A concept car is a car prototype made to showcase a new vehicle’s styling, technology, and overall design before production. They are often shown at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not have a chance of being produced.
Yes this is breathtakingly beautiful. No, it won’t go into production (but that we’ll get to that in a second).
The Coupetorino was created by Alfredo Stola a designer at StudioTorino and Piotr Degler Jablonski a student at IAAD art institute. It was entered into the event "Turin World Design Capital 2008" as part of the "Bespoke Coachwork" category. The idea was to take a Mercedes SL and give it Italian flair. The result was pure sex.
Now comes the unfortunate part... Mercedes will not make anything like this.
The current Mercedes SL is a convertible with a retractable hardtop, so a coupe may be redundant. But even more to the point is that if Mercedes thought the SL needed to be a coupe, there would be no problem to make one, because it has made coupes of the SL before. The last one was based on the SL from two generations ago (R107), which Mercedes used the body style from the 70s and 80s. But the first SL coupe was also the first SL: the 1954 300SL. Right now Mercedes is working on the gullwing SLC supercar, which will likely share some components with the current SL. So, the SL coupe pictured above can’t make production because Mercedes already has the bases covered.
We usually don’t show sketches and computer images from design schools or design contests because they lack any reality. It’s usually just an art student who fantasizes about an odd design, then slaps a on badge of his/her favorite company and describes the car as powered by some engine that isn’t even chemically possible (for some reason no one teaches art students smiles and dreams cannot be converted into combustible fuel.)
This wasn’t even the winner of Volkswagen Brazil’s design contest (probably because it looks a lot like the Kia Kee,) but designer Daniel Gerzson made a pretty cool video so at least we can post it.
The rumors have been going around for a while that Toyota and Subaru are going to team up to build a small Celica-sized coupe. It seems this may actually come together next month at the Detroit Auto Show. While some manufacturers are pulling out of Detroit, Subaru may be using this show to unveil its version of the small sports car.
It would be unlikely that Subaru would deviate from its current theme of offering all cars with all-wheel drive, so this one should follow suit. Plus, by making the Subaru version all-wheel drive and the Toyota’s car rear-wheel drive it will help differentiate the cars. But that should all be confirmed when the car comes closer to production in 2010 or 2011.
By Subaru deciding to unveil this car at the North American International Auto Show, this may be a signal that the new coupe will be sold in the U.S.
Nissan’s NV2500 is one of the largest concept vehicles Nissan has ever produced. It is the commercial vehicle that Nissan announced would take the place of the Titan at the Canton, Mississippi, plant, when it announced the next-generation Titan would be built by Dodge. The first Nissan commercial vehicle is scheduled to be launched in the first half of 2010.
The NV2500 Concept’s “wall-less” mobile office/workspace design includes a computer workstation, fold-down conference table, numerous storage compartments, cargo/tool tie-down racks, nearly six feet of interior height and an awning-style side panel that opens to create a standing outside workshop table.
The NV2500 is conceived to be a multi-purpose utility vehicle. Built on a modified Nissan Titan full-size pickup all-steel, fully boxed ladder frame, engine choices would be selected for competitive power and fuel efficiency. Other under-skin components include an automatic transmission and solid rear axle. The wheels are a special 20-inch billet aluminum design, while the Michelin tires include a special tread pattern designed for a good payload capacity and fuel efficiency.
Volkswagen seems to like to make collector editions of cars not sold in the U.S. First there was the Scirocco Collectors Edition. Now VW unveiled the Golf Plus Collectors Edition at the Bologna Auto Show (the Golf Plus is just what it sounds like: a Golf/Rabbit with a little extra room.) The Collectors Edition, a concept painted in “White pearl effect” and featuring 225/40 tires on new 18-inch “Bilbao” alloy wheels.
Inside and out, the Golf Plus Collectors Edition exudes a kind of lounge ambiance. And not only because of the espresso machine integrated in the center console. The interior is trimmed in high-end nappa leather in “Titanium black” and “St. Tropez” (cream white) – this creates a very contemporary and urbane ambiance. Perfection right down to the last detail is evident in the decorative “Viaggio” seams between the individual sections of nappa leather trim.
