Mazda Nagare

Nagare means flow in Japanese. Design of this Mazda concept imitates flow in every sense. Ex-design director of Mazda, Mr. Laurens van den Acker, tried to develop a true futuristic design and in 2006 LA auto show came out with Nagare. It’s steep angled windshield, wheel position, elliptic control panel, wrap-around rear lounge and centrally positioned driver’s seat show off the way, future cars will be like. Concept prototype runs of hydrogen fuel cell. Though Mazda3 and Mazda5 drew design inspiration from Nagare, we don’t have any true production-ready Nagare yet.

Daihatsu UFE-III

If you really want bang out of every cent you spend on gas, this can be a perfect car for you. UFE III covers 86 kilometers on a liter. That means fuel efficiency of 203 miles per gallon. It sports 660 cc 3-cylinder Atkinson engine and 2 electric motors. Besides, the car is highly aerodynamic with drag coefficient of only 0.17.

From US standard, UFE III sports really nifty engine but its fuel economy is what North Americans need most. Though, the car has not entered production line yet.

Volvo 3CC

The concept was made public at Michelin Challenge Bibendum, Shanghai during 2004. Unlike many futuristic concepts, Volvo tried to build a green car within a sport-sedan frame. Light weight yet sturdy material usage and streamlined design lower aero-drag on the car. It can fit in 2 adults on the front while the rear seat accommodates 1 adult or 2 kid. The car runs on lithium-ion battery, tucked inside the floor like a sandwich. It reaches 0 to 60 mph within 10 seconds and boasts a touring range of 180 miles, depending on the driving style. You can expect this car in production line by 2015.

Ford Airstream

Do you love old Airstream RVs? Then you would like this concept crossover SUV, dubbed Airstream, from Ford. It is a plug-in hybrid, driven by hydrogen-fueled engine. Interior of the vehicles reminds spacecraft ambience of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Secondary driver seat can be swiveled backward. Rear seats are lounge type with 4 points fastening for secured sitting. The vehicle sports one side hatch for ingress and egress of passenger; rear side hatch is used for cargo loading.

Toyota FT-HS

If you want a greener sport car, FT-HS is would be a perfect choice. With 400 hp hybrid powertrain, it can reach 60mph from standstill in just 4 seconds. FT-HS achieves this feat with 3.5L V6 engine and an electric motor. Toyota used unique capacitor based fast charging technology in this concept for better performance. FT-HS allows 2+2 seating and sports retractable roof. Till date, there is no news of this concept entering production line.

Honda FCX

FCX is a series of cars from Honda with fuel cell. You can take one home too. Concept FCX fist came out in 1999. At this moment, Honda is leasing out limited number of FCX on a 3 years long monthly lease. It’s a zero emission car with electric powertrain. Latest FCX features Vehicle Stability Assist™ and Collision Mitigation Braking System™, which would make driving safer and comfortable.

Chevrolet Volt

Chevrolet Volt is another production ready car and rated as the most fuel-efficient in North America. According to US Environmental Protection Agency or EPA, Volt can achieve jaw-dropping combined FE equivalent of 93 miles per US gallon! It’s a plug-in hybrid with battery-fed motor as primary driving force. When battery charge drops to a pre-determined level, gas-fed engine kicks in. It powers an electric generator, which again drives the primary electric motor to extend the car’s touring range. After $7500 federal tax incentive, Volt would cost you $31645.

Right now, you have only Volt or FCX ready for your garage. But over 5 years, you can expect other concepts to enter assembly line.

This impressive looking 2012 Ford Mustang gets a 1967 Mustang fastback body which is studded with neon blue lighting under the car. The design for the car has been done by an award winning automotive designer Ryan Friedlinghaus who is based in Corona, California. And so he has brought this concept altogether in Ford Mustang, as anyone living in US knows that Mustang is one of the most recognizable vehicles on American Highways. The Ford Mustang is an affordable muscle car that has got massive performance figures while also being cheap.

The best part of the Project Detroit can be seen once you get inside the car. Various things that one can find includes multiple touch screens, a heads-up display with telemetry and maps, a wireless network, an Xbox 360 with Kinect, Kinect cameras providing a live feed of people and objects in front of and behind the car, customizable car-horn “ringtones”, external speakers and the ability to remotely find, unlock as well as start the car using Windows Phone apps like the Viper SmartStart. Also there’s an instrument cluster inside features a touch screen which lets users toggle between different dashboard skins. And for the funny part in this Ford Mustang, we have a rear-windshield projector screen, which displays message recorded on Windows Phone for the cars at the rear (for example “Get out of my way, Stop Honking at me, etc”)

Though the car gets some of the latest techie stuffs, we can only hope that someday Microsoft comes out really with such a car for sale. Unfortunately at present the Project Detroit is only a concept.

