BMW M1 Homage Concept

To mark the 30th anniversary of the BMW M1 super sports car, BMW Group Design is presenting a homage to this legendary model as part of the Concorso d`Eleganza Villa d`Este 2008. The BMW M1 designed by Giorgio Giugiaro was a car of superlatives and a highly emotive vehicle that was uncompromisingly primed for the race track.

Spawning this development was the BMW Turbo by Paul Bracq, a revolutionary concept car which, in addition to its groundbreaking functional design, also boasted a raft of technical innovations. It is from these two unique vehicles that the BMW M1 Homage takes its cue - a design study that pays tribute to its forerunner models and an embodiment of the competence, creativity and potential of the BMW Group Design team.

The BMW M1 Homage is a design study in the tradition of a BMW Turbo that represents a contemporary take on the BMW M1 and the mid-engine concept. This tribute exhibits an emotional design that showcases technology and integrates it into the overall aesthetics of the vehicle.

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Renault Megane Coupe Concept

Renault has chosen the Geneva Motor Show to take the wraps off its Mégane Coupé Concept show car which foreshadows a compact production coupe to be released at a later date.

Like New Laguna, it points to an evolution towards more fluid, sportier styling from Renault. Mégane Coupé Concept targets drivers who are not only drawn by the notion of driving pleasure but who also seek to express their personality through their vehicle. Mégane Coupé Concept symbolizes Renault’s vision of what a genuine compact sports coupe should deliver, namely character and dynamism, two traits epitomized by the show car’s unprecedented door-opening kinematics.

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Lotec Sirius

In 1992, Kurt Lotterschmid, the driving force behind Lotec, made a one-off supercar called the Lotec C1000. Weighing just 1080kg, it was powered by an 854bhp road-legal version of the Sauber C9 Le Mans and its 235mph top speed blitzed every big-name supercar bar the McLaren F1.

The prototype Sirius uses the same basic 48-valve 6-litre Mercedes-Benz V12 that powers the Pagani Zonda, and it produces 850bhp. Lotec claims 0-62mph in 3.8sec, 0-120mph in 7.8 and a 242mph top speed with the tallest final drive.

Lotec can produce a maximum of just five cars a year, so the Sirius isn't likely to cause much concern amongst the established supercar makers.

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McLaren Concept Cars

This is a very interesting video about a lot of Concept Cars by McLaren design team:
- Astore
- Ayrton
- Black Tiger
- Can Am
- Competizione
- HJ
- M11B
- Manta
- MP11
- Road Burner
- Silverstone
- TomaHawk
- X11 Nemesis

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Fisker Karma

The Fisker Karma is a plug-in hybrid luxury sports car revealed on 14 January 2008 and manufactured by Fisker Automotive,[1] a joint venture of Quantum Technologies[2] and Fisker Coachbuild, LLC, announced September 5, 2007.[3] The Karma was introduced at the 2008 North American International Auto Show.

The PHEV-50 (50 mile all-electric range) is anticipated in late 2009 to sell for US$ 80,000.

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Shelby GR-1 Concept

The Ford Shelby GR-1 was a $2.2 million dollar concept car that was created by the Ford Motor Company. It was first introduced at the 2005 North American International Auto Show. The GR-1 was created with the inspiration from the Shelby brand. It was inspired by and bears resemblance to the Shelby Daytona.

Much of the GR-1 chassis and running gear is based on the Ford Shelby Cobra Concept, which was presented one year earlier at the 2004 North American International Auto Show. As with the Ford Shelby Cobra Concept, GR-1 project was led by Manfred Rumpel and developed by Ford's Advanced Product Creation group.

The GR-1 uses an 6.4L all-aluminum V10 engine and also has certain components from the Ford GT. The GR-1 is rated up to 605 hp (451 kW) and up to 501 ft·lbf (679 N·m) of torque. It uses a 6-speed manual transmission.

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Alfa Romeo Nuvola

The Alfa Romeo Nuvola concept car was released at the Paris International Auto Show in 1996. It is a 2-door coupe featuring a 2.5 liter (2492 cc), twin-turbo 60 degree V6 coupled with a 6-speed manual transmission which puts out 300 hp (DIN) at 6000 rpms and 285 ft·lbf (386 N·m) at 3000 rpms. The car has top speed of 174 mph (280 km/h) and it accelerates from zero to 60 mph in six seconds. The Nuvola was named after the legendary Italian race driver Tazio Nuvolari. The Nuvola has front engine and four wheel drive.

