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Concept cars at the 2011 Melbourne Motor Show

No less than 14 concept cars reared their heads at this year's Melbourne Motor Show, and a good majority of them are headed to showrooms in the near future.

Derek Fung
Derek loves nothing more than punching a remote location into a GPS, queuing up some music and heading out on a long drive, so it's a good thing he's in charge of CNET Australia's Car Tech channel.
Derek Fung
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Toyota FT-86 II

No less than 14 concept cars reared their heads at this year's Melbourne Motor Show, and a good majority of them are headed to showrooms in the near future.

With a Subaru-supplied boxer engine sending power to the rear wheels, the FT-86 II will revive the notion of a sporting Toyota after the demise of the MR2, the Supra and the Celica.

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Toyota FT-86 II

We've seen seemingly countless versions of the FT-86 concept car — the original FT-86, the sportier FT-86G, the Scion FR-S and, of course, this. The good news? The production version will be revealed later this year, and will go on sale locally in the middle of 2012.

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Audi e-tron

Powered by four electric motors, one for each wheel, the e-tron has a total of 230kW at its disposal. The 100km/h mark can be dispatched in 4.8 seconds, and the Lithium-ion batteries give the car a range of 248km.

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Audi e-tron

This e-tron's drivetrain will form the basis of an all-electric R8 e-tron that's set to debut in 2012.

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BMW Vision EfficientDynamics

It's not quite production-ready, but, come 2013, a car very similar to this will see the light of day and be badged as the BMW i8.

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BMW Vision EfficientDynamics

This is a supercar with a difference, as it's a hybrid — and a diesel one at that. An electric motor and a three-cylinder turbo-diesel will together produce 241kW of power, and take the car from zero to 100km/h in just 4.8 seconds.

For more information, check out our in-depth photo gallery.

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Porsche 918 Spyder

Although Porsche has already confirmed that the V8 hybrid supercar concept is now bound for production, this poster is as close as Melbourne show goers are going to get, for the time being.

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Mazda Minagi

If this car looks almost production-ready, that's because it is. Later this year, the Minagi will emerge with minor changes to become the new CX-5.

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Mazda Minagi

One thing that won't feature on the new CX-5 is the show-car's lovely illuminated "numberplates".

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Mazda Minagi

Underneath the pretty skin, the Minagi is said to house a whole bunch of fuel-saving SkyActiv-branded features, including a new transmission and engine.

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Mazda Shinari

One show-car that won't be seeing production is the Minagi's sibling, the Shinari.

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Mazda Shinari

The Shinari is here purely to showcase the company's new design language, dubbed Kodo: Soul of Motion.

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Mazda Shinari

A shame, really, because the Shinari would make a fine rear-wheel-drive range-topping Mazda.

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Hyundai Blue2

Pronounced "blue squared", the Blue2 mightn't be adorned with the company's distinctive fluidic motion style, but it does have a fuel cell electric drivetrain.

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Hyundai Blue2

The electric motor can deliver 90kW of power, and the inside entertainment system centres around an iPad dock.

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Mitsubishi PX-MiEV

This plug-in hybrid SUV mates a 70kW/125Nm 1.6-litre petrol engine with two electric motors, one each for the front and rear axle. Together, the two electric engines can provide 60kW of power and 200Nm of torque.

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Mitsubishi PX-MiEV

Fuel economy of 2L/100km is claimed, as the car works primarily as an electric vehicle until the batteries are nearing empty. Depending on the situation, the petrol motor will kick in and either recharge the batteries or provide extra power.

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Suzuki Swift S-Concept

Powered by a 1.6-litre petrol engine, the S-Concept has flared wheel arches, more aggressive bumpers, a large rear wing and 18-inch alloy wheels.

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Suzuki Swift S-Concept

Hopefully, the sporty version of the current Swift will look this good.

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Toyota Prius C

No specifics have been announced regarding the Prius C's hybrid drivetrain.

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Toyota Prius C

Rather, the C is designed to gauge demand for a sub-Prius-sized hybrid hatch.

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Lexus LF-Gh

It's not entirely clear from this shot, but the LF-Gh's most distinctive feature is its oddly shaped grille.

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Lexus LF-Gh

Shrink the alloys a tad, add on wing mirrors and normal door handles, and you essentially have the next-generation GS sedan.

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Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid

We're rather impartial to the V60's shapely wagon form; even more so when it's clad in matte white paint. The car seen here is a precursor to a production plug-in hybrid that's due to go on sale overseas in 2012 — no word yet on Australian availability.

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Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid

The drivetrain features a 150kW/440Nm 2.4-litre five-cylinder diesel engine and a 50kW/200Nm electric motor located at the back and powering the rear wheels. Electric-only range is 50km, fuel consumption is rated at 1.9L/100km and zero to 100km/h can be done in 6.9 seconds.

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Holden Coloardo

The new Colorado ute is due to go on sale locally in 2012, but it won't be quite as extreme as the car on display at the show.

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Holden Coloardo

For the Melbourne show, next year's new ute has been dressed up with 20-inch alloys, and LED head- and tail-lights; none of which are destined for production.

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Holden Cruze hatch

Despite having already revealed the production version of its new Cruze hatch, Holden chose to display a show-car version with large alloys, and lovely motor show-only head- and tail-lights.

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Subaru Impreza XV

If the next-generation Impreza ever spawned an Outback-style variant, the XV concept would be a close precursor.

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Subaru Impreza XV

It's amazing what the matte green paint job and motor show-only features do to lift the Impreza's aesthetics.

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