Dream to Reality

Motoring history is littered with ‘what if’ concept cars, many cruelly euthanised before their designers’ aspirations can be fulfilled. But it’s not always the case, with some concepts – like Jaguar’s Advanced Lightweight Coupe concept of 2005 – showing off a future model in plain sight, in that case the X150-generation XK range. Precious few concepts arrive in showrooms unscathed from their journey twixt show stand and forecourt, although the models found over the next few pages are intriguing examples of those rarities.

Perhaps cruellest of all are the technological showcases. Loaned or leased but never owned, these machines – the Chrysler Turbine Car and GM EV-1 in particular – demonstrated technological leaps before their respective makers were ready (either financially or ideologically). In both cases, aside from very rare survivors donated or saved by the right people at the right time, almost all examples were lost to avoid taxes.

Chrysler’s hesitance with the 1963-64 Turbine Car project was understandable; the cars, while state-of-the-art and reliable in service, belched out red hot exhaust gases and offered very little performance advantages over big-block Mopar V8s. While undoubtedly smoother, the mass manufacturing processes needed to produce gas turbine impellers at the fine tolerances required would have needed funding beyond that of a ‘Big Three’ maker. The hand-made Ghia bodies had the Internal Revenue Service bridling; the Turbine Cars, even rationalised down to scale, could never turn a profit.

General Motors’ decision to kill its EV1 seemed shortsighted, given the benefit of hindsight and the growing popularity of battery-powered cars, despite their high price. Motorists in two test states rushed to lease a car that was the 1990 Impact concept made real. Marketed as a Saturn, the EV1 had no problem finding people eager to sign on the dotted line, previewing the rush for