We see a lot of concept cars on the international auto show
circuit and, to he honest, a lot of them bore me.: Nowhere are
the more pipe dreams that are never heard of again.
But a few
stand out as important and fascinating, and actually going to
change the market.
I am Brian Cooley with my top 5 favorite
concept cars from recent international auto shows.
Number 5, The WRX is SubieÃ?s hero car -- without it, they
wouldnÃ?t have less street cred, theyÃ?d have non.
At least not until
the BRZ earns legend status.
The WRX concept that came out at the 2013 NY Auto Show has
a distinctive and appropriate new style: i.e., it looks badass, and
not in the sort of Ã?hotly homelyÃ? manner of the current WRX .
No details have been confirmed about its future powertrain, but
that probably wonÃ?t stray far from the boxer turbo, AWD DNA of
the current cult car.
4.
Lexus LF-CC
The LF-CC makes the list because it could redefine a large part
of what you think when I say Ã?LexusÃ? without being utterly
impossible for that company to get its head around.
Launched at the 2012 Paris Motor Show, it has a high-strung 2.5
liter turbo 4 plugged into the most popular hybrid system in car
history.
LED headlights sit behind the best iteration yet of the
Lexus Ã?spindle grilleÃ? and a center console with a hugem vertical
main LCD screen, that you would laugh off if it werenÃ?t for the
Tesla Model S already doing it.
3.
Panamera Sport Turismo
If Porsche calls this Panamera Sport Turismo concept the
Ã?sports car of tomorrowÃ?, where does that leave the 911?
LetÃ?s
not thing about that.
Instead, letÃ?s focus on this Panamera
conceptÃ?s butt: The most hideous part of the current car, Porsche
did what they should have done in the first place and made it hot.
This is also envisioned as a lithium-ion plug-in hybrid lashed to a
3-liter supercharged V-6, which is the basic engine in the current
Porsche hybrids.
LED headlights up front and the taillight look
from the latest 911 out back.
2.
Ford Atlas (video)
The Atlas concept is clearly a windvane of the next F Series
pickup.
When it arrived at the 2013 Detroit auto show, we noted
how Ford plans to keep displacing V8s, once considered the
third rail of pickup truck religion.
But now that FordÃ?s turbo V6
pickups handily outsell their V8s, the Atlas envisions that kind of
power train and active body aerodynamics.
The power ladder
brace in the back is probably not heading to production, but an
around-view camera system totally could.
Trailer Backup Assist
helps you make sense of backing a trailer into a spot, one of
those things that can make a man look like a fool...and thereÃ?s
also tech to coordinates of the trailer hitch on the center screen
display so you can back up and hitch it without help.
See Ã?look
like a foolÃ? above.
1.
Nissan Terra
The Terra SUV is real concept car stuff, in case you didnÃ?t notice:
Suicide doors and a fuel cell power and that face give that away.
But what made a lasting impression on us at the 2012 Paris
show was how the Terra envisions some bold but just believable
trends.
Like the idea of a tablet docked inside becoming the
instrument panel.
navigation and entertainment rig and even the
way you start the thing.
Putting electric motors at each of the four wheels is also an idea
whose time has probably come for electrics, offering a highly
addressable powertrain and reduction of weight and mechanical
complexity.
Now they just got to throw out that sheet metal and
start again.
If you want to stay on top on all the new concept cars coming
out of the big auto shows, you want to be checking in at
cars.cnet.com.
I am Brian Cooley, thanks for watching.