The Infiniti Emerg-E concept will be the first Infiniti ever to utilize a plug-in electric drive-train paired with a range-extending internal combustion engine. But that’s not the most interesting part. The Emerg-E plug-in will feature a mid-engine setup, which will presumably power the car’s rear wheels and this engine will be visible under a glass panel which is an extension of the car’s full glass roof.

On the exterior the Infiniti Emerg-E concept boasts a muscular and aerodynamic design that wouldn’t look out of place on an Italian car. However, it is instantly recognizable as an Infiniti as several of the brand’s styling cues have been incorporated into the grille and headlights. The interiors look futuristic with a right hand drive configuration setup.  The dashboard is full of instruments made of digital gauges and has a function to allow the driver to track the time. Also there’s a fuel gauge and an electricity gauge sitting side by side.

The images of Infiniti Emerg-E Concept highlight a pretty and curvaceous design and gather some similarities like that of the Ferrari 458, McLaren MP4-12C, Lexus LFA, Audi R8 and even the Lamborghini Gallardo. Technical details of the car is not yet known, however the photos released might force the company to release the full set of details in the next few days.

The styling of the Lexus LF-LC  is borrowed from the cues already employed on the new CT and GS. However this makes the exterior of the car look interesting with a blend of flowing curves and dramatic angles and remains unmistakably Lexus through the use of the familiar spindle grille and lines not too dissimilar to the LF-A supercar. Also there’s a multitude of new details like the functional recesses in the grille for air intakes, L-shaped daytime running lights, vertical dot matrix-pattern foglamps and an uninterrupted glass roof.

Inside the techno-laden cockpit is a blend of soft textures and organic shapes, with leather, suede surfaces, brushed metal and wood trim. There’s also a high, curved centre console that emphasizes the driver’s influence on the experience and such niceties as twin 12,3-inch LCD screens that act as displays for navigation and a touchscreen driver-control board for operating the windows, mirrors and seat adjustments.

The Lexus Lf-Lc is powered by the next-generation Advanced Lexus Hybrid Drive that delivers both rewarding driving performance as well as fuel efficiency. This engine is front mounted and the power goes to the rear wheels just like any conventional sportscar. Lexus hasn’t offered any details of the concept’s specifications, but has promised to reveal it soon.

Finally though the Lexus Lf-Lc concept looks amazing, it is quite possible the car will never be put into production. Although many of the design elements from this car may be implemented on future production models like the successor for the SC430 or maybe the next  Lexus LF-A.

The NSX Concept does not only reveal the future of the NSX supercar, but also presents the first application of Acura’s innovative new Sports Hybrid SH-AWD (Super Handling All Wheel Drive) system which combines a unique two Electric Motor Drive Unit with a bilateral torque adjustable control system that allows the car to instantly generate negative or positive torque to the front wheels during cornering. In addition to this the Acura NSX Concept is powered by a powerful next generation 3.5 litre VTEC V-6 engine with direct injection. The engine is mated to a dual clutch transmission which has a built in electric motor for creating the acceleration required by the supercar as well as offering outstanding efficiency.

Acura NSX Concept uses lightweight materials and several new technologies to make the vehicle look dynamically styled. “This Sport Hybrid SH-AWD system will make NSX the ultimate expression of Acura’s idea to create synergy between man and machine. The NSX will make the driver one with the car to enhance dynamic driving abilities without getting in the way.” said Takanobu Ito, president and CEO of Honda Motor Co. Ltd.

This new supercar is expected to debut in the next three years and will be developed by an engineering team led by Honda R&D America, Inc and manufactured in Ohio. And if it works out as planned it would be actually fun to drive the Acura NSX Concept.

The Camaro Hot Wheels Concept project was a collaborative effort between the General Motors Design studio in Michigan and the Hot Wheels Design studio in California. The teams have tried to apply some of the distinguishing features of a 1:64 model toy car and then super-size it back to full-size making the car look dazzling with Spectraflame finish, flat-black graphics, and redline wheels. Each team sketched its own ideas of a life-size Hot Wheels Camaro, compared notes and refined their visions until the concept hit the right note for each group of designers.  Originally unveiled a few weeks back at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas, this concept looks cool.

Thus in order to build the Camaro Hot Wheels Concept car the team had to essentially invent its own way to paint the car, which involved the reflective finish from Gold Touch Inc,  a liquid-metal solution in the primer, and then a green tint applied over the car in layers. Also the car has details like smoked-lens taillamps, exhaust bezels, ground effects, a ZL1 grille & rear spoiler, and a black-leather IP with Torch Red accents.

