Design Study

As urban areas get more and more crowded, the city car segment is responding with new and updated models. However, not everyone is looking to get into some barebones transportation bubble, so what if you could combine the practicality of a city car with the presence and prestige of a high-end luxury car? Well, Budget Direct Car Insurance did exactly that with the following seven renderings, showing us what to expect if an automaker like Rolls-Royce or Lamborghini decided to downsize in a big way.

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These days, it seems like you can’t turn around without bumping into some new SUV tuned to perform like a sports car. But what if you went the other way around, taking a sports car and adding a dash of off-roading goodness? Or maybe try a gallon of off-roading goodness. Well, that’s exactly what Budget Direct did with the following seven renderings.

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There’s something about a child’s imagination that brings out smiles on our faces. Whether they’re drawing their families with stick figures or imagining their ideas of what cars will look like in the future, there’s are no grey areas involved in how their imaginations work. What they put on paper ends up being more intriguing, if not fantastical, than anything we, as adults, can come up with.

GoCompare, a Welsh auto insurance company, put that to the test when it invited a group of children to draw their ideas of what they think the cars of the future will look like. The results are incredible, if not amazing. At the very least, they’ll bring us back to a time when we also thought the cars of the future would run on chocolate.

You know, I’m not that old, but I am old enough to appreciate the occasional throwback or reboot. You know, something that recalls a pleasant memory from my earlier days, but with a modern twist on top. Just so long as it’s done right, though – don’t wanna go around ruining peoples’ childhoods, now. Of course, Hollywood is all over that, injecting old franchises with new money to see what pops out the other end. But what if rather than digging up old TV shows and movies, we applied that modernization gloss to cars instead? Well, that’s exactly what Budget Direct did with the following seven renderings.

Included is a classic compact, a gullwing that takes us back to the future, a classy muscle machine, the grandfather to Jaguar Land Rover, a Czech beauty, a slippery pony car, and a Swedish revival. Each of these machines carries with it a long history and more than a little nostalgia, but didn’t quite make to the modern era. But that’s about to end, because we’re bringin’ ’em back, baby.

Which is your favorite? Care to share an automotive memory with us? Feel free to post it in the comments below as we remember the times...

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We’re still coming to grips with the long-awaited arrival of the Lamborghini Urus, but that hasn’t stopped artist X-Tomi Design from making us crave once again for a Urus model that may not even come. Just as soon as Lamborghini unveiled the four-door Urus, the rendering genius decided to create a different version of the super SUV, one that has two doors instead of four. This is what a two-door Lamborghini Urus looks like, and it looks incredible.

In case you’ve been living under a rock (or maybe you’re just in denial?), demand for crossovers and SUVs continues to consume just about every automotive segment imaginable. Even the well-established performance marques are susceptible to the siren song of profitable jacked-up suspension plus tons of practical rear cargo room, with models like the Porsche Cayenne and Lamborghini Urus upending decades of sports car traditions. But what if we took it a step further? What if we gave eight iconic sports cars the SUV treatment? Welp, Jennings Motor Group did exactly that with the following renderings.

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The third-generation Mercedes-Benz CLS is here and it cooler than ever. It’s sleeker, sportier, and stands out alongside any other Mercedes car thanks to its unique styling cues. It has a brand-new engine too, making it the first time when Mercedes debuts such a feature through the CLS. With the four-door coupe now official, there’s a lot of talk as to what versions will follow. Will there be a high-performance AMG model? How about a shooting brake in both standard and AMG guises?

We’ve seen these variants before, so it’s only natural to think that Mercedes-Benz will keep them alive for the third-generation. But are we getting new versions too? Like a coupe, or maybe a convertible? How about a pickup-style version with a big bed behind the cabin? Sounds pretty crazy, right? Okay, the Germans probably won’t go that far, but a new batch of renderings suggests that the CLS would look awesome in various body styles. The pictures come from X-Tomi Design and include five different CLS-based models. Let’s have a closer look at them below.

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The evolution in car design is one of the biggest identifiers into how far the auto industry has come in the last 50 years. Classic designs from years-gone-by have given way to modern designs that sit on the shoulders of cutting-edge technology. There’s no going around how things have changed in the industry, but what if there was a way to mesh the classic designs of yesteryear with today’s design language? Would the results be something you’d be interested in? Would you cringe and run away from them as fast as possible?

