Archive for Concepts

This is 23 year old Frenchman Xavier Sandrin’s entry to the 2007 Peugeot Design Contest and he calls it the Peugeot Mistral. Conceived as a sportscar, the Peugeot Mistral, obviously designed as an open wheel roadster promises the driver pure pleasure of control. Instead of all the previous concept car entries so far which use futuristic powerplants of one sort or another, Sandrin has decided to conceptually equip his Peugeot Mistral with a hybrid powertrain system.

His concept car is powered by a 2.0 liter HDI turbodiesel mounted at a front mid-ship position as well as a 30 kilowatt electric motor in each rear wheel - and what happens when you combined an electric motor’s high torque with the torque of a turbodiesel? Ridiculous acceleration for sure. More photos after the jump.

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This strange cute yellow thing is the Peugeot honey-B concept, and like it’s namesake looks pretty much like a big honey bee on wheels. It was developed to combined the feeling of being in a large SUV-like car but with the efficiency of an aerodynamic design, something tall and bulky SUVs are hardly capable of achieving.

Like all futuristic concepts, the Peugeot honey-B concept is powered by hydrogen fuel cells and in-wheel motors. The honey-B is also disabled-friendly, with seats equipped with hydraulic arms that can deploy to various pre-set positions outside the car, and retract back in again automatically after you’ve sat in it.

Designer’s description and more photos after the jump.

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This is the Peugeot Venom, another entry for the 2007 Peugeot Design Contest. This particular concept car was designed by 23 year old David Seesing from the United Kingdom. The car has a narrow cockpit inspired by Formula 1 car design, and seats two. A description by the designer as well as more photos after the jump.

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This entry for the 2007 Peugeot Design Contest is the Concept LiiON by Sano Cristian, 27 years old from Romania. it is a 3-wheeled concept vehicle, with a single wheel at the back, and it is able to lean from side to side for cornering. The vehicle is powered by an electric motor powered by lithium ion cells (hence the name LiiON) which drives the single rear wheel. A description by the designer and more photos after the jump.

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I will be posting all 30 entries to the 2006/2007 Peugeot Design Contest for your viewing pleasure. The 2007 Peugeot Design Contest theme for this year is P.L.E.A.S.E. Innovate. P for Pleasurable to Drive, L for Lively, E for Efficient, A for Accessible, S for Simple, and E for Ecological. This is the Peugeot PLAIRE, by 35 year old James Ma from the USA. More photos and details after the jump.

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Here are photos of the Jaguar C-XF Concept leaked ahead of it’s unveiling at the upcoming North American International Auto Show, only two weeks away. The concept shown here looks like it has alot of square-ish hardedges unlike previous Jaguar design language which usually consists of smooth curves all round. It’s funny how car design has went from hard edges to smooth edges back to hard edges.

I can see a less busier version of this going into production as the Jaguar XF - it has got to lose those musclecar-like bulges on the hood, less complicated front and rear bumpers, as well as less bling-like alloy wheels.

More photos after the jump.

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DaimlerChrysler AG has released photos of the new 4-door cabriolet concept based on the Mercedes Benz S-class. Called the Concept Ocean Drive, DaimlerChrysler says it is an open invitation to go on a “topless” cruise along the world’s finest ocean promenades. I can really see where they’re coming from here, cruising by the seaside in a topless car would be truly a nice experience, but what makes the Concept Ocean Drive extra ocean friendly? Not sure really.

While based on an S-class, the car’s side profile has no B-pillar or window frames, ensuring seamless continuity between the exterior and the interior even when the top is up. The design study is based on the V12 Mercedes-Benz S600 with a long wheelbase chassis. The car also incorporates something Mercedes Benz calls AIRSCARF, a neck-level heating system, which is featured on all four seats, allowing occupants to enjoy top-down motoring even in the colder months of the year.

More photos after the jump.

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Here are more images and details of the Volvo XC60 Concept, set to be unveiled at the upcoming North American International Auto Show. The Volvo XC60 Concept kills two birds with one stone, for one, it showcases to us the next Volvo XC model, younger brother to the big Volvo XC90. It also reveals several design elements that will be part of future Volvos. More details after the jump.

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Let’s take a blast to the past for once. The wedge-like car above with an orange colour scheme is the Mercedes Benz C111 Concept car, shown to the public ages ago at the 1969 Frankfurt International Motor Show. Having a futuristic shape at that time was one thing, but what’s unique about this concept car is what has hidden under it’s hood - a result of Mercedes Benz’s experimentation with the Wankel rotary engine design.

The fiberglass body Mercedes Benz C111 Concept was powered by a fuel injected normally aspirated 3-rotor Wankel engine. With 600cc per rotor, the engine made 280hp at 7,000rpm, giving the car a 0-100km/h time of 5 seconds and a top speed of 260km/h. A later version featured a 4-rotor rotary engine with 350hp at 7,000rpm and a top speed of 290km/h. Only 12 units of the engine, codenamed M950F, were ever built.

More photos after the jump.

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This is a sneak peek design sketch of another concept vehicle that will be unveiled at the 2006 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. The Kia Kue Concept is a crossover SUV, or crossover utility vehicle as Kia prefers to call it. It is based on a monocoque chassis.

Size wise, the Kue measures up with an overall length of 4,720mm and a 2,900mm wheelbase. This compares to 4,810mm and 2,890mm for the new Sedona (Carnival) and 4,590 and 2,710 for Sorento. Kia says the Kue focus is very much about an exciting driving experience, as opposed to the typical SUV or CUV lifestyle.

Don’t expect this to be a Kia Sportage replacement though, as it is a pure concept, basically a design exercise that will show a number of strong styling indicators to the direction of Kias future models.