This Hot Wheels concept is powered by a 6.2-liter V8 engine and is linked to a Tremec six-speed manual transmission. Inside the car, cabin gets the Hot Wheels embroidered logos on front seatbacks, a black leather-wrapped instrument panel with Torch Red accents and a Chevrolet Accessories pedal kit. Other details include a Hot Wheels badge on the deck lid, Euro-style tail lamps with new inner smoked lends and a ZL1 rear spoiler.

Unfortunately the car will remain as a concept and will not be introduced in the market.

Coming to the design the Toyota NS4 gets a new styling direction particularly with that nose, on which the company’s designer comments that “the NS4’s lines reflect a new take on the aerodynamics of the modified triangle, with a low height and cabin-forward tilt”. The windshield and side & rear windows of the NS4 concept gets a technological makeover with the application of various features like the anti-fog film, a high ultraviolet absorbing inner layer that removes 99 percent of harmful UVA & UVB rays, and an anti-solar film with radio-wave transparency that reduces the interior temperature without impacting mobile electronic device wireless reception. Also the windscreen and windows, along with the roof solar panel, have been provided with a hydrophobic coating to help repel raindrops and improve visibility.

Toyota has developed the NS4 concept with a heavy focus on connectivity. Its Human-Machine Interface (HMI) is built around a multi-touch screen that takes its lead in the look and usability departments from a smartphone. This acts as a hub for displaying information and also controlling the car’s multimedia, air conditioning, battery-charge and navigation functions. Toyota says the HMI system is also able to learn driver preferences and habits and anticipate driver responses in certain situations.

The car is also equipped with a number of new safety features like the next-generation Pre-Collision System (PCS) which is designed to predict collisions before they occur and help avoid them, interior and exterior rear view cameras that replaces mirrors to provide a dedicated dashboard-mounted screen above the navigation display to display a panoramic rear view image which is wider than that possible with conventional rear view mirrors and the Blind Spot Monitoring (BSM) system which works in parallel with the rear view panoramic camera to detect a vehicle in an adjacent lane.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Though the company plans to launch the Toyota NS4 by the year 2015, the car will undoubtedly look different than the concept displayed in Detroit. However we can hope, if not most, that the connectivity and safety features found on the current NS4 concept will be there in such a car by that time.

The uniqueness of this car lies in the face that it can display images both on the inside as well as outside with the same ease as downloading an application.  The Fun Vii Concept can display images, custom messages, flashy graphics and lots more on the exterior and can provide ambient lighting inside to match the mood of moment for the occupants inside.

Other than these the Fun Vii Concept includes a cabin that can accommodate three people, a network update function that helps to keep all the software up to date, and a variety of themes and an extended reality function taking place to replace the traditional navigation system. The concept also has a memory of its own which enables the Fun Vii to interact with both your smart phone as well as other road users, adding both a safety and social element to the driving experience.

Even though one cannot expect a price or release date for such a concept, it would be amazing to see the software updates, touch sensitive surfaces and networked driving incorporated into a future car like the Fun Vii Concept.

Though the picture shown here is that of 2 door coupe model, the actual production model will be a four door Suzuki Regina.  The car will be 3,550 mm long, 1,630 mm wide and 1430 mm tall with a wheelbase measuring 2,425mm. To some extent the car looks somewhat similar to Suzuki Swift at the rear end however being more rounded and aerodynamic than the Swift. The spoiler integration on the top, the Regina looks more sporty and smooth. With large wheelbase and the axles put almost extreme, the car gets a wide track for high stability and good handling.

 On the inside the car is more spacious than its looks. The intelligently placed low floors, slim seats, nicely carved out door trims, and cheerful color tones on the doors and roof give a feeling of added space. With four seats and two doors the concept vehicle is loaded with a number of techy instruments at the center of the dashboard and controls at the middle. Even the bottom of the seats is kept slim to make some storage place wherever possible.

 Suzuki Regina will be powered by a fuel efficient petrol engine which is expected to give 32 Km/l of mileage. The CO₂ emissions are also low as 70g/km (measured in New European Driving Cycle).

Porsche 929’s theoretical dimensions make it smaller than the Porsche Panamera but larger than the 911. Aside from the design itself, what makes the Porsche 929 stands out from the pack is Cho’s imaginative (though possibly impractical and expensive) car sharing scheme.

Tackling environmental and space issues, the designer imagines that the Porsche 929 Concept is a community-share vehicle with a private feel. Members of the car-club could access a vehicle at any time from a central “docking” station where a variety of 929s would charge on a cleverly designed rotating parking structure.

The design of the concept car came from the recent 918 Spyder Concept . It features a very sleek and aerodynamic body complete with LED headlights, rearward-opening scissor doors and much more. Also integrated into the design are unique side scoops, partially covered wheels and a rear end that looks very similar to BMW’s Vision Efficient Dynamics concept.