Fortunately, we won’t have to imagine what those cars would look like. Marketing agency NeoMam Studios prepared a few renderings of these cars, which we’re going to show below. There are seven renderings in total, with each car getting an injection of old-school design touches. Not everything worked out as well I’d hope, but you might have different reactions altogether. Let us know in the comments section below how you feel about the renderings.

Halloween may have come and gone, but it’s never too late to explore the weird, the bizarre, and the downright frightening things that go bump in the night. If you’ve got the nerve, then we challenge you to look through these utterly profane vehicle renderings, courtesy of the good folks from Click Mechanic. Truth be told, no one is safe from the following strange creations – hybrids, muscle cars, imports, supercars, trucks, and even tractors get tossed into the blender with these seven unholy car mashups.

Call it madness, call it lunacy, call it outlandish… truth be told, we simply can’t look away! Hell, we’d actually argue that some of these creations are a bit, well, awesome (no, seriously). Either way, this is what happens when you give rendering artists free reign to mix and match from across the automotive spectrum. Naturally, we wanna know – which is these shocking mashups stands out the most to you? Let us know in the comments!

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Lamborghini just unveiled its latest concept vehicle. Dubbed the Terzio Millennio, or “third millennium,” don’t expect to see one of these driving around on public roads any time soon. Rather, the Terzo Millennio is Lambo’s look into the distant future, imagining what’s possible in terms of energy delivery, material technology, and of course, insane exterior design. And before you go off in the comments section about the impossibility of some of the ideas proposed here, you should probably know the concept was developed in collaboration with MIT. So then – maybe you could call this thing an “educated guess”?

First and foremost, the concept is electric, bristling with various kinetic energy recovery systems to keep it as efficient as possible. However, rather than the traditional battery set-up, the Terzo Millennio uses a supercapacitor system, which would theoretically provide an ever bigger wallop when pressing the go pedal.

Next up, the Terzo Millennio is made from lightweight composites. No surprise there, but apparently, this ain’t your daddy’s carbon fiber. Instead, Lambo proposes a nanomaterial construction that actually acts as an energy storage system, keeping the electricity flowing while also providing the structure and body of the car. What’s more, Lambo foresees a self-monitoring system that will actually detect cracks in the composite structure and self-heal the damage, like some kind of giant organic skin.

Finally, Lambo wants an AWD drivetrain with independent electric motors, allowing more freedom in the body design, and as a result, better aero. More importantly, though, Lambo says the Terzo Millennio has to sound like a proper supercar, which will be quite the trick indeed.

What do you think of it? Does the idea of an electric, self-healing Lamborghini sit well with you, or is all this just a bunch of crazy talk?

When Honda debuted the Urban EV Concept at the 2017 Frankfurt Auto Show, I was quick to scrutinize the brand for building something so weird, but as I looked at it more, it began to grow on me. And, it’s a good thing it did because that thing is slated for production for the European market sometime in 2019. And, to really top it off, Honda showed up to the 2017 Tokyo Auto Show with a sports car that looks quite familiar – the Honda Sports EV Concept. Following suit with the previous concept, it carries the same general styling cues in a futuristic but feasible package. Of course, it’s a sports car, so it doesn’t have that love seat up front, but it is quite sporty for what it is, and it could just as easily shift into production thanks to being built upon the same platform used for the last concept.

Unlike the last concept, however, we have next to no information. And, Honda didn’t even take the time to release interior shots of the concept either. We can tell that it has that massive display screen and that it’s missing the couch, but outside of that, we can’t see much. But, that doesn’t mean that this little battery-powered sports car should be overlooked. Out of all the EV sports car concepts we’ve seen, this is the one we really want to see become a reality, so let’s take a good look and see what’s crackalackin.

The fifth-generation Lexus LS just hit the market this year, but the Japanese automaker is already looking ahead into the future with a new concept for its flagship sedan that’s heavy on state-of-the-art technology. The concept is called the LS+, and if you were thinking it to be outlandish in the typical Lexus concept fashion, then you’d be right. The LS+ Concept is a feast for the senses in more ways than one.

We already have an idea of how Lexus does concept vehicles. The NX Concept from a few years ago blasted our expectations through the roof, and it’s nice to see that Toyota’s premium brand isn’t letting up. This car, Lexus says, is going to be a showcase of what the LS could look like down the road. It’s not a certainty that this blueprint will be put to use in the future, but as far as giving us a taste of what could come, then it hits all the right spots. It looks the part of a futuristic concept though more important than that are the litany of tech features that it comes with, including the curiously named “Highway Teammate” automated driving technology that brings autonomous driving tech to life. That’s just one of the technology goodies we can expect from the LS+ Concept, so expect a whole lot more now that the full-sized beauty is sitting pretty at the Tokyo Motor Show.

