Tag Archives: Concepts

Electric Mercedes-Maybach Concept Teased For Munich

Mercedes-Maybach has released the first teaser video of their upcoming ultra-luxury electric vehicle concept.

Originally announced in July, the mysterious model features a Maybach-branded grille with horizontal slats. While the latter is fully enclosed, the concept isn’t completely focused on aerodynamics as it has a hood ornament unlike the EQA, EQB and EQS.

Additional details are hard to make out, but it appears the concept will have large wheels and a sizable rear window. That isn’t much to go on, but the company teased “After 100 years, it’s time for a new beginning” and that will occur on September 5th when Mercedes-Maybach unveils the “future of sophisticated luxury.” This builds on a previous tease about “how the 100-year tradition of ultimate automotive luxury can be carried forward into a new era.”

Also Read: Mercedes Teases EQE, Announces Electric Maybach And AMG Models For Munich Auto Show

While the company is staying tight-lipped about specifics, Mercedes has already confirmed plans for electric Maybachs. In particular, the automaker teased the Mercedes-Maybach EQS SUV this summer and it features a two-tone design with Maybach badging on the rear pillar. Rumors have also suggested the company could offer a Maybach version of the standard EQS.

It’s hard to say what the concept is at this point, but we’ll find out full details in the coming days.

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Ford Shelby Cobra Concept Sells For $2.64 Million At Monterey Car Week

Back in 2004, Ford unveiled the Shelby Cobra concept at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The car was a manual, V10-powered homage to the original Cobra and was overseen by Carroll Shelby himself. Fast forward 17 years, and while the car never made it to production, the lone prototype, nicknamed “Daisy”, has sold at auction for $2.64 million.

The car was sold Mecum’s auction at Monterey Car Week, where the final bid was $2.4 million, plus an additional $240,000 buyer’s commission to bring it to the $2.64 million number. And if you thought that was insane, not only did it exceed its estimated maximum selling price by roughly half a million dollars, but the last time this car changed hands, it was for only around a third of the price at “just” $825,000.

Read More: Would You Buy Two Gulf-Themed Ford GT Heritage Editions For A Combined $1.7 million?

Unlike a lot of concept cars, Daisy is fully functioning, and in addition to all the other mileage it accrued, Carroll Shelby drove it more than 150 miles (241 km) at a two-day testing session at Irwindale Speedway in California. It’s also worth noting that the Shelby Cobra concept wasn’t just a parts bin special either, having an almost entirely unique chassis, body, and interior in addition to its powertrain. And anything that was a shared component primarily came from the Ford GT, which we don’t think anyone would argue is a bad thing.

See Also: The Most Expensive McLaren F1 Road Car Ever Sold For A Staggering $20,465,000

Under Daisy’s hood lies the crown jewel of the Cobra’s planned revival: a 6.4-liter DOHC 40-valve aluminum V10 with dry sump lubrication. One of just four specially-designed V10s made by Ford Advanced Powertrain, the engine sends 605 hp (613 PS / 451 kW) to the rear wheels through a rear-mounted six-speed Ricardo transaxle. That’s impressive power even by today’s standards, and considering it’s roughly the same size and weight as a Mazda Miata, we can only imagine how fun it is to drive.

Needless to say, whoever ended up with this car is one lucky person, but given the price they paid for it, we wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up spending most of its days locked in a garage.

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Independent Designer Reinvents The Lancia Stratos As A Modern Supercar

Lancia had so many hits during its 114-year history it’s very hard to pick the most influential car of them all.

Having said that, one obvious candidate is the Lancia Stratos, and for several reasons. First of all, Marcelo Gandini’s wedge-shaped masterpiece was a break with tradition, as it looked like no other Lancia before it and marked the brand’s return to working with Bertone, where Gandini was employed while designing the Stratos.

The Stratos was also the first car unveiled after Fiat took over the company in 1969, proving that the Turin-based giant was serious about making Lancia a pearl of its crown.

Watch Also: The Story Of The Lancia Stratos Has Never Been Told So Beautifully

Last, but not least, the Stratos was a trailblazer for the brand’s unrivaled success in the World Rally Championship and started a new era in motorsport as the first car designed from scratch for rallying. To this day, no other manufacturer has more WRC constructors’ titles than Lancia. Of the 10 titles, the first three were brought by the Stratos.

While the Stratos has a glorious past, it has no present or future as Lancia has been relegated to an Italy-only brand building a single model, the Ypsilon supermini. Sure, we should be thankful for the Ferrari F430-based Stratos built by Manifattura Automobili Torino (MAT), but the retro-styled supercar is an independent effort that has nothing to do with Lancia.

Mind you, there are many Lancia fans who fantasize about a modern-day Stratos and designer Guilherme Araujo is one of them. His vision of a next-gen Stratos is truly spectacular and looks fresh and original even though it clearly pays tribute to the Stratos Zero Concept from 1970 and the Stratos HF rally car that followed a year later.

Combining a dramatic wedge shape with simple graphics, Araujo’s Lancia L Concept Homage is the perfect gift for the Stratos Zero’s 50th anniversary this year. It’s also a sad reminder of what we’re missing out on from today’s Lancia. We have nothing more to add as these renderings speak for themselves.

Note: This is an independent design study from Guilherme Araujo and is in no way related to or endorsed by Lancia or Bertone.

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Toyota H2+ Concept Wants To Blend The Past With The Future

The vehicle you’re looking at is dubbed the Toyota H2+ Concept, and while it only exists in the virtual world, it shows what a high-performance coupe from the Japanese automaker could look like in the modern age.

This design comes from David Gallego and takes inspiration from Toyota models of yesteryear and combines them with the automaker’s current design philosophy. Key inspiration has been taken from the Mk4 Supra and the iconic Toyota 2000GT.

Read Also: Is This What The New Toyota Supra Mk5 Should Have Looked Like?

Although the H2+ Concept may look like an out-and-out supercar, it has actually been designed to have quite a spacious interior, in a not way too dissimilar to the Koenigsegg Gemera. However, whereas the Gemera has four seats, the H2+ Concept has three seats; two in the front row and one in the second row. The cabin also offers some adjustability and allows the front passenger to lie back or for the two passenger seats to be removed completely to make way for greater cargo space.

As for the outside, it is extremely striking and is made up of lots of sharp and angular lines. The front is particularly intriguing thanks to the futuristic LED headlights that also house cameras and sensors.

Viewed from above, we get a clear view of the wraparound windshield and the glass roof. The rear is perhaps our favorite area of the car and has sharp LED taillights with a similar shape to the painted nose section of a Toyota Aygo.

Note: This is an independent design from David Gallego and has not been officially endorsed by Toyota.

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