Concept Cars

Concept Cars is an illustrated guide to 70 of the most creative products of car design. From the science fiction inspired concept cars of the 1950s to the remarkably innovative designs of the present day, here are the cars that push the boundaries of automotive design to the limit. Featured are designs that opened the doors to future innovations, as well as the cars that actually made it to production, such as the new VW Beetle and the Porsche Boxster. Key car designers such as Norman Bel Geddes, the "father of streamlining," and Peter Schreyer, the man responsible for the Audi TT, are covered as well. 190 color photographs and illustrations are included in this discovery of the fantastic, the extraordinary, and just plain outlandish creations of the automotive industry.

The concept car was born in 1939 with General Motors' invention of the Buick Y-job. This was not a car designed for general consumption, but one created by the styling department as an "ideas" car, a sleek, chrome-adorned sculpture contrived to inflate passions and inspire imaginations. This is the ultimate guide to concept cars, featuring major design houses from Ogle to Pininfarina as well as mass manufacturers. It includes over 300 stunning color images, each highlighting a significant and creative twentieth-century car.

For more than a half century, the Corvette has been celebrated as “America’s sports car” by owners and enthusiasts. Since the first model rolled off the assembly line on June 29, 1953, it has been transformed time and again from a well-intentioned-but-underpowered boulevard cruiser into one of the most iconic sports cars of all time! How did Harley Earl’s original vision for a two-seat sports car progress through eight distinct generations to become the car that we know and love today? Who were the visionaries responsible for advancing its form and function over the last 70 years? Also, why has the Corvette continued to find commercial success in an ever-changing marketplace when so many other automobiles have come and gone since its creation? Corvette Concept Cars: Developing America's Favorite Sports Car answers these questions by delving into the origins of the Chevrolet Corvette and of the countless designers, engineers, drivers, and dreamers responsible for its creation. It explores the personal histories of Corvette’s greatest visionaries (Harley Earl, Zora Arkus-Duntov, and Bill Mitchell) and tells how each of their fates were indelibly intertwined with the rich (and sometimes volatile) history of Chevrolet’s flagship sports car. This book is an exploration of the Corvette concept cars from the earliest turnstile dream cars and purpose-built racers to the many unique mid-engined concept and research vehicles that preceded the creation of the current production model: the eighth-generation mid-engine Stingray. Painstakingly researched and written by Corvette historian Scott Kolecki and packed with more than 400 incredible photographs, Corvette Concept Cars: Developing America’s Favorite Sports Car is the quintessential history of the evolution of the Chevrolet Corvette!

The automobile seems to be as popular now as it ever was. Posters of cars still adorn many a child’s bedroom wall, and school exercise books are full of doodles of cars. This book takes those notebook sketches and teaches you how to develop them into the car designs you see in magazines. Using simple to follow step-by-step drawings it guides you from pencil sketch to marker rendering, from doodle to highly visual computer generated artwork. Adrian Dewey has worked on designs as diverse as small sports cars to double decker buses, modified motors to concept Formula 1 cars, using various techniques and styles. In this book, he uses his knowledge of the different styles to guide the reader in creating great artwork and designs of their own. The book shows in detail how to use different materials and how to get the most out of each one, whether it be a great pencil sketch or a photo realistic vector illustration. The book also features an easy to follow index for quick reference on different types of drawing.

Presents the history of concept cars, shows today's latest innovations, and describes how car designers use drawings, computers, and clay to design concept cars.

Concept cars are made to introduce new ideas and designs. They are first shown to the public at car shows. Young readers will learn about the history of concept cars, how concept cars are designed, and how they are displayed at car shows.

No auto show is complete without them. They're crowd pulling and invariably extravagant, zany, way-out, and created with no apparent consideration for cost. And, in the eyes of some, taste. But for all the entertainment value of the visually striking concept car, it does, nevertheless, have a serious role to play. For the car manufacturer it provides an invaluable opportunity to gauge the public's reaction to radical design initiatives before putting them into production. With environmental considerations moving increasingly to the fore, the newest generation of aerodynamically honed concepts is also of particular significance for featuring creative alternatives to the long-running internal combustion engine. This usually takes the form of emissions-free electric power which is either used in isolation or in hybrid form, when it works in harmony with miserly fueled gas or diesel units. The concept car is now well over 50 years old, and author Jonathan Wood charts its evolution from General Motors' landmark Y-Job of 1939, through the dream cars of the 1950s, and so to the present day. This highly illustrated book will fascinate car enthusiasts of all ages and provide a pointer to the sort of vehicles that will be on our roads well into the 21st century and beyond.

Learn about the creation of every generation of Chevrolet’s pony car! For more than 50 years, the Chevrolet Camaro has been an indelible part of the modern automotive landscape. Since its introduction in 1967, Chevrolet’s immensely popular pony car has redefined American automotive styling by setting the bar and then raising it with the introduction of each generation. How did the Camaro become one of the most celebrated automobiles of all time? What was its origin? What factors contributed to its creation and continued evolution through periods of economic uncertainty? How, when so many other cars have come and gone, has the Camaro survived and flourished? Automotive historian Scott Kolecki explores those questions in Camaro Concept Cars: Developing Chevrolet’s Pony Car, as he introduces the men and women who created Chevrolet’s successful sports car. This book looks at the factors that contributed to its evolution through six distinct generations and explores the concept and design prototypes that gave rise to the production models that we know and love today. This is the ultimate book for anyone who has owned (or dreamed of owning) a Camaro as well as for the countless enthusiasts around the globe who continue to celebrate and share the car’s rich heritage with future generations.