Most car manufacturers do not exactly hold back when it comes to concept cars. And of course it will be most exciting that way.
Supercars that either do not come into production or are not intended for it, supercars without inhibitions, pure expression of a designer’s artistic vision, an engineer’s dream and a manufacturer’s hubris.
We are of course talking about concept cars in the super class. Keep up with the editors’ top 7:
7. Bugatti 16 C
In 2009, Bugatti introduced the concept car 16C Galibier, a super-sedan with luxury in abundance and which would have the same W16 engine as in the Veyron. There was a lot of talk back and forth about the concept, and in 2011 the idea was that the car would start production. That did not happen and in 2019 the final message came with a clear no from the management.
6. Cadillac Sixteen
Built to pay homage to the 16-cylinder “Caddies” of the 1930s, the Cadillac Sixteen was as much an engineering exercise as a concept. Its engine was built from the ground up, with a Corvette V8 as the base, and could shut down up to 12 cylinders under light load to save fuel.
5. Jaguar B99 Bertone
The Jaguar B99 had very little to do with the Jaguar. It was designed and built by Bertone (B for Bertone, 99 years since the company was founded), as a possible replacement for the X-Type. A rival to the BMW 3 Series rival but with a more retro design. Unfortunately, Jaguar chose not to accept Bertone’s help, and instead we got Jaguar XE a few years later.
4. Lamborghini Marzal
Lamborghini Marzal was born to be a concept and nothing else. A car that came to dominate the front pages of newspapers before motor shows, simply a four-wheeled advertising campaign. That’s almost exactly what Ferruccio Lamborghini described it as. He said that the development cost was a one-time phenomenon that would cost a tenth of the advertising and marketing costs, but get even more attention. Ferruccio was probably not wrong…
3. Lamborghini Cala
The Lamborghini Cala1995 was an attempt to replace the Jalpa model. Nothing went further, especially when the new owner Chrysler, and later Volksvagen took over. However, the designer Gallado got his revenge when later models took inspiration from Cala.
2. Ferrari Pinin
Pinin (named after Sergio Pininfarina’s father, Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina) which was unveiled at the Turin Motor Show in 1980 to mark the design studio Pininfarina’s 50th anniversary. It was the first four-door Ferrari ever, and still is, except for a copy of the 456 built for the Sultan of Brunei.
1. Aston Martin Bulldog
At the top of our list is the Aston Martin Bulldog. The mythical supercar stunned the world when it was first shown in 1980. The Bulldog was twice as powerful as the fastest Ferrari and five times as expensive as the most expensive Aston Martin car. The crisis of the eighties, however, meant that the car never came into production. The prototype was sold to a Saudi prince and then fell into oblivion. Then the Bulldog resurfaced after 41 years in hibernation.