Concept Cars Add Glamour to Car Show

Cadillac concept car.

By Johnny McDonald

Automotive designers live in a fantasy land: wishful thinking while looking into a crystal ball with ideas that may never materialize.

These far-reaching solutions or objects usually on pivotal platforms on the auto show circuit, are concept cars. They’re prototypes of styling, technology and overall design but few of them reach a dealer’s showroom.

After its tour of duty it most likely will be destroyed. Survivors might be placed in a company’s museum or, hidden away in storage.

We drifted through the recent San Diego Auto Show and quizzed several attractive and knowledgeable folks who glamorized concepts at Ford, Chevrolet, Lexus, Suzuki and Cadillac.

Talking points ranged from Cadillac’s 16-cylinder,1,000 horsepower mockup to Suzuki’s Sea and Wave, targeted toward people who “attack life.”

Think tankers with computers at the ready and molding clay at their fingertips are years ahead of the rest of us with plans for gull-wing doors, radar, styling, built-in luxury and exotic alloys.

Often impractical or unprofitable, many concept cars never get past scale models or even drawings. Other more traditional concepts can be developed into fully drivable vehicles with a working drive train and accessories. The state of most concepts lies somewhere in between and usually does not represent the final package.

The Cadillac 16 is a tad longer than a Suburban, the company’s large sedan and its aluminum body concept tips the scales at 5,000 pounds. They say it’s like the 864 they were trying out in the ‘80s.

It will run on 16, 8 or 6 cylinders and everything is instantaneous with electronic throttle control, On a mule basis, it has been undergoing engine testing four years. One hundred engines were built in 2000.

The Autobahn or Bonnevile would seem proper testing grounds since the maximum speed is programmed to hit 155 miles per hour. We’re told that maybe we’ll see it by 2008 or 2010.

At the Ford counter, we learn they borrowed a name from the popular 1960s coupe and tacked “Fairlane” on its concept, a functionally woody station wagon look alike. For those who like versatility, the back door opens three ways, left to right, right to left and tailgate down.

It has a 210 horsepower, 3.0 liter Duratec V 6 ticketed for 55 miles per gallon. They hope it will have the same impact as the Explorer in 1991. The public, they say, loved that one.

Lexus’ new styling car will be out as the GS and GS hybrid in the spring. The new exotic design was put into theory three years ago, according to a representative who predicted we’ll see a lot of it in the new sedans.

Suzuki had a pair with all the byproducts of outdoor living from tailgaters to surfers. The marketing target is adventurer lifestyles between 18 and 35.

One is the Wave or UTV which stands for the ultimate tailgate vehicle. The back left side of the car pulls out with a built-in barbecue grill. The back right side is a built-in cooler. Completely independent.

With no top, it is undoubtedly being groomed for the far west and south.

The Sea is built on the Forenza wagon frame keyed to the surf boarder. In the back is a built-in shower. There’s a built-in microwave, refrigerator and even a wet suit dryer.

The Chevrolet SS with its small block V8 is a preview of the LS2 V8 used in the Corvette. The design is fluid with a short front overhang, long dash-to-axle and wide, muscular fenders providing an aggressive stance.

This was meant to show off a whole new design of sport models and has been on the circuit since 2002. A more advanced concept was to be unwrapped for Detroit and New York shows.