Tech & Auto
The Coolest Concept Cars Ever Created
By JUSTIN OWEN
Buick Y-Job
Compared to today's cars, the 1938 Buick Y-Job looks fairly conservative, but in the late 1930s, it was highly progressive having contemporary features with novel ones.
The coolest facet of the car is that the Y-Job set the stage for GM and others to dream big and present the wildest ideas of their time at various auto shows and public events.
Briggs & Stratton
Briggs and Stratton, a name synonymous with cutting grass, undertook a project in 1980 to deliver a fuel-efficient car using a small displacement engine.
The hybrid had a Vanguard V-twin air-cooled engine with a displacement of 694cc to an electric motor and manual transmission, and was also unique in having of 6 wheels.
Saab Aero-X
The 2006 Saab Aero-X’s most fascinating part was how to get in and out. The entire midsection of the car lifts like a jet fighter canopy or sci-fi space patrol vehicle.
The vehicle was made with carbon fiber, twin-turbo ethanol-fueled V6 good for 400 horsepower, and a plethora of electronics and LED panels and lights to fill out the interior.
Ford GT90
Building a Ford branded supercar, engineers crammed a 5.9L V12 engine with four turbochargers producing 720 horsepower between the wheels.
The 1995 Ford GT90 had a top speed of 250 mph with a standing quarter-mile time of just 10.9 seconds. Perhaps Ford used this project to inspire the iconic Ford GT a decade later.
Aerovette XP-882
If the "father of the Corvette," Zora Arkus-Duntov, had his way back in the late 60s and 70s, the Corvette would have had an Italian configuration decades ago.
It wasn’t the first iteration of a mid-engined Corvette concept, but the XP-882 of 1976 is the most interesting. It had a four-rotor engine, and a sleek design with gullwing doors.