The 43 Most Influential Concept Cars Ever Made

Some of these show cars never drove in traffic, yet their fins, wedges and glass canopies reached dealer lots years later. Motorama dream machines and Italian coachbuilt wedges sit alongside electric and self-driving experiments from the last two decades.

1. 1
   Buick Y-Job

   Harley Earl's 1938 GM show car with hidden headlamps and a power-operated top, widely regarded as the industry's first concept car.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Maserati Boomerang

   Giugiaro's Italdesign wedge on Maserati Bora mechanicals, shown as a non-running mock-up at Turin in 1971 and as a running car at Geneva in 1972, with gauges inside the steering-wheel hub.
   744pts
3. 3
   BMW GINA

   Chris Bangle's fabric-skinned roadster, built in 2001 and unveiled in 2008, with a stretchable textile body over a movable frame.
   744pts
4. 4
   Alfa Romeo BAT 5

   The first of Franco Scaglione's aerodynamic Bertone show cars on Alfa Romeo 1900 mechanicals, shown at Turin in 1953.
   670pts
5. 5
   Volvo ECC

   Volvo's 1992 Environmental Concept Car, a gas-turbine hybrid whose styling led to the 1998 Volvo S80.
   670pts
6. 6
   Mercedes-Benz C111

   A 1969 gullwing test car built to trial Wankel rotary engines, later used for diesel speed records in the 1970s.
   670pts
7. 7
   Bertone Testudo

   Giorgetto Giugiaro's 1963 Geneva show car for Bertone, built on a Chevrolet Corvair chassis with a canopy-style roof.
   574pts
8. 8
   Cadillac Sixteen

   A 2003 Detroit show sedan with a 13.6-litre V16 rated at 1,000 hp.
   515pts
9. 9
   BMW Vision EfficientDynamics

   A 2009 Frankfurt plug-in hybrid coupe with a three-cylinder diesel that previewed the BMW i8.
   515pts
10. 10
    Chrysler d'Elegance

    A 1952 Virgil Exner design built by Ghia whose shape was scaled down for the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia.
    515pts
11. 11
    Ford Mustang I

    A 1962 mid-engined two-seat roadster with a Ford Taunus V4, first driven in public at Watkins Glen by Dan Gurney.
    515pts
12. 12
    Ferrari Modulo

    Paolo Martin's 1970 Pininfarina design on a Ferrari 512 S chassis, with a canopy that slides forward for entry.
    446pts
13. 13
    Citroen Karin

    Trevor Fiore's pyramid-shaped 1980 Paris show car with three seats abreast and the driver in the middle.
    446pts
14. 14
    Audi Le Mans quattro

    A 2003 Frankfurt show car with a twin-turbo V10 that previewed the 2006 Audi R8.
    446pts
15. 15
    Mercedes-Benz F 015

    A self-driving lounge concept shown at CES 2015, with front seats that swivel to face the rear passengers.
    446pts
16. 16
    Pontiac Bonneville Special

    A 1954 Motorama two-seater with a fibreglass body and a Plexiglas bubble canopy; only two were built.
    446pts
17. 17
    Lamborghini Marzal

    Marcello Gandini's 1967 four-seater for Bertone with glass gullwing doors and a six-cylinder made from half a Lamborghini V12.
    446pts
18. 18
    Volvo VESC

    Volvo's 1972 Experimental Safety Car, which carried airbags, anti-lock brakes and a reversing camera.
    446pts
19. 19
    Lamborghini Countach LP500

    Marcello Gandini's 1971 Geneva prototype for the Countach, destroyed in a 1974 crash test; the photo shows the recreation Lamborghini Polo Storico unveiled in 2021.
    446pts
20. 20
    GM Firebird II

    GM's 1956 four-seat gas-turbine family car with a titanium body, built around the idea of guided highways.
    446pts
21. 21
    Chevrolet Mako Shark II

    A 1965 Corvette show car whose long-nosed, pinched-waist shape went into production as the 1968 C3 Corvette.
    446pts
22. 22
    GM Firebird I

    A single-seat, delta-winged 1953 GM experimental car powered by a gas turbine and shown at the 1954 Motorama.
    365pts
23. 23
    Ford GT90

    A 1995 Detroit show car with a quad-turbocharged V12 that launched Ford's New Edge design language.
    365pts
24. 24
    Renault DeZir

    Laurens van den Acker's first Renault concept, a red electric coupe shown in Paris in 2010 whose face reached the 2012 Clio.
    365pts
25. 25
    Audi Avus quattro

    A 1991 Tokyo show car with a polished aluminium body that previewed Audi's aluminium space-frame construction.
    365pts
26. 26
    Alfa Romeo Carabo

    A 1968 Gandini wedge on the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale chassis that introduced the upward-opening scissor door.
    365pts
27. 27
    GM Firebird III

    A 1958 GM turbine car with a fibreglass body and seven short wings and fins, steered by a central joystick and shown at the 1959 Motorama.
    365pts
28. 28
    Mercedes-Benz Vision CLS

    A 2003 Frankfurt four-door coupe that previewed the 2004 CLS and its new body style.
    365pts
29. 29
    Oldsmobile Golden Rocket

    A 1956 Motorama fibreglass coupe whose roof panels lifted automatically when the doors opened.
    365pts
30. 30
    Audi TT Concept

    The 1995 Frankfurt show coupe that went into production almost unchanged as the 1998 Audi TT.
    268pts
31. 31
    Ferrari Mythos

    A 1989 Pininfarina open two-seater on Ferrari Testarossa mechanicals, shown at the Tokyo Motor Show.
    268pts
32. 32
    Jaguar C-X75

    Jaguar's 2010 Paris show car for its 75th anniversary, with twin micro gas turbines charging batteries for four electric motors.
    268pts
33. 33
    Alfa Romeo BAT 9

    The third and most road-oriented of the Bertone BAT cars, shown at Turin in 1955 with a traditional Alfa shield grille.
    268pts
34. 34
    Buick Centurion

    A 1956 Motorama car with a glass canopy and a rear-facing TV camera in place of a rear-view mirror.
    268pts
35. 35
    Corvette Stingray Racer

    Bill Mitchell's 1959 race car on a Corvette SS test chassis, whose shape previewed the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray.
    268pts
36. 36
    Chevrolet Mako Shark

    Larry Shinoda's 1961 XP-755 show car, painted to fade from blue to white like a shark, that previewed the 1963 Sting Ray.
    268pts
37. 37
    Alfa Romeo BAT 7

    Bertone's 1954 follow-up to the BAT 5, with tall curved rear fins and a drag coefficient quoted at 0.19.
    268pts
38. 38
    GM Le Sabre

    Harley Earl's 1951 jet-inspired roadster with a wraparound windshield and a supercharged aluminium V8.
    0pts
39. 39
    Lancia Stratos Zero

    Bertone's 1970 wedge, just 84 cm tall, entered by lifting the windscreen and powered by a Lancia Fulvia V4.
    0pts
40. 40
    Chevrolet Camaro Concept

    The 2006 Detroit show car that previewed the fifth-generation Camaro and played Bumblebee in 2007's Transformers.
    0pts
41. 41
    BMW E1

    BMW's 1991 battery-electric city car with a sodium-sulphur battery and a plastic body.
    0pts
42. 42
    Cadillac Cyclone

    A 1959 GM show car with twin nose cones meant to house radar sensors and an automatically retracting bubble top.
    0pts
43. 43
    BMW Turbo

    Paul Bracq's 1972 mid-engined gullwing coupe with a turbocharged four-cylinder, a forerunner of the BMW M1.
    0pts

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