Jalopnik 
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Detroit, 8:30 AM
Mon Nov 9
7 posts in the last 24 hours
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10/02/09
Very. cool. stuff.
08/26/09
08/25/09
One cannot leave out the Alfa Romeo BATs:
08/25/09
Call me biased, but I think the OM617-powered C111-III deserves a shout-out.
08/25/09
But what about the Pontiac Rageous?
Seriously, a RWD smallblock powered pseudo-ute with all of today's tech thrown in.
From 1997...
To make sure the Rageous driver gets there, the communication link includes a Global Position Sensor navigation link. Entertainment is provided through the communication link by a CD pay-to-listen service that pipes in the driver's favorite forms of music.
Monitoring and control of these and other system can be maintained without ever taking your eyes off the road thanks to the Head Up Display (HUD). A track ball mouse in the steering wheel controls electrical and electronic systems such as the sound system, cell phone, heating and cooling, seats, and lights through the HUD. Additionally, driver information such as speed, odometer and engine conditions can be displayed on the HUD.
08/25/09
@Mad_Science:
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08/25/09
@gssbymcfgs: With mini-suicide doors and a 4x8 load floor!
Just look at the interior!
08/25/09
@Mad_Science: Nope. I'm Nissan. I'm going to do more or less the same thing. Slap an implied luxo brand on it, pricing it unnecessarily high, and make out like bandits.
08/26/09
Maybe that explains why it's the one crossover I don't hate...
08/25/09
How about one of my all time favs....
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08/25/09
OK, how about this image? Couldn't get it to work before.
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Mr Krewson if you look good arround there are still future futuristic concept cars made.
08/25/09
@BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ:
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@BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ:
08/25/09
@BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ:
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08/26/09
I re-submit this, then, as evidence that even Mercedes tuners and rebuilders believed in our mid-engined future.
08/25/09
I wonder if the 2009 Cadillac XLR would have sold any better had it looked like this 1959 Cadillac Cyclone concept. Yes, the black nosecones were intended to be radar domes.
08/25/09
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08/25/09
Gone are the days when engineers at Ford could aspire to get on the team building some crazy vehicle. SVT dies and is revived so often it's not a career path. The same thing happens at GM and, virtually, everywhere else. With the exception of fuel cell and hybrid programs, not really new is being explored. Sure, there is work to be done, and the IC engines are being made cleaner and more efficient due to research by engineers, but there's nothing really to capture the imagination of future automotive engineers.
The same thing is true on the design side of the house. Designers aren't given carte blanche to create some fanciful and wacky vehicle. Look at the FCX. It looks like a stretched Accord. Compare that to the cars above it. Why not, to show how crazy new this car is, put it in a body that is super futuristic? Are we that lame now?
I remember a few years ago I went to the Detroit Auto Show (aka NAIAS). I still remember looking at the Fairlane (which we know as the Flex now) concept thinking it was cool, but where are the really cool cars? They had a Ford GT, which gave me wood, and the Shelby GR-1. These were all very cool, but in a retro way. Nothing really showed me the future.
I think that this is indicative of the problems that plague the auto industry, particularly in the US. There is a myopic view of the future, and a risk adverse culture that stifles creativity. No wonder all the cars look the same. Nobody wants to stick their foot out and do something different. Sadly, this means that our children will be reading Jalopnik 14.0 on their hologram and looking at the same concepts above and thinking how cool they are, then getting in their Pricorbalts and flying to school.
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08/25/09
Japan is full of them, but in Europe you have to go to independent studios like Rinspeed and Pininfarina.
08/25/09
08/25/09
If you want to talk only about consumption, you might have a point, although a little hysterically stated and the numbers a bit vague. However, you don't mention the 9.35 million cars produced in China in 2008, and the dozens of car manufacturing plants the Chinese manufacturers are building around the world. Ford, GM, and Toyota will not be the big suppliers of vehicles for developing areas - the Chinese are muscling hard into that game. Or the fact that China and India have little oil of their own, so the Chinese are doing everything they can to buy up future supplies. Or the massive development of industrial zones in northern China that actually caused a shortage of portland cement in the US a few years back. Yes, up to now, the US was the biggest consumer of resources, and the US (and Europe/Japan)-led multinationals have a lot to answer for. But that's all changing. Asia is now becoming the world's mega-consumer and mega-producer with its own mega-corporations. They are already looking at Africa as the next area for development.
If you want to talk about the toxicity left behind, shall we examine the untold thousands of Iron Curtain-era hazardous waste sites scattered throughout Eastern Europe, Russia, and China? Many of these sites make the worst US Superfund sites look like a playground. How about the air quality in Beijing, Cairo, Delhi, and Moscow. The blatant dumping of industrial pollutants into water supplies throughout South America, Africa, and Asia? The Three-Gorges dam project in China? The US, Western Europe, and Japan have come a long way in cleaning up the messes within their borders. Much of the rest of the world has a long way to go, and the increasing industrialization will only make things more difficult.
08/25/09
Sadly though, I don't think the bubbles sd seen in the first picture would have ever caught on; I think they'd impede my parking skills... and I'm not referring to visibility.
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08/25/09
Uhm, how can you guys forget the FINEST concept car anyone ever built in the late 60's / early 70's?
This one is definitely an example.
08/25/09