Concept car

Concept car /kon-sept kar/ noun (countable)

A concept car is a prototype vehicle, built by a manufacturer to showcase new styling, technology, and design ideas, which is not intended for immediate mass production. This is a flight of automotive fantasy, a show-stopping piece of motor show theatre designed to generate headlines and is untroubled by the dreary realities of production costs or safety regulations. Concept cars are the car industry's equivalent of high fashion on the catwalk: wilfully impractical, outrageously styled, and a hint of what might trickle down to the high street in a heavily diluted form. For the British motor industry, they were often magnificent promises of a brilliant future that, thanks to strikes and a chronic lack of money, sadly failed to materialise.

The Full Story of the Concept Car

The concept car was an American invention, perfected by the legendary General Motors designer Harley Earl. His 1938 Buick Y-Job is considered the first, a "dream car" designed purely to excite the public. By the 1950s, GM's Motorama shows were showcasing jet-age fantasies with turbine engines and bubble canopies. It was pure spectacle.

The British, with their perpetually tight budgets, rarely indulged in such pure, non-functional fantasy. Their concept cars were often much closer to reality, serving as thinly disguised prototypes to gauge public and press reaction. Jaguar, for example, never really built pure concepts for its sports cars; it built a series of evolving racing prototypes. The Le Mans-competing E2A prototype of 1960 was, for all intents and purposes, a public concept test for the styling and technology of the upcoming E-Type.

Rover was particularly adept at using concepts to signal its future direction. The advanced shape and engineering of the P6 (2000) were foreshadowed by a series of gas turbine-powered prototypes, while the Rover SD1's striking, Ferrari-inspired shape was first trialled on a design study. These were not just flights of fancy; they were serious statements of intent from a confident engineering company.

The story of the concept car in the British Leyland era, however, is one of glorious but ultimately heartbreaking ambition. The designers within the crumbling empire were often brilliant, producing forward-thinking concepts that promised a world-beating future. The most famous was the 1985 MG EX-E. Unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show, it was a stunning, mid-engined supercar with a plastic body and a visible mid-mounted V6 engine, designed to take on the Ferrari 308. It was a breathtaking vision of a high-tech future for MG, a brand which at the time was reduced to selling a rebadged Austin hatchback. The car caused a sensation, but BL had neither the money nor the will to build it. It became the ultimate symbol of the company's crushed potential.

Today, the tradition of the magnificent but unfulfilled promise lives on. The Jaguar C-X75, a revolutionary hybrid hypercar concept from 2010, was a show-stopper that starred in a James Bond film but was ultimately cancelled, deemed too expensive to produce. It proved that even now, the most exciting British cars are sometimes the ones you can't buy.

For The Record

Do concept cars actually drive?

Some do, some don't. A "pusher" or styling buck is often just a fibreglass shell on a simple frame, sometimes with a tiny electric motor to get it on and off a motor show stand. Others are fully functional prototypes with complete interiors and drivetrains, capable of being driven at speed for press photography and evaluation.

Why don't they just build the concept car?

The production version is always a compromise. A concept car's wild styling, with its huge wheels, tiny mirrors, and razor-sharp edges, would never meet safety and practicality standards. Its exotic materials are too expensive, and its handcrafted construction is impossible to replicate on a mass scale. The accountants and safety engineers invariably water down the dream.

What was the first concept car?

Most historians credit the 1938 Buick Y-Job, designed by the legendary Harley Earl of General Motors, as the first true concept car. He used it as his personal car and as a rolling laboratory for new ideas like power windows and concealed headlamps.

What was the most famous British concept car that never was?

A strong contender is the 1985 MG EX-E. It was a stunning, mid-engined supercar concept that promised a high-tech, world-beating future for MG. It generated huge excitement but was inevitably cancelled by a cash-strapped Austin Rover, perfectly summarising the thwarted ambitions of the era.

Are all concept cars futuristic?

Not anymore. A recent trend is the "heritage" concept, where a manufacturer showcases a modern interpretation of a beloved classic car to test public appetite. Jaguar did this successfully with the Project 7, a modern F-Type inspired by the classic D-Type racer, which led to a limited production run.