Buick Y-Job
Year:1938
Debut at: Henry Ford Museum
Production cost: $109,000*
The Buick Y-Job is unique in that it is considered to be the very first concept car. The Y-Job was a convertible with two-doors and a 5.2-liter Buick straight-eight engine. It also had a wheelbase of 126 inches and was designed by Harley Earl. In addition, it had sleek, discrete features like hidden, power-operated hood lamps and electric windows (which were quite avant-garde at the time).
The Y-Job displayed a gunsight hood ornament, flush door handles, and wrap-around bumpers. Though it sadly wasn’t mass-produced the Y-Job had design features that are still used by car manufacturers today, such as the vertical waterfall grille.
Nissan Pivo
Year:2005
Debut at Tokyo Motor Show
Production cost: $200,000*
The Nissan Pivo was a lithium-ion battery-powered vehicle designed with environmental conservation in mind. It made its public appearance in 2005 at the Tokyo Motor Show. The vehicle sported large doors, windows, windscreens, and A-pillars on either side of its windshield. The Pivo came with the Around View Monitor System, a project developed by Nissan that helps reduce blind spots.
The Pivo’s most remarkable feature was that it could rotate 360 degrees. The three-seater cabin had a chassis with four wheels, so there would be no need for reversing, as you could just spin around. Parking would also be a breeze with the Pivo, as it had three iterations.
Tata AirPod
Year:2012
Debut at MDJ in Luxembourg
Production cost: $10,000*
Another environmentally-friendly design was created by Tata Motors. The AirPod concept car was designed to be a zero-pollution car. Although the air compression design wasn’t very new, the vehicle used compressed air to power it.
The air compression theory first became a concept in 1840, when two French designers experimented with it in vehicle design. Now, nearly two centuries later, air compression cars are still in development, and they even have their own political lobby, called the Air Car Lobby!
Frisky Family Three
Year: 1959
Debut at Earls Court Motor Show
Production cost: $400*
With a unique and spunky model name, Meadows Frisky was a series of small cars manufactured between 1958 and 1961 in England by Henry Meadows. The Frisky Family Three was a compact, three-wheeled concept version of a smaller British car (designed by Giovanni Michelotti).
The adorable car was produced in August of 1958 and debuted at the Earls Court Motor Show in 1958. It featured a smaller 9E Villiers engine, along with a MacPherson strut front suspension. Though it gave the car a strange look, the three wheels meant that the vehicle had a lower excise duty. Nearly a hybrid vehicle, you could also drive it with only a motorcycle license.
Dymaxion
Year: 1933
Debut at Chicago World’s Fair
Production cost: $7,688*
The Chicago World’s Fair was a great place to debut cutting-edge ideas and inventions. And at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933, the Dymaxion car made its debut. Conceptualized by American inventor Bucky Fuller and Starling Burgess, the car was designed to fly and drive. Fuller used money from his family inheritance and donations from the public, to develop the concept car.
The word “Dymaxion” originated from a combination of the words dynamic, maximum, and tension. The Dymaxion’s transmission and engine (a flathead Ford V8) were both made by Ford.