When car designers are given free reign, crazy, wonderful things happen. These are the ten most bonkers concept car interiors ever made.
10.) Citroën Hypnos
They could have just called this car Skittles and called it a day.
The rainbow motif is actually pretty clever, because it got people talking about what was otherwise a crossover with a diesel-hybrid drivetrain.
Suggested By: Pessimippopotamus, Photo Credit: Citroën
9.) Isuzu 4200R
This Isuzu looks like pretty much every other late 80s concept car you’ve ever seen, but the 4200R has one feature that elevates it high above its peers.
It’s not its 350 hp 4.2 liter V8, or its Lotus-designed active suspension, or its satellite navigation system.
Nope, it had a fax machine in the center console. A fax machine. A fax machine! Nothing screams “I’m upwardly mobile, and I mean business goddamnit!” than a car with a fax machine built in.
Suggested By: carcrasher88, Photo Credit: Isuzu
8.) Lancia Stratos Zero (Bertone)
Legendary Italian design house Bertone made some of the most incredible concepts of the ‘70s and the ‘80s, and thus, some of the most absurd interiors.The Stratos Zero is one of their most spectacular efforts, and the interior doesn’t disappoint.
To enter you lift the front glass roof/windshield/hatch thingy, the steering wheel pulls towards you like an aircraft yoke, and you have the most amazing gauge cluster on the left.
Suggested By: Soothsayers, Photo Credit: RM Auctions via Carstyling.Ru
7.) Rinspeed Budii
Concept cars offer us a glimpse of what car designers thing our automotive future will look like. This BMW i3 based concept from Rinspeed has a steering column with three positions: two for drivers on either side of the car, and one that’s folded out of the way for autonomous driving.
Also, there’s a jar for M&Ms because why not.
Suggested By: Pessimippopotamus, Photo Credit: Rinspeed
6.) Mazda MX-81 Aria (Bertone)
The wonderful thing about concept cars is that they don’t have to give any nods to practicality or sanity, like this 1981 Mazda concept from Bertone.
This one just embodies the promise of the 1980s so well. It’s a 1980s car in it’s idealized, ridiculous form and you have to love it for that.
Suggested By: toomuchcommuting, Photo Credit: Bertone
5.) GAC Witstar
Many great concepts reinvent our perceptions of what a car interior can be, like the be-fax-machined Isuzu above.
Chinese automaker GAC blew our damn minds when they threw down the gauntlet that is the Witstar, with its incredible disruption of armrests.
Instead of a boring old armrest that’s only good for resting your arms, they put a fish tank there. Now doesn’t every other car that doesn’t have a fish tank seem completely pointless?
Suggested By: $kaycog, Photo Credit: Alex Tillman via Jalopnik
4.) Oldsmobile Aerostar
People talk about cars like the OG Acura NSX having an interior inspired by an F-16 fighter jet, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the amazing Oldsmobile Aerotech.
I have no idea why Oldsmobile of all companies decided to make a concept like this, but I’m not complaining.
Suggested By: Snuze: The New Slobalt, Photo Credit: Oldsmobile
3.) Nissan Pivo 2
The Pivo 2 is Nissan’s electric reimagining of the Isetta, with the entire front part of the car being the door, and wheels that can rotate on their own access.
Its interior has a central driving position with three abreast seating, like a McLaren F1, steering wheel pedals and gauges attached to the door, and a cute little animatronic robot.
The future is cute, apparently.
Suggested By: burglar can’t heart click anything, Photo Credit: Nissan
2.) Pontiac Stinger
GM were masters of concept cars in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, and Pontiac produced the best of them all.
The Stinger was a totally ridiculous beach-buggy that had one of the craziest, yet shockingly innovative interior designs I’ve ever seen.
It came with a CD player, a detachable radio, detachable coolers, a garden hose, tool and first aid kits, flashlights, and two cell phones. It also had a rad electric steering column. Just watch this interior tour video.
Suggested By: Kerberos824, Photo Credit: Pontiac
1.) Italdesign Machimoto
This is ridiculousness by which all other ridiculousness is defined by. An 8-passenger roadster where the passengers straddled motorcycle like seats. Wait, what?
This is the peak of 1980s Italian concept car crazy, and thus, the peak of all concept car crazy. So wonderfully, inexplicably insane.
Suggested By: mike89, Photo Credits: Italdesign
Welcome back to Answers of the Day - our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day’s Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It’s by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!
Top Photo Credit: Nissan
Contact the author at chris@jalopnik.com.