The car is based on separate tubular aluminium frame with body made of polyester and it was designed to handle virtually any body style, from coupe to station wagon.

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Citroen C-Metisse Concept

The Citroën C-Métisse is a concept car produced by the French car manufacturer Citroën. It was first introduced in 2006 at the Paris autoshow. It has been stated that the reason for creating such a car was to show that a hybrid powered car can have the same performance as a gasoline powered car.

This is not the first time that Citroën has made a hybrid car - in 2005 they revealed the hybrid powered version of the Citroën C4.

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BMW CS Concept

BMW has taken the wraps off the CS Concept — a new "four-door-coupe" designed to tackle the Mercedes CLS, Porsche Panamera, and Maserati Quattroporte. The car is likely a preview of the recently rumored 8-Series revival, or alternatively a four-door 6-Series. Either way, it points to BMW's future design direction for the company as a whole.

The debut of the CS Concept follows a report by German car magazine Auto Zeitung that claimed BMW would launch a four-door coupe using the 8-Series designation, starting with a new 850i.

In June 2006, Germany's Auto Bild ran a cover story on BMW's planned rival to the Mercedes CLS. The magazine claimed the vehicle was the next-generation 6-series, which it says will be offered in two- and four-door variants under the same nameplate.

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Chevrolet Volt

The Chevrolet Volt is a plug-in hybrid concept car created by General Motors. However, the company has avoided the use of the term "hybrid," preferring to call it an electric vehicle with a "range extender" due to its design.[2] The vehicle is designed to run purely on electricity from on-board batteries for short trips up to 40 miles (64 km) in the city—a large enough distance to cover the daily commutes of most Americans. With use of a small internal combustion engine hooked to a generator to resupply the batteries, the vehicle's range is potentially increased to 640 miles (1030 km) on the highway. The Volt concept vehicle was officially unveiled at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) on January 7, 2007 in Detroit, Michigan. An updated version will be unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show in Shanghai, China. [1]

At the time of unveiling, the Volt project had been in existence for less than a year. It was started in 2006 after Robert Lutz, Vice Chairman of Product Development and Chairman of GM North America, learned of plans for the Tesla Roadster, a high-performance electric sportscar.[3] While the Roadster has a target price at or near US$100,000, the Volt project aims to produce a much less costly vehicle.

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Audi Avus Quattro

The Audi Avus Quattro was a concept car from the German car manufacturer, Audi. It was first introduced at the 1991 Tokyo Motor Show. The Avus Quattro had an aluminum exterior, which made it a lightweight, sleek and safer automobile.

The Avus Quattro's engine was supposed to be a 6.0 L 60-valve 12-cylinder engine producing 509 hp, capable of accelerating the car from 0 to 60 mph in about 3 seconds and a top speed of 211 mph. The exact car shown at the Tokyo Motor Show, however, had a dummy made of carefully painted wood and plastic for an engine because at the time, such a powertrain was still in development; Audi-made W12 engines were not available to buyers until Audi presented its flagship A8 a few years later.

The Avus Quattro is now on display at Audi's museum in Ingolstadt, Germany.

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Lexus LF-A

The LF-A is a 2-door exotic concept car Toyota produced under the Lexus brand. The LF-A's 5-liter (or smaller) engine produces more than 500 horsepower (373 kW), propelling it to a top speed of approximately 200 miles per hour (322 km/h). It debuted at the 2005 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). A revised version with more completely furnished interior was unveiled at the 2007 NAIAS as a possible future member of the Lexus F-Series lineup.

Toyota has given the LF-A concept car the green-light for production.[2] Prototypes of the LF-A have been spotted being tested at the Nürburgring, a famous motorsport race track in Nürburg, Germany. The production vehicles are expected to carry V10 engines, putting the car in competition with the Lamborghini Gallardo and the Porsche 911 (997). Pricing is expected to exceed $100,000.

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Toyota FT-HS

The Toyota FT-HS is a hybrid sports car concept introduced at the 2007 North American International Auto Show. Calty Design Research designed the concept and suggests that it could fill the place of the Toyota Supra. FT-HS stands for Future Toyota Hybrid Sport.

