Coolest Concept Cars – Detroit Auto Show 2007

AOL Journals (TheGearShift) just released their list of the 5 coolest cars from the Detroit Auto Show. I agree with the cars, but perhaps not the positions. The Acura Advanced Sports Car Concept I wrote about before should be higher on the list, but all of these are really cool. Check out the list:

Fifth Place:

Acura Advanced Sports Car Concept

Again, I think this should be higher on the list, but at least it’s here. The Advanced Sports Car Concept (or “ASC Concept,”) is Acura’s answer to the discontinued NSX. Rumored to have an all-new V10 engine and an all-new rear-wheel drive system based on Acura’s Super-Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) system.

Fourth Place:

Ford Interceptor

Ford led us to believe they would be letting us see an all-new four-door Mustang at the Detroit Auto Show, and I cringed. I don’t want to see a four-door Mustang, it wouldn’t be a Mustang. Thankfully, they surprised us with this cool Interceptor Concept. A Ford sedan that I like? Weird.

Third Place:

Chevy Volt

Holy crap, a cool Chevy too? Proof that Chevy might be getting their shit together, the Volt Concept is considered fully electric, using GM’s new E-flex platform. The engine (used only to recharge the batteries) can be filled up with anything from E85 to Hydrogen.

Second Place:

Toyota FT-HS

Toyota has been toying with the concept of “Hybrid Supercars” now for years (remember the Alessandro Volta Concept?) so I’ve sort of started tuning out all of their newer designs. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great idea, and if anybody can pull it off, it’s Toyota. The FT-HS is supposed to have 400 horsepower by way of Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive.

First Place:

Mazda Ryuga

While it may not be the best looker in the bunch, I completely agree with it being the coolest.

Our pick for Coolest Concept Car goes to the sensual Mazda Ryuga. The designers of this amazing vehicle took the concept of ‘motion in nature’ and blended that with futuristic design elements to create a concept car that they say embodies what its name means in Japanese – gracious flow. The elegant lines on the side of the Ryuga (that extend from the front fenders to the flowing rear quarters) were inspired by karesansui, the dry rock gardens where raked lines represent ripples of water caused by the wind. Deep stuff here … and it gets even deeper.

The headlights were meant to represent morning dew dropping from bamboo leaves. We say they just look sweet! It gets better too, the deep red color was influenced by lava flow and the unique interior, accessed through huge gull-wing doors, features a floating center console design and a gauge cluster straight out of Star Trek. Most important though is the sheer fact that the Ryuga was the car that kept all of us coming back for more. We just couldn’t stop looking at it, wondering how cool it would be to drive it and staring in awe at the creative designs held within. That is what a cool concept car should do. Great job Mazda!

TheGearShift

Filed Under: Acura • Chevy • Concept cars • Events • Ford • Mazda • Toyota