV and the ground-hugging Fiat 126 , among others . While the Poole, England-based customizer has come up with many creative designs before, we...
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Filed under: Concept Cars , China , Etc. , Mazda So you're a customs officer in Beijing, and out of the trailer you're inspecting is hauled a... a what? The Japanese people who have accompanied it, who claim to be from Mazda, also claim that it's a concept car. Frankly, it could also be a submarine, or it might eat people -- or it could be an elaborate ruse for hauling drugs or bombs. So the officials at Beijing airport let the dogs out to sniff for, well, probably everything. Finding nothing, the Taiki was allowed to roll on to the Beijing Auto Show. Nothing in there but coffee grounds, sir, just coffee... [Source: The Tycho ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Filed under: Concept Cars , Motorsports , Coupes , Sports/GTs , Etc. , Supercars , Lexus , Toyota Smokey Nagata took a Supra to Nardo to flog it around the track and remind Toyota about what it could be doing with its time. Now, a freethinking designer with some serious rendering skills has upped Smokey's Supra by kitting out an LF-A in a similar garb. The result is this, the TOP SECRET LF-A Nardo 400 Supercar Concept. Created by Jon Sibal , the car is an LF-A with some "Nagata san flavor," customized graphics, and a hunger for the 400 km/hr mark. We'll take it standing still. We don't know how many more people will need to nudge Toyota before the company will give us a sports car again. But if Toyota asked itself "What kind of bada** statement can we make to get back into the sports car game?", this kind of car could the answer. Toyota? Anyone? Thanks for the tip, Michael! [Source: Bespoke Ventures ] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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