The goal of the rear wheel drive hybrid powertrain is to produce 400 horsepower and achieve 0-60 mph in around 4 seconds. This is accomplished with by combining a 3.5 L V6 and an electric motor in a similar manner to the Lexus GS450h. Unlike the GS (and virtually all other current hybrids), a production version of the FT-HS would make use of a new system designed specifically for increased performance.[3]

The 2+2 vehicle features a unique retractable roof similar to a targa top. The rear seats appear to be unusable when the roof is retracted however.

In spite of the FT-HS being only a concept vehicle, Toyota's desired price range for such a vehicle is stated to be in the mid $30,000 range.

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Lamborghini Cala

Italdesign Cala or probably as it is more commonly referred to, the Lamborghini Cala, is a concept car designed for Lamborghini by Italdesign Giugiaro. It was first shown at the 1995 Geneva Motor Show. It was a completely functional prototype that never made it into production.

The Cala was designed to fill Lamborghini's need for a replacement for the Jalpa, of which production was discontinued in 1988, at the behest of then owners of the company, Chrysler. In 1994 Chrysler sold Lamborghini to Megatech, the Cala design took shape, but when Megatech sold Lamborghini to the Volkswagen Group in 1998, the concept was shelved. The Jalpa replacement would not be found in Lamborghini's lineup until 2003, with the release of the Lamborghini Gallardo.

The Cala was powered by a mid-mounted V10 engine, which produced 400 hp, mated to a 6 speed transmission that drove the rear wheels. Top speed was estimated at 180 mph.

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BMW VAD.HO

Sighted at Geneva: a sporty, sleek yet unconventional car that looks like a supercar and is powered by a hybrid V12 engine. The name of Giugiaro’s VAD.HO concept is a clever play on words. It’s a combination of Giugiaro’s hometown since 1974, the Vado industrial area in Moncalieri, and it is also meant to sound like vado, or “I go” in Italian, with the H slotted in to symbolize hydrogen.

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Toyota Volta

The Toyota Alessandro Volta is a concept car developed in the collaboration of the Japanese manufacturer Toyota and the Italian design company Italdesign Giugiaro. The concept vehicle named after Alessandro Volta, the Italian physicist who invented the battery, was officially unveiled at the 2004 Geneva Motor Show and it is a study of a hybrid-powered sports car.

The car was built on a carbon fiber chassis and features a four wheel drive hybrid powertrain of the Lexus RX 400h which combines a 3.3-litre V6 gasoline engine with two electric engines. The gasoline engine is fitted behind the rear axle and there are additional two electrically powered engines, one on each axle. The combination develops a maximum output of 300 kW (408 bhp), which enables the car to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) in 4.03 seconds and reach the top speed of 250 km/h (155 mph). The car seats three people abreast and features drive-by-wire controls. The concept never materialized as a production car due to high costs involved.

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BMW NazcaC2

The BMW Nazca C2 or Italdesign Nazca C2, was 1992 a concept sports car which premiered at the 1993 Detroit Auto Show. The car was designed by famed automotive engineering company Italdesign, home of Giorgetto Giugiaro, and features a similar frontal design of a BMW.

Only two cars were built, they were equipped with the 5.0 L V 12 engine from BMW, that was producing 350bhp.

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Diatto Ottovù Zagato

The Diatto Ottovù Zagato is an upcoming sports car designed and built by Milanese coachbuilder Carrozzeria Zagato for two of its clients. Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the Diatto brand, the car is expected to make its official public debut at the 2007 Geneva Motor Show.

Back in 1921, Ugo Zagato designed a lightweight and aerodynamic body for the Diatto 25 4DS chassis. Created in 1835 with a Perfected Wheel patent, Diatto made their first car in 1905 and often crossed paths with Zagato in their close collaboration with Ettore Bugatti, the Maserati brothers and Tazio Nuvolari.

The word "Ottovù" incidentally means "V8" in Italian. A clear indication of the engine powering this vehicle and show of the car's sporting intent.

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Citroën C-Metisse Concept

The Citroën C-Métisse is a concept car produced by the French car manufacturer Citroën. It was first introduced in 2006 at the Paris autoshow. It has been stated that the reason for creating such a car was to show that a hybrid powered car can have the same performance as a gasoline powered car.

This is not the first time that Citroën has made a hybrid car - in 2005 they revealed the hybrid powered version of the Citroën C4.

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Mercedes-Benz F400