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I’ve been a big fan of station wagons ever since I was a little boy. They just seem fascinating back then. Now, they’re just practical, and some of them are actually pretty. And that’s enough to get me going. But as much as I like wagons, it’s the shooting brakes that get me really excited. It makes sense, considering they’re everything a wagon is, but with a sleeker design. Unfortunately, there aren’t many around. Porsche did launch the Panamera Sport Turismo recently, but other than that, there are only three options available: the Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake, the CLA Shooting Brake, and the Ferrari GTC4Lusso. The Mercs aren’t even available in the United States, while the Ferrari is awfully expensive.

All told, carmakers need to build more shooting brakes! Preferably affordable ones.

Not going to happen anytime soon, right? The problem is, even if it happens, it’s more likely to get shooting brakes from premium companies. Just look at the one that already exists. But hey, I’m not picky. I can always buy a Volvo 1800ES or a Reliant Scimitar GTE if I want to own a shooting brake without selling my kidneys. But I have a short list of cars that could become cool shooting brakes, and they all come with renderings provided by X-Tomi Design. Let’s check them out below.

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Arguably the coolest scene from 1999’s Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace was when young Anakin Skywalker took to the sand and battled for his freedom in a homemade podracer. Sure, the final lightsaber battle was pretty friggin’ awesome as well (Darth Maul! Double-bladed saber! Epic music!), but when it comes to high-speed CGI glory, the podracer scene is hard to beat. In fact, the folks over at Click Mechanic liked it so much, they rendered seven unique podracers as though they were built by real-world manufacturers.

The manufacturers in question all produce some kind of speedy four-wheeled machine worthy of podracer-ization, and include Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Ford, Subaru, BMW, and Dodge. Like their real-life equivalents, each rendering gets easily recognizable liveries, and in some cases, a few sponsorship decals as well, all of which was inspired by actual race cars (you know, from planet Earth). Which one of these wild contraptions would you bring to the Boonta Eve Classic? Let us know in the comments section!

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Formula 1 has always been a bastion of the high-tech, a series where futuristic ground-bound spaceships boom by at terrifyingly high speeds, challenging what we think is possible when a human pilot takes the helm on four wheels. For the past 40 years, Renault has taken part in this orgy of speed and technology, and now, we’re getting a peek at the French automaker’s vision of things to come. Long story short, expect even more of the heart-stopping pace we know today, plus more excitement, higher levels of spectator engagement, reduced costs, increased safety, and even a dash of environmental responsibility as well.

You gotta love it when a press release kicks off with the line “the year is 2027,” so I was keen to dive into the specifics as soon as I saw this thing roll across my desk. And while these sorts of design studies don’t always nail it in terms of predicting the real future, they almost always come with a nice set of interesting ideas that could gain some traction (in one form or another, at least) in the years to come. Not only that, but the aesthetic-driven renderings are a surefire way to light the imagination and set you off on a little sci-fi day dreaming…

Updated 09/18/2017: Renault R.S. 2027 Vision made quite an appearance at the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show. Hit the "Pictures" tab to see it on the auto show floor.

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There was a lot of hype surrounding the Borgward Isabella Concept ahead of the 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show. I even got a little caught up in the buzz. It’s a good thing, then, that Borgward delivered in spades on its promise to shake up Frankfurt with the Isabella Concept because the car is absolutely stunning – never mind that Borgward didn’t bring any information on the car’s powertrain behind the hints of it going electric in the event it hits production. I was prepared for that because the company made it clear that the Isabella Concept would be a design exercise more than anything else. And as far as that was concerned, the company passed its Frankfurt test with a firework of exploding colors.

As far as concepts go, this is the kind that you wish had a production future with no changes made to it. I know that’s asking a little too much given how concepts go in the first place, but it’s a credit to Borgward’s design team that it could create a concept study like the Isabella and have people clamoring for it to come to life. At the very least, the Isabella marks a triumphant return to the Western auto scene for Borgward. It’s been gone for over 50 years and while it has returned by way of the arrivals of the BX5 crossover and the BX7 SUV in the Chinese market, the Isabella Concept is the first real indication that Borgward is making some noise once again. I don’t mind it one bit. I may not have been alive when the old Borgward went under, but I sure am looking forward to seeing what the new Borgward is capable of moving forward.

