The Fruit of Knowledge
Posts tagged Filed under: Concept Cars
Official: Honda teases two concepts debuting in China
Apr 10th
Filed under: Concept Cars, China, Honda, Beijing Motor Show
The Beijing auto show kicks off in less than two weeks, and Honda has just released two teaser sketches for concepts it will be showing in China.
While the tiny images don’t reveal much, the top sketch seems like its a coupe, one that bears a resemblance to the Accord. The bottom one looks like some sort of people mover, with lines that seem drawn from both the North American and international versions of the Odyssey.
Honda says it will also be displaying three hybrids in China: CR-Z, Insight and Fit Hybrid. The Acura ILX and RDX and the Acura NSX Concept will also be on hand. All five of those, excepting the NSX, will be launched in China this year, says Honda.
Scroll down to read the full press release.
Continue reading Honda teases two concepts debuting in China
Honda teases two concepts debuting in China originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Official: Freightliner’s awesome new Revolution Innovation is a future rig done right [w/video]
Mar 22nd
Filed under: Concept Cars, Truck, Technology, Videos, Work, Design/Style, Diesel
Freightliner is stealing the spotlight at this week’s Mid-America Trucking Show in Kentucky with a new truck concept. The Revolution Innovation is aimed squarely at reimagining the face commercial trucking. With innovations like a more aerodynamic body, cold-rolled aluminum frame that’s 200 pounds lighter than its steel equivalent, low-slung engine placement and an intelligent rear axle that can automatically switch between four and six-wheel drive as needed, the concept is more fuel efficient while retaining plenty of functionality.
Designers looked at how most drivers use their rigs, and determined that most of the time, there’s only one occupant in the cab. To that end, they scrapped the passenger door in favor of a more efficient work station and a rest area. There’s even an innovative rear door between the cab and trailer. A new gauge cluster and cell-connected center console both add extra layers of functionality as well.
Outside, clever use of LED lighting and low-drag cameras replace traditional design elements. Despite its concept looks, the Revolution Innovation is a fully operational truck. Hit the jump to check out the full video for yourself and peruse the gallery for more.
Freightliner’s awesome new Revolution Innovation is a future rig done right [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Confirmed: Mercedes-Benz CLC to get Beastie introduction in LA?
Mar 16th
Filed under: Concept Cars, New York Auto Show, Mercedes-Benz, Design/Style
We’ve been expecting for some time that Mercedes-Benz would choose to grace its New York Auto Show stand with a variant on its new A-Class family as part of a push to bring a new range of small cars to North America. However, it now seems more likely that Los Angeles audiences will get a vision of Mercedes’ entry-level future, not New York. That’s because Mercedes has officially confirmed that it will show something called the “Concept Style Coupe” at an art, music, film and food festival in LA curated by none other than Mike D of the Beastie Boys.
Transmission LA: AV Club, a “multi-disciplinary festival,” runs from April 20 to May 6, and sponsor Mercedes promises an “artistic staging” of the concept car (expected to be a sedan), the production version of which is rumored to be dubbed CLC. The 17-day festival will be held at the Geffen Contemporary at LA’s Museum of Contemporary Art.
All of which begs the question: With the New York Auto Show staged earlier (press days are April 4 and 5), what will Mercedes show in the Empire State? It’s too significant of a market to the Three-Pointed Star to let the show pass without debuting something significant. See the complete press release below for more.
Continue reading Mercedes-Benz CLC to get Beastie introduction in LA?
Mercedes-Benz CLC to get Beastie introduction in LA? originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Report: Jaguar to confine turbine-powered C-X75 to track use? [w/poll]
Mar 14th
Filed under: Concept Cars, Coupe, Hybrid, Performance, Government/Legal, Jaguar, Specialty, Electric
We can appreciate a good track car as much as the next enthusiast, but we’re beginning to bemoan their creation as a way out for automakers to charge wealthy customers obscene amounts of money for cars they’re not even legally allowed to drive on the road. (As least, not in countries were homologation can’t be circumvented with a sufficient bribe to the right bureaucrat. Which we’re not entirely sure includes these United States.)
It’s the road that Lamborghini is expected to take with the “production” version of the Sesto Elemento concept, and it appears to be the way Jaguar plans to bring its C-X75 concept to production. At least, the jet-powered one, anyway.
