Concept cars are supposed to be a bit strange. That’s their job. They roll onto motor show stands with impossible doors, improbable dashboards and tyres that look as though they were chosen by someone who’s never encountered a pothole. Everyone gasps, takes photos, and then the whole thing disappears into a warehouse where it can quietly embarrass the accountants.
But some concepts get dangerously close to production. Close enough that deposits are discussed, engineers start making serious faces, and someone in management briefly forgets how expensive reality can be.
Those are the really interesting ones: not just wild ideas, but wild ideas that nearly escaped.
Aston Martin Bulldog – the wedge that got one car too far
The Aston Martin Bulldog looked less like a car and more like a doorstop designed by the Ministry of Defence. Styled by William Towns and revealed in 1979, it had a twin-turbo V8, gullwing doors, an absurdly low nose and a dashboard full of futuristic displays. Aston Martin wanted it to prove Newport Pagnell could build a world-beating supercar, with talk of a small production run for very well-funded customers.
Then reality arrived wearing a brown suit and carrying a calculator.
The company was hardly swimming in money, and when Victor Gauntlett took over, the Bulldog’s chances largely vanished. Only one was built, leaving it as a glorious “what if?” from an era when Aston briefly considered out-Lamborghini-ing Lamborghini.
It later achieved its long-promised 200mph target after restoration, which feels rather satisfying. Forty-odd years late, admittedly, but still quicker than most British infrastructure projects.
Chrysler Turbine Car – the jet-age dream you could actually borrow
The Chrysler Turbine Car wasn’t just a show stand fantasy. Chrysler built 55 of them in the early 1960s and loaned 50 to ordinary American families as part of a public trial.
Imagine that now. A manufacturer handing out turbine-powered coupés to the general public and saying, essentially, “tell us how you get on.” Different times. Possibly more trusting ones.
Styled by Ghia, the car looked sleek, bronze and properly jet-age. Underneath, its turbine engine could run on all sorts of fuels and delivered a wonderfully smooth, futuristic driving experience. It sounded like tomorrow arriving at the kerb.
So why didn’t it happen? Cost, emissions, fuel economy and manufacturing complexity all got in the way. Chrysler eventually destroyed most of the cars, which still feels like a small act of cultural vandalism.
A turbine family car was probably never going to replace the V8. But for a moment, it really did seem possible.
Volkswagen W12 Nardò – the supercar from the people’s car company
A Volkswagen supercar sounds like a joke that got out of hand in a boardroom. Yet in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Volkswagen built the W12 concepts to prove its new engine architecture and show that the company’s ambitions stretched far beyond Golfs, Passats and sensible diesel estates.
Designed by Italdesign, the W12 Nardò looked properly exotic: mid-engined, wide, low and orange enough to make sure nobody mistook it for a fleet car. Volkswagen even talked about building a tiny production run, and the car went on to set serious speed records at Nardò.
The oddness lies in the badge. Had this been a Lamborghini, nobody would have blinked. But a Volkswagen capable of supercar numbers felt like finding out your accountant moonlights as a stunt pilot.
It never reached showrooms, but the idea wasn’t wasted. The W12 engine would go on to power Bentleys, Audis and the VW Phaeton, while the wider Volkswagen Group’s taste for extreme engineering eventually gave us the Bugatti Veyron.
So no, the W12 Nardò didn’t become a production Volkswagen supercar. It just helped make even madder things possible.
Jaguar C-X75 – the future cancelled for being expensive
The Jaguar C-X75 arrived in 2010 looking like exactly the car Jaguar needed. It was beautiful, low, dramatic and clever, with an original concept built around electric motors and micro gas turbines. Yes, turbines again. Apparently they remain irresistible to engineers who have been left unsupervised near a whiteboard.
Jaguar later approved a limited production version, replacing the turbines with a hybrid system using a small, highly boosted petrol engine and electric motors. Williams Advanced Engineering was involved, prototypes were developed, and for a moment it looked as though Jaguar really might build a properly futuristic British hypercar.
Then the global economic climate intervened, which is usually how car companies say, “we have looked at the numbers and quietly gone pale.”
The C-X75 was cancelled in 2012, but refused to disappear completely. It later appeared in the Bond film Spectre, because if you can’t have a production run, chasing James Bond around Rome is a decent consolation prize.
Ford GT90 – the supercar that looked like a computer game cheat code
The Ford GT90 was unveiled in 1995 as a possible spiritual successor to the GT40, which is already a fairly bold thing to attempt. It had a quad-turbo V12, claimed outrageous performance, and styling based on Ford’s “New Edge” design language. In practice, that meant it looked like a supercar assembled from stealth aircraft parts. Subtle it was not. Then again, a 1990s Ford concept with four turbos was probably never aiming for subtle.
The GT90 reportedly worked, but only in that slightly nervous concept-car way where everyone involved seems keen you don’t lean on anything too firmly. It was more statement than production-ready machine, but it came close enough to make people wonder what Ford might do next.
What Ford eventually did, of course, was build the far more retro and production-friendly GT in the 2000s. Sensible decision, probably.
Still, part of you wishes they’d made the mad one.
