
Old Concept Cars - richardw
http://oldconceptcars.com
======
swatkat
SEAT concept cars from late 90s and early 2000s were impeccably designed. They
don't look dated at all.

[http://oldconceptcars.com/category/1930-2004/seat/](http://oldconceptcars.com/category/1930-2004/seat/)

~~~
hrktb
They look very neat.

This would come from a tradeoff between going very bold with something that
won't have a chance in a million to become the future, or staying very close
to the present and showing an iteration on what could be the next year's
model.

For context, the Audi TT went out in 1998:
[https://www.autoevolution.com/cars/audi-tt-
coupe-1998.html](https://www.autoevolution.com/cars/audi-tt-coupe-1998.html)

Audi was iterating actual products on designs very close I think to seat's
concept cars.

------
jandrese
I can't stop laughing at the one that looks like someone said "Hmm, I like
this low profile front end, but it needs something else...I know! I'll melt
another front end on top of that!"

The little egg car seems almost futuristic today, the only giveaway being the
narrow steering column.

The one with the steering joint in the middle of the car was like every last
place British entry on Full Metal Challenge. Turns out that's a terribly
impractical idea.

~~~
icebraining
The Peugeot Moovie concept car is kinda the 21st century version of the egg
one:
[https://www.google.com/search?q=Peugeot+Moovie&tbm=isch](https://www.google.com/search?q=Peugeot+Moovie&tbm=isch)

------
King-Aaron
Suddenly, everything else is obsolete: [http://oldconceptcars.com/wp-
content/uploads/Sir_Vival_10.jp...](http://oldconceptcars.com/wp-
content/uploads/Sir_Vival_10.jpg)

------
amyjess
The Lancia Megagamma: [http://oldconceptcars.com/1930-2004/lancia-megagamma-
concept...](http://oldconceptcars.com/1930-2004/lancia-megagamma-
concept-1978/)

This concept basically invented the minivan/MPV (no sliding doors, but most
European MPVs don't have them).

After Fiat/Lancia passed on putting it into production themselves, multiple
manufacturers took note and began working on their own production versions.
The Japanese were actually the first to market with the 1982 Nissan Prairie
and 1983 Mitsubishi Chariot. The Americans and Europeans were next: Chrysler
launched the 1984 Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager, while Matra and Renault
launched the 1984 Renault Espace (it was designed by Matra and originally
intended to be sold by PSA as a Talbot... but PSA killed the Talbot brand and
with it their partnership with Matra at the last minute, so Matra took the
design to Renault).

------
BonesJustice
Well, hello there, good lookin’. [http://oldconceptcars.com/1930-2004/honda-
fuya-jo-1999/](http://oldconceptcars.com/1930-2004/honda-fuya-jo-1999/)

Makes the old Scion xB look downright charming, and I didn’t think that was
possible.

~~~
dsnuh
The Scion xB is one of the best vehicles I have ever owned. I traded in my
2001 Jetta VR6 (mystifying mass airflow sensor issues VW could never fix for
more than a couple weeks) for an xB in 2004. It had its flaws, but for a daily
driver, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better car than those first
generation xBs. Mine is currently owned by my parents and has 300K+ and the
only major service has been a new clutch at 175K.

------
Invictus0
Reddit has a great subreddit for images like this:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/retrofuturism](https://www.reddit.com/r/retrofuturism)

------
motohagiography
This should be a slide deck for startup school, or any product management
course.

So many of these seem like obviously terrible ideas, and yet, these are what
happens when you design products without customers.

You can see where some of them were just derivations of other companies design
languages, where others were the expression of one meaninglessly novel idea
(the catamaran car). Some of them you can see the thing they thought would be
good (big windshield, aerodynamics, ornamentation, minimalism, quirkiness,
etc), but when you tried to wrap a car around that idea, it was uncanny and
un-car-like.

For each of these abominations, there are software and startup analogs, I'm
sure of it.

~~~
elboru
I also like to think they were built thinking outside the box, because that
box didn't exist yet. I think we should stop from time to time and think about
our designs, is this the only and perfect way to design it? or maybe I'm just
copying what everyone is doing?

Now days most cars, web pages, apps, phones, TVs, look the same, yes that has
its benefits and maybe customers just want the same old things, but I always
wonder how different designs would be if apple made a different iPhone, Ford a
different model T, xerox a different UI...

~~~
hexane360
At least with cars, I don't think you can trace most of their features back to
the Model T. The model T had a completely different control scheme, wagon-like
suspension, band brakes (for parking only), and was only available in black.

~~~
userbinator
The Model A, however, had the standard 3-pedal layout.

------
bwang29
This one looks like a Tesla Model

[http://oldconceptcars.com/1930-2004/ssangyong-
ccr-1-1995/](http://oldconceptcars.com/1930-2004/ssangyong-ccr-1-1995/)

~~~
blang
Saw a mid 90s car that looked like that at a car show this summer:

[http://car-from-uk.com/sale.php?id=102913&country=uk](http://car-from-
uk.com/sale.php?id=102913&country=uk)

------
fliesblackflags
I was always bummed the VW one liter never materialized. At first, it was
supposed to get insane gas mileage. Though I did see in a magazine that the
new microbus is supposed to come in a few years. It looks pretty cool.