The C-X75, as you may recall, bowed at the 2010 Paris Auto Salon with an awesomely innovative powertrain: two micro-turbines acting as range-extenders to electric motors. Reports then began to surface that Jaguar intended to build the supercar, only that the commercially available version would pack a 1.6-liter turbo four being developed with the Williams Formula One team and packing about 500 horsepower instead of the turbine setup. (Not too shabby, but still no turbine.)
Then parent company Tata invested in a turbine outfit called Bladon Jets near Jaguar’s headquarters in Coventry, leading to the development that a limited quantity would be offered with turbine power like the concept’s. The latest reports, however, indicate that even those would be confined strictly to the track.
Now don’t get us wrong, we applaud Jaguar and Tata pursuing the technology of getting this experimental powertrain into a “marketable” car, however much it may cost. We’re just not sure that keeping it confined to the race track, given the prices they’ll be bound to charge, is the right way to go about it. Agree or disagree? Cast your vote in the poll below.
Jaguar to confine turbine-powered C-X75 to track use? [w/poll] originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Geneva: Valmet Dawn gets it Tron on in Geneva
Mar 8th
Filed under: Concept Cars, Geneva Motor Show, Electric
There are a lot of ways to describe the Valmet Dawn you see pictured above, but our favorite could be mouthed by Keanu Reeves: Whoa. And then we would expand it to WTF? As in, “Whoa the F?”
That’s because Valmet Automotive – the makers of the Fisker Karma, among other vehicles – has wrapped its electric vehicle engineering chops in what is perhaps the most impractical and odd-looking concept vehicle we’ve ever seen. The Dawn concept is meant to show that Valmet can both research and develop EV components like drivetrains and batteries and put them together into a vehicle, a two-prong approach that Valmet says is a new strategic focus area for the company. With that in mind, perhaps it not a total surprise that Valmet hasn’t released any sort of information about the range, power or really any real-world details about the Dawn. Like, for example, what’s that blue disc in front? An inductive charger? A 21st Century cow catcher? An Identity Disc?
Valmet says this test bed vehicle “integrates both the component developer and integrator roles. Displaying the battery pack, drivetrain, control unit and charging options, it also shows what ultimately can be achieved in the world of electric mobility, by integrating solutions in an innovative fashion.” Innovative. Yeah, that’s the word.
Continue reading Valmet Dawn gets it Tron on in Geneva
Valmet Dawn gets it Tron on in Geneva originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 08 Mar 2012 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Geneva: Sbarro surprises Geneva with Intencity Concept
Mar 8th
Filed under: Concept Cars, Coupe, Geneva Motor Show, Technology, Specialty, Design/Style
Among all the automakers unveiling their new wares in Geneva every year are a handful of independent designers and schools that aim to change the way we think about the automobile. They range from mainstream design houses like Pininfarina and Bertone to the zany obscurity of the IED Torino and – most especially – Sbarro.
Not to be confused with the Italian fast-food chain, Franco Sbarro has a history of creating off-the-wall show cars for the Geneva show. But while we were expecting to find the F1for3 concept created for Delphi, instead we found the vehicle you see above.
Called the Intencity, this vehicle is less a design of Franco himself and more that of his students at the Espera Sbarro school in Montbéliard, France. Details are few and far between, but what we can tell you is that the innovative design packs an electric powertrain into a 1+1 body-style with a giant front-hinged canopy.
Power (whether theoretical or otherwise) comes from a 100-kilowatt electric motor fueled by a 96-cell lithium-phosphate battery good for about 180 kilometers fitted in a tubular frame chassis for a package that weighs a lithe 980 kg overall. OZ provides the wheels and Recaro the seats, and you can check out the whole package in our high-resolution live images from the show floor.
Sbarro surprises Geneva with Intencity Concept originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 08 Mar 2012 09:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Geneva: Magna MILA Coupic Concept is a shape-shifting convertible crossover pickup
Mar 8th
Filed under: Concept Cars, Convertible, Coupe, Truck, Geneva Motor Show, Crossover, Specialty, Design/Style, MISC
Please excuse us while we banish thoughts of David Letterman’s hosting of Oscar night – Magna; MILA… Uma; Oprah – and instead focus on what this concept car brings to the table. This is the sixth MILA Concept from Magna-Steyr, the Austrian arm of Canadian auto parts giant Magna International, and it’s meant to showcase the capabilities of the supplier.
First and foremost, the MILA Coupic’s two-door crossover shape can convert into a convertible or a pickup truck, depending on the configuration of the rear seat. There’s seating for as many as five occupants in full CUV mode, and the two glass roof elements can be opened or closed independently.