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Launched in 2006 as a replacement for the Cerato, the Kia Cee’d is now one of the company’s most popular vehicles in Europe. Redesigned in 2012 into a more modern, better-looking car, the Cee’d, along with its Procee’d, GT, and station wagon variants, is getting a little long in the tooth, and a third-generation model is likely under way for 2018. While we don’t know much about it, Kia unveiled the Proceed concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show, giving us a good glimpse of what the next-gen Cee’d might bring to the table.

Described as an "extended hot hatch that presents a new body type for Kia," the Proceed concept appears to be the bastard child of a Kia Stinger and a low, sleek shooting brake. And it’s one of Kia’s most intriguing design to date. Not surprisingly, it was penned at the company’s European design center in Frankfurt, only 500 meters (0.3 miles) from where it will be unveiled. Kia also says that the Proceed concept indicates what the next-generation Cee’d "could look like," so we might be looking at a fancier version of the upcoming hatchback.

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The 2017 Frankfurt Motor Show is just around the corner and, as usual, we’re in for a ton of debuts including both production and concept cars. Kia, which runs a design center just 500 meters from the Frankfurt Motor Show, is among carmakers that will bring new products to the event. The company’s main highlight is a concept car that presents "a new body type for Kia." It doesn’t have a name yet, but the Korean manufacturer points out that it indicates what the next-generation Cee’d "could look like."

It’s bold, athletic, and indeed brings a new body style to the current Kia lineup. While the company describes it as an "extended hot hatch," it’s actually some kind of modern shooting brake. Or a really sleek wagon with an almost fastback rear end. But it’s gorgeous, and the really wide wheel arches, the sculpted side skirts, and the rear diffuser suggest we’re looking at a performance model. Kia didn’t share any actual details about the car, but I might have an idea about what it may be. Keep reading to find out.

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We love it when we get our hands on a fresh batch of renderings. Sometimes, it’s lifelike speculation on some hotly anticipated next-gen model, while other times, it’s an imaginative mash-up of the unexpected. This particular set of renderings (nine of ‘em total) falls firmly into the latter category, mixing everyday rides like the Toyota Prius and classic Ford Mustang with the styling cues inspired by Formula 1. The images come courtesy of our friends over at Budget Direct, and long story short, we think they look awesome.

Of course, this opens up possibilities to a whole range of F1-themed rides. Never before has a Smart car looked so good, or a Jeep looked so quick, or a Prius looked so desirable. Of course, there are a few sports cars tossed in for good measure, like the Audi R8, Porsche 911, and Subaru WRX, all of which make the transition into the world of high-performance a little more easily. Read on for a breakdown on each, and don’t forget to post your favorite in the comments below, plus your suggestions for other street models that need the F1-treatment.

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BMW essentially struck gold in the compact, two-seater market when it released the Z4 back in 2003. It featured a sporty exterior, with potent, naturally aspired engines, and could be had as a soft-top convertible or in coupe form. That first generation lasted until 2009, but before the first-gen made its exit BMW was able to introduce a Z4 M in both forms with performance credentials good enough to get the little car that could up to 60 mph in as little as 4.8 seconds if you knew how to shift it right. The second-gen came to be in 2009 and, while most of the engine choices were naturally aspirated, one was offered with turbocharged goodness. Within a couple of years, the entire drivetrain lineup went turbo, and BMW hasn’t looked back since. The second-generation model lasted from 2009 to 2016 and, ever since its discontinuance, fans and purists everywhere have begged for the third-gen model – an all-new roadster that’s due for the 2018 model year and has been caught many times testing out in public over the last two years. At the kickoff of Monterey Car Week, BMW decided to release the Concept Z4, a wild interpretation of the upcoming roadster and something that at least gives us a little hint as to where BMW is going with the third-gen model.

As is the usual case with concepts, this car isn’t a firm representation of what we’ll see. For instance, it has no roof or, at the very least, has a Targa-style top. The exterior design is quite bold and features stout overhangs with crisp lines and a style that you could only get from BMW. There’s no word on what might be lurking under the hood, but BMW claims the Concept Z4 is an “all-out driving machine” that is stripped down to the bare essentials. With that said, let’s take a good look at the concept and talk more about it!

Updated 08/21/2017: We added a series of new images taken during the concept’s presentation at the 2017 Monterey Car Week.