Tag Archives: concept car

XM Turnpike Cruiser Concept Car

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1956 Mercury XM Turnpike Cruiser Concept Car

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 4-15, 2022

Photo – Mecum

This poorly photographed mid-century concept car is a pretty wild thing. First of all, it’s built on a 1954 Ford F-250 chassis, and it was designed by Mercury yet actually built by Ghia in Italy. Which seems backward of how it is supposed to have been done. Power is from a 4.8-liter V8.

But let’s talk styling. First off, we have split dual-Dagmar front bumpers. The exhaust has dual tips sticking through each quarter panel, and the fins have a weird rotated-3D look to them that are surrounded by a flat rear deck and vertical tail panel. The C-pillar buttresses are actually glass, and brake lights are also located at the rear top base of the roof. The four-seat interior is full-on jet age, too.

It toured around the show circuit in 1956 and was used as a pace car in Daytona in 1957. From there, it sat parked outside at Ford HQ, deteriorating. The owner restored it between 2017 and 2022. It’s as fresh now as it’s ever been.

It’s actually been a while since a good 1950s concept car came up for sale. And this is one that hasn’t been seen in a long time. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.

Citroen Berlingo Calao

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1998 Citroen Berlingo Calao by Sbarro

Offered by Aguttes | Sochaux, France | September 20, 2020

Photo – Aguttes

At first, I thought that, after PSA’s acquisition of Opel, the company was shedding itself of part of its heritage collection. Brightwells is selling off part of Vauxhall’s heritage collection, and now we have this sale of Citroen and Peugeot prototypes and old cars, all from Peugeot’s Museee de l’Aventure. That collection houses over 450 vehicles, with just 130 on display. So it appears that they are just thinning the herd.

We’ve actually featured one of Sbarro’s Berlingo-based creations before. This is another. Whatever is under the hood is not stated, but it’s almost certainly an inline-four of between 1.4 and 2.0 liters in displacement.

This prototype is described as a leisure vehicle for windsurfers. Which is a very specific demographic. The interior is bizarre, it has no roof, and it has no doors. Remember when companies made concept cars with no relevant production details? This car carries a pre-sale estimate of $16,500-$21,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $26,256.

Faraday Future Prototype

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2016 Faraday Future FF 91 Prototype

Offered by Worldwide Auctioneers | Auburn, Indiana | September 5, 2020

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

Faraday Future was (is?) one of quite a few electric vehicle startups that have recently promised big things and, well, have yet to deliver. Electric car companies are to 2020 what exotic supercar startups were to 2005… and 2020. Named for 19th-century scientist Michael Faraday, Faraday Future was founded in Los Angeles in 2014 by Jia Yueting.

The FF 91 was introduced in 2017. I think it’s a crossover. Power is from three electric motors that combine for 1,050 horsepower. Sixty mph was supposed to arrive in 2.4 seconds courtesy of an all-wheel-drive system. Sound too good to be true? Faraday Future has been in the news more for their financial issues than for the creation of tangible products.

Production has been delayed a few times (see financial issues above… it’s like car startups don’t realize the capital involved in bringing an automobile to market… this isn’t 1909). Most recently it was pushed to “late 2020.” The fact that Worldwide is offering not one but two FF 91 prototypes at no reserve does not signal good things.

What it does signal is that this may be your best chance ever to acquire one of these cars, although some of the interior leaves a bit to be desired, like exposed switchgear. No word on if you would be able to road-register this, but probably not. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Withdrawn.

Ferrari 328 Conciso

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1989 Ferrari 328 Conciso Concept Car

Offered by Bonhams | Chantilly, France | September 10, 2017

Photo – Bonhams

With the current Ferrari market on fire, there are only a few models that can be purchased by mere mortals. The 1986-1989 328 GTB/GTS is one of them. The 328 was an evolution of the 308, but it had a larger engine and enhanced styling. Over 6,000 were made (with over another 1,000 Turbo models also made). But, as you can see, this is no ordinary 328 GTS.

Built in 1993, this car is based on a 1989 328 GTS (which was the Targa model). The body was constructed by Bernd Michalak Design Studio of Germany and is all aluminium. It still has the same engine – a 270 horsepower, 3.2-liter V-8. Top speed is reportedly over 170 mph.

One intriguing part of this design is the fact that the car has no doors. You’re supposed to just step into the car (there isn’t a roof either – or roll bars – so you can’t do a Dukes of Hazzard-style entrance either). It does come with helmets for the driver and passenger though.

First presented at the 1993 Frankfurt Motor Show, it appeared the following year at the Geneva Motor Show as well. It bounced between owners on either side of the Atlantic before the current owner bought it in 1999. Major service was carried out in 2014 and it is road legal (at least in Belgium where it is currently registered).

