Detroit Concepts Are Way Too Realistic

Auto show concept cars should typically be taken with a grain of salt. No wait, make that a boulder of salt. It’s too easy to get excited about their crazy newfangled technology and LSD-inspired design elements, only to be disappointed later when the manufacturer determines that there is no market for a diamond-encrusted one-wheeler that runs on olive oil. One of our favorite more radical concepts from the 2008 Detroit auto show was the swoopy Mazda Furai, which is closer to a racecar than anything meant for the mass market. And if that YouTube video of the car accelerating full-bore on a racetrack wasn’t a hoax, the Furai sounds as incredible as it looks.

Some other wild rides appeared in D-town, but for the most part, a lot of the concepts smacked of future production. Two years from now (or maybe even sooner) we wouldn’t be surprised to see the Audi R8 V12 TDI, Cadillac CTS Coupe, Ford Explorer America, and Mercedes GLK Freeside in showrooms. Encountering them at that point might even cause some nostalgia for the days when concepts were totally impossible, and purposefully so. Read more about the concept cars of the 2008 Detroit auto show, and while you’re at it, be sure to check out all of ForbesAutos’ Detroit coverage.