Yahoo Autos Amazing Concept Cars We Totally Forgot About
My son was playing with a few of my old die-cast cars from when I was a kid — Hot Wheels and stuff like that. Among the collection were a few concept cars I had loved as a kid, but completely forgot about later. You may have too. Concept cars are typically just that: Concepts. These cars typically never see the light of day, and end up either stored away or scrapped. Even the ones that previewed future technological innovations and design details ended up promptly forgotten. Take a trip down memory lane with us as we reminisce about a few of those forgotten concepts.
Pontiac Rageous (1997)
Exemplifying Pontiac’s sporty design, the Rageous was a “four-door coupe”
with small rear doors like a Mazda RX-8 and a liftback trunk that was honestly pretty cool. With the liftback opened and rear seats folded, the concept had 49 cubic feet of storage space. Pontiac sportiness meant a little kick under the hood as well, with power coming from a 315-horsepower V8.
Read more
The sporty design language continued inside with lots of ‘90s flair. This Pontiac even had an early form of music streaming, provided through a communication link by a CD pay-to-listen service that piped in the driver’s favorite music.
Chrysler Thunderbolt (1993)
Released as a concept in 1993, the Thunderbolt was a handsome-looking coupe that inspired the cab forward design Chrysler popularized in the 1990s. Power came from a 4.0-liter 8-cylinder engine that made 270 hp. Inside it had a center stack that housed a navigation system and full entertainment center with the ability for video and computer capabilities. Talk about a preview of things to come!
Cadillac Vizon (2002)
You may recognize the Vizon concept. Yes, it was essentially a preview of what would eventually become the first-generation SRX. The concept was powered by the same Northstar V8 engine as the production SUV. One thing that didn’t make it to production, however, was the slick rear cargo area. The cargo floor could be raised, lowered, and articulated in and out of the rear tailgate for easy loading and unloading.
Audi Avus Quattro (1991)
One of Volkswagen Auto Group’s crown jewels, the W-12 engine was still early in its development in the early 1990s. But it was far enough along that it could be thrown into a concept car. Enter Audi’s Avus Quattro concept. Made as a rolling showcase to highlight Audi’s expertise in aluminum bodywork, as well as that innovative engine, the Avus was a mid-engine supercar with a 6.0-liter W-12 behind the seats promising 500 hp.
BMW Z13 (1993)
BMW went on a weird city-car kick in the early 1990s. After making a precursor to the i3 called the E1 (or Z11) in 1991, BMW went extra quirky with its next city car concept, the Z13 you see here. It may have had production intent, as engineers were tasked with designing an affordable car to slot below the 3 Series.
The interior was especially unique: The driver sat in the center, much like the McLaren F1, with passengers flanking on either side. Legroom was plentiful despite its small appearance. An aluminum body helped the Z13 weigh less than a Miata, coming in at 1,830 pounds. Power came by the way of the K1100 motorcycle engine, a 1.1-liter 88 hp inline-four.
GMC Terracross (2001)
GMC had a unique conceptual design language in the early 2000s that didn’t quite translate over into its production vehicles. Designers called it “Industrial Precision” and the Terracross was the second concept to showcase that language. Its reconfigurability was its most unique aspect.
It had a three-panel sliding roof that stopped at three different positions, including a huge open-air setting or an open cargo box for tall items. It also used GM’s ingenious midgate system with an integrated sliding rear window, and when used with the reconfigurable roof, could be used to haul tall things much like the Envoy XUV’s Midgate. Power came from a 3.4-liter V6.
Pontiac Piranha (2000)
