All Concept cars articles – Page 23
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ArticleFrankfurt 2017: Honda Urban EV Concept
Retro preview of a future EV turns on the 'kawaii' charm
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ArticleConcept Car(s) of the Week: The early Ford Fiesta concepts
This week (September 2017) is the 41st anniversary of the introduction of the Ford Fiesta. Now about to enter its seventh generation, Ford has sold over 16 million Fiestas worldwide since its introduction in 1976. Conceived as a competitor to the Fiat 127 and Renault 5, the Fiesta has managed to outlast all its competition for a generation now. But what is often overlooked is how robust a platform the Fiesta has been for interesting concept experiments.
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ArticleConcept Car of the Week: The Dale (1974)
Grifts, murder, a transgender con-artist and a micro car – the story of The Dale concept car proves life is stranger than fiction
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ArticleConcept Car of the Week: Pontiac Firebird Type K (1978)
When Chevrolet introduced the Corvette Quartet in 1954, an unusual amount of interest was shown in the shooting brake/wagon variant, the Corvette Nomad. Chevrolet wanted to develop this car as a competitor to the Ford Country Squire, but elected to build the car on a Bel Air frame instead. The two-door Nomad wagon sold in modest numbers but became an instant classic, an iconic car of the 1950s. The Nomad name was transferred to a more conventional wagon later, but the idea of a two-door, sporty wagon stuck in the minds of GM design staff.
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ArticleConcept Car of the Week: Vauxhall SRV (1970)
When a young GM designer named Wayne Cherry was asked, in 1965, to travel to the UK for a temporary assignment at Vauxhall, he eagerly accepted the invitation. In addition to automotive design, Cherry was an avid racer, and longed to see some of the legendary European races in person. It seemed like the perfect opportunity.
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ArticleInfiniti reveals vintage-inspired ‘Prototype 9’ concept
Nissan’s premium brand (est. 1989) imagines its own 1940s Grand Prix car, in a fit of ‘fauxstalgia’...
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ArticleConcept Car(s) of the Week: The Corvette Mako Sharks
One day in 1956, Bill Mitchell, who would soon become GM’s design chief, pulled up at a red light not far from the GM Technical Center. Beside him was a Ford Thunderbird driven by a young designer GM had recently hired and who had quickly made a name for himself with interesting ideas for the 1959 Pontiac and Chevrolet models.
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ArticleConcept Cars of the Week: Corvair Sports Cars
The humble Chevrolet compact inspired some surprising sports cars
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ArticleConcept Car(s) of the Week: The Darrin Roadsters
Dutch Darrin’s search for the ‘Holy Grail’ of sports cars
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ArticleConcept Car(s) of the Week: The Darrin Roadsters
Dutchman Darrin's search for the ‘Holy Grail’ of sports cars
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ArticleConcept Car(s) of the Week: The Corvette Quartet (1954)
The Chevrolet Corvette is an American automotive icon. Introduced in 1953, it is the longest continually produced domestic car, still going strong at almost 65 years. But its beginning was shaky, and the sports car program was almost canceled before it had really begun.
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ArticleConcept Car of the Week: Studebaker Sceptre
Studebaker is an American automotive legend, and of the few manufacturers to successfully transition from the horse-drawn to the horsepower eras. Founded in 1852, the company produced high quality wagons for farming and overland freight hauling. By 1875 Studebaker was the largest vehicle manufacturer in the world, producing wagons and carriages in a proto-assembly line that had no rivals.
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ArticleMaserati Medici I (1974) & II (1976)
A rare design misstep by Giugiaro led to a chance for redemption
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ArticleFrank Lloyd Wright’s Lincoln Continental
This week marks the sesquicentennial (150th anniversary, if you’re not fluent in Latin) of the birth of the architect Frank Lloyd Wright. All over the United States, and beyond, celebrations and exhibitions are planned and the architect’s contributions to modern architecture and city planning are once again a lively subject of debate and critical essays.
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ArticleConcept Car of the Week: Renault Avantime (1999)
In the history of French car design, Philippe Guédon is a legend. While maybe not as well-known as Patrick Le Quement or Robert Opron, Guédon has been involved in the design of many vehicles from Simca, Matra and of course Renault. He is considered the father of the Renault Espace, a design widely attributed to designer Antonis Volanis but finally shepherded to production by Guédon for Renault in 1984.
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ArticleChrysler/Simca Shake and Suzuki Go (1970 & ’72)
Some Holiday Fun from Bertone and Marcello Gandini
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ArticleLamborghini Bravo (1974)
For many, the recent crisis of 2008 through to 2012 was the worst downturn for the automotive industry in many years. But the mid-1970s were in many ways just as grim, though many of the players in the industry were stronger then and could weather the economic storm better than in recent crises. For makers of fine cars, however, those were desperate times indeed. But many of the designs of those years, some of the best ever, seem to defy the desperation and might fool one into thinking it was an automotive golden age.
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ArticlePontiac Phantom (Madam X)
William ‘Bill’ Mitchell spent his entire 42-year career at General Motors, much of it served under the leadership of the flamboyant Harley Earl, GM’s Vice President of Design for over three decades. Earl appointed Mitchell as Cadillac’s first design chief in 1936. In 1954 he was promoted to Director of Styling, serving directly under Earl. Finally, after Earl retired, Mitchell stepped into Earl’s place and was Vice President of Design from late 1958 until his own retirement in 1977.