These Concept Cars Still Look Futuristic After Two Decades

BOLD RIDE

Copyright © 2015 Bold Ride LLC.

 

Posted by Zach Doell

 

 

The concept car is a tough design to master. Throw in all the bells and whistles and in 10 years it’ll look about as futuristic as a Star Trek control panel. Dial it back and you risk people mistaking your concept for a current car. Not good. 

Then there are timeless designs – concept cars that look just as wild in the mid ’90s as they do in the current day. BoldRide reader and architect Mariusz W. started his career with aspirations to work in car design, so he sketched and built dozens of concept cars from his favorite automotive marques.

 Although his creations date back to the mid-90s and early 2000s, they still look fantastically avant-garde today.

“Nowadays, car design is a complete disaster,” mentions Mariusz. “Things are forced into an accidental cacophony of shapes without any main theme of expression. My take is to understand the feeling and describe it through shape utilizing history, function, and emotions.”

That focus on history certainly comes through on his Volkswagen Beetle and Porsche 911 concepts, which inject both models’ historic body lines with more futuristic design sensibilities.

Mariusz says he would frequently look to the iconic sports car designs of the early ’70s for his inspiration – Countach, Stratos, and Pantera. “There’s so much beauty to be had there.”

Each design started as a rough pencil or pen sketch. Then Mariusz honed it further, inked in the final arrangement, and before long, he turned his creations into three-dimensional models. Each handmade model is built in 1:24 scale using plaster.

The Beetle concept seems to channel the future of Baja bug racing, what with its exposed engine and aggressive stance.

The Porsche 911 boasts body lines not far removed from the quirky Porsche Panamericana concept, and six stubby exhaust pipes poking triumphantly through the rear engine cover. We wouldn’t mind seeing Porsche implement that exhaust design today.

“It gives me the greatest feeling,” notes Mariusz. “I feel like Dr. Frankenstein, ‘It’s alive!’”

The third concept envisions a future Ferrari sports car, which he created over 15 years ago. Oddly enough, it bares a remarkable likeness to the Alfa Romeo 4C. Now that’s some forethought.
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