The MILA Coupic is an impressive engineering exercise, and, since Magna builds such production machines as the Mecedes-Benz SLK, Fiat 500C and Opel Astra TwinTop, it’s one that could potentially see a roadway near you at some point in the not-too-distant future. See for yourself in our image gallery above, and read more in the official press release below.
Continue reading Magna MILA Coupic Concept is a shape-shifting convertible crossover pickup
Magna MILA Coupic Concept is a shape-shifting convertible crossover pickup originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 08 Mar 2012 09:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Geneva: Peugeot brings the 208 party to Geneva
Mar 7th
Filed under: Concept Cars, Geneva Motor Show, Europe, Hatchback, Peugeot, Diesel
The successor to the Peugeot 207 line, the 208, made an appearance under the lights of the Geneva Motor Show this week. Buyers in the EU may choose from either the three-door body style you see above or a more functional five-door configuration. Both vehicles feature smaller exterior dimensions than the old 207 but with greater interior volume than their predecessors. Peugeot also shrank the available gasoline engine options in the 208. A 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine serves up a heady 75 horsepower, though consumers looking for a little more grunt may step up to a 1.2-liter three pot good for 100 hp.
All told, the 208 is available in five different configurations, including a range of diesel-powered options that include Peugeot’s next-generation stop/start system, which helps return nearly 83.1 mpg on the EU scale. Not too shabby.
Want something a little hotter? How about the Peugeot 208 GTi Concept (above left)? In addition to more aggressive body work, larger brakes and flashier 18-inch alloy wheels, the vehicle packs the same 1.6-liter engine as found in the company’s RCZ. That means buyers can expect to find somewhere between 156 and 200 turbocharged horsepower kicking through a six-speed manual transmission. How’s that for a win?
Meanwhile, the 208 XY Concept (above right)wears more flash than actual go. With a color-shifting purple paint, unique interior treatments and a 1.6-liter turbo diesel engine, this hatch is meant more for prowling city centers than corner carving.
Continue reading Peugeot brings the 208 party to Geneva
Peugeot brings the 208 party to Geneva originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 07 Mar 2012 14:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Geneva: Tata Megapixel is a high-res effort on a low-res budget
Mar 7th
Filed under: Concept Cars, Budget, Hybrid, Geneva Motor Show, Hatchback, Tata, Electric
What’s the next Tata Nano going to look like? The Megapixel concept is a good indication of where the Indian brand’s ultra cheap micro-car could be headed in the next few years, and if the onboard tech makes it to production, the Megapixel could be one of the most compelling – and most affordable – city cars in the world.
Measuring in at a scant 138 inches, the Megapixel combines a small footprint with four electrically powered and individually articulating wheels that help it achieve an impressive nine-foot turning radius.
Power is provided by the aforementioned wheel-mounted electric motors which can deliver a maximum of 369 pound-feet of torque, with a 13kW lithium-ion battery pack providing the juice. A 325cc single-cylinder gasoline engine will refill the batteries for trips longer than 54 miles, giving the Megapixel a theoretical range of over 560 miles. A production model is still a ways out, but with Tata’s continued expansion and ambition, we wouldn’t be surprised to see something like the Megapixel on sale in India and other developing markets by the end of the decade.
Tata Megapixel is a high-res effort on a low-res budget originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 07 Mar 2012 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Geneva: BMW M135i Concept is a behatched successor to our favorite 1er
Mar 7th
Filed under: Concept Cars, Geneva Motor Show, Hatchback
If BMW isn’t willing to give us an authentic M-ified 1 Series, we’ll have to settle for the next best thing, and that’s the M135i, the latest performance package from the marque’s motorsport division.
Based off the three-door F20 variant of the Euro-only 1 Series, the M135i isn’t quite the 1er/M3 lovechild of the dearly beloved 1 Series M Coupe, but it’s still packing BMW’s tried-and-true-and-tunable turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six, putting out more than 300 horsepower presumably through a six-speed manual gearbox.
Beefed-up brakes, tweaked suspension bits and 18-inch M-branded wheels are fitted at each corner, while restyled front and rear fascias round out the rest of the exterior mods.
We’ve heard through the grapevine that the M135i has already been approved for production, both in rear-wheel-drive and xDrive trim for Europe (except the UK), but considering the F20 still hasn’t come Stateside, don’t expect the M135i to make the trek… yet.
BMW M135i Concept is a behatched successor to our favorite 1er originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 07 Mar 2012 06:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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