~~~
geff82
You could buy it for a few years for a hundred grand, hand built.

------
aresant
If you're enjoying this content make sure to spend a few mins poking around
Syd Mead's incredible work:

[https://www.pinterest.com/pin/240942648784206721/](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/240942648784206721/)

------
Koshkin
The future is no longer what it used to be...

------
pgreenwood
The Nissan 126x from 1970 is one of my favourites. It was also a popular
Matchbox car in the 70s (As Datsun 126x)

[http://oldconceptcars.com/1930-2004/nissan-126x-concept-1970...](http://oldconceptcars.com/1930-2004/nissan-126x-concept-1970/)

~~~
danbee
Reminds me of the Lancia Stratos Zero
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancia_Stratos#Stratos_Zero](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancia_Stratos#Stratos_Zero)

------
byron_fast
Wow, why can't I get a Siata Berlina on top of a Subaru BRZ drivetrain without
a million dollars.

~~~
mikestew
An Austin-Healey 3000 sure would get you awfully close to the general
aesthetics.

------
andyidsinga
Wow -- this site really reminds me of Vintage Ad Browser - on topic, here's
some car ads from the 70s :) [http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/cars-
ads-1970s](http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/cars-ads-1970s)

------
suhas2go
I'm a fan of the Electric Egg! Definitely out of its time

------
msephton
My favourite is on there. It has a modular, rearrangeable dashboard:
[http://oldconceptcars.com/1930-2004/opel-junior-
concept-1983...](http://oldconceptcars.com/1930-2004/opel-junior-
concept-1983/)

~~~
moftz
I wonder how much of the dashboard could really be relocated. Bosch had just
began developing the CAN protocol that year and chips wouldn't be available
until four years later. There's an illustration I found [0] that shows how the
modules connect and based on the history of the automotive databus, I don't
think it would have been able to give you a dashboard as populated as the
image in your link. There would need to be a pair of power pins along with a
pair of pins for every value you would want to read out (either for analog
voltages or RS-422 since SPI/I2C/CAN had not been invented yet). I'm guessing
there might have been hard restrictions on some modules like the stereo and
speakers, why would you want the speakers to be anywhere else in the car?
Going off of the typical dashboard in the 80s, you have speed, tach, fuel,
battery level, oil temp, radiator temp, and the odometer and a trip meter.
Maybe integrate the trip meter with the odometer value to reduce the 3-4 wires
needed for displaying/resetting it. The clock would only need power. Then add
in the climate control, that has to be at least a couple more signals for
temperature and fan speed and maybe an on/off for the AC if it was available
at the time. Don't forget all the status lights, that is going to add a lot
more pins to these connectors. The actual pictures don't show any of how they
connect. The illustration shows what looks like two connectors. Maybe that's
how they did it, two 25 pin d-subs would probably be enough for running
everything out to every module dock, impractical but possible. You could
accomplish this today with a single 4 pin connector: power, ground, can+,
can-.

[0]
[https://cardesignnews.com/media/imported/servlet/file/275197...](https://cardesignnews.com/media/imported/servlet/file/275197_466.jpg)

------
regularfry
If you took the wings off, this would be an astonishing car:
[http://oldconceptcars.com/category/1930-2004/mercer/](http://oldconceptcars.com/category/1930-2004/mercer/)

------
kaiby
The 1942 "Electric Egg" looks like a VW Beetle:

[http://oldconceptcars.com/1930-2004/paul-arzens-loeuf-
electr...](http://oldconceptcars.com/1930-2004/paul-arzens-loeuf-
electrique-1942-the-electric-egg/)

~~~
donjoe
I'd say it looks like an Isetta with a massive glass front:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isetta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isetta)

~~~
geff82
You can soon buy that thing again in an electric version called the
„Microlino“.

------
crooked-v
My favorite from the first few pages is the '55 Gilda. It's hella swooshy but
still looks like it'd be a practical car to drive as long as you glued some
mirrors back on.

------
qubex
Delighted to find my favourite concept car of all time (the Renault _Racoon_ )
featured. Pity something similar never made it to market.

------
chriscaruso
SsangYong CCR-1 (1995) looks very similar to Teslas

~~~
DaiPlusPlus
Specifically the Model X: It’s electric and with gull-wing doors. As a bonus
the front bumper has an uncanny resemblance to the Model 3’s design.

------
JKCalhoun
Love this site. And love the concept cars of the 60's, 70's. Then, for me,
things sort of went sideways.

------
wruza
Is there a game with most of these? It would be amazing to see this instead of
boring gta real-like cars.

------
executesorder66
Anyone know about the copyright on these images? I can't find a link on the
page.

------
WalterBright
The Spohn looks like a warthog.

------
singularity2001
Manta Ray (1953)

Too early by 100 years!

~~~
kwhitefoot
I like the way it looks like it is hovering.