Looking like a cousin of the Ford Indigo Concept Car of the mid-1990s, this car has covered approximately 6,000 miles since it was built. It’s obviously a one-off and is being sold without reserve (or a pre-sale estimate, though it should easily set a record for a Ferrari 328 at auction). Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $138,690.

Update: Sold, RM Sotheby’s Monaco 2018, $128,811.

“Die Valkyrie”

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1955 Cadillac Die Valkyrie Concept Car by Spohn

Offered by Worldwide Auctioneers | Auburn, Indiana | September 2, 2017

Photo – Worldwide Auctioneers

Yesterday we featured a car owned by Brooks Stevens. Today we feature a car designed by Brooks Stevens. Stevens was an industrial designer best remembered in automobile circles for designing some great cars. In the 1950s he wanted to build a nice ride in the European tradition at a time when there were a lot of European-American cars coming out from American manufacturers.

So he took a 1954 Cadillac chassis and penned an original body for it. There’s a swooping “V” at the front, a long hood, and a removable hardtop for open air driving. The body was built by Spohn of Germany and the engine is an all-American 5.4-liter V-8 making 230 horsepower.

Dubbed “Die Valkyrie” after the Wagner opera, you can just imagine that famous piece of music emanating from this car as it stalks up behind you, that big V at the front trying to root you off the road.

This car was shown at the 1954 Paris Auto Salon and the 1955 New York Auto Show. Stevens bought the car for his wife from the financial backer who funded the project. It remained in his stewardship until 1997 when the current owner acquired it. It’s a one-of-one custom GM Concept Car and should bring big money when it goes under the hammer in Auburn. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Aston Martin Concept Car

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1998 Aston Martin Project Vantage Concept Car

Offered by Bonhams | Newport Pagnell, England | May 21, 2016

Photo - Bonhams

Photo – Bonhams

Does this look like an Aston Martin Vanquish to you? Well it’s not. The Vanquish didn’t go on sale until 2001 and this concept car is from 1998. It debuted at the 1998 North American International Auto Show in January of that year. It was designed by Ian Callum.

But this wasn’t just some fanciful pie-in-the-sky concept car. No, Aston Martin made sure it was a fully functional driver. It is powered by a 6.0-liter V-12 making 450 horsepower – which is essentially the engine that ended up in the Vanquish. It is the first Aston Martin built with a paddle shift gearbox.

This car is being sold by Aston Martin. It is not eligible to be registered for the road, but can be shown at events. Aston has only shown it once since the auto show. It’s a one-off, fully-functional concept car coming straight from the factory. It should bring between $130,000-$160,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $127,825.

“Shorty” Mustang

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1964½ Ford Mustang “Shorty” Concept

Offered by Auctions America | Ft. Lauderdale, Florida | March 27-29, 2014

Photo - Auctions America

Photo – Auctions America

This may be a car you are not familiar with. It looks like a normal 1965 – or, 1964½, my apologies – Mustang that got struck in a trash compactor. Believe it or not, this was actually a Ford factory concept car, its construction having been outsourced to Dearborn Steel Tubing Industries. This car was originally the 10th Mustang Prototype, but designer Vincent Gardner cut 16 inches out of the wheelbase and re-designed the entire body behind the firewall.

Ford had no intentions of ever building a two-seat-only Mustang because a car with four seats has broader appeal than does one with room only for two. But just for the hell of it, Ford decided to have this concept built anyway. After a few shows and magazine covers, Ford decided enough was enough and planned to have the car scrapped.

But Gardner had other plans. He stole the car and hid it in a warehouse… but he failed to continue to pay his rent and the warehouse’s owner found the car and called the cops. When the Mustang went missing, Ford’s insurance paid them for it, fearing it lost. So now the insurance had the car and Ford already had their money. So they sold it to one of their employees who kept it until 1968 when the current owner acquired it.

It was kept hidden away until the past 15 years, when it was restored and shown at various shows. In fact, here’s a video I took of it driving around last summer. The engine is a 4.9-liter V-8 and the body is fiberglass. Obviously, this is the only Mustang quite like this and it should sell for between $400,000-$600,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $511,500.

Here’s video of this actual car:

Ford Explorer Sportsman

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2001 Ford Explorer Sportsman Concept

Offered by Auctions America | Auburn, Indiana | August 30, 2014

Photo - Auctions America

Photo – Auctions America

Looks pretty manly, doesn’t it? I remember concept cars of this era – seeing auto show highlights in AutoWeek or some such publication (the internet still wasn’t my main source for news) and seeing these somewhat outrageous show cars. Many from the late-90s through the early-00s have a similar look about them.

This one is based on a standard Ford Explorer. The Sportsman was designed for fishermen. It comes with fishing rods and the self-deploying running boards offer storage for said rods (really a good idea that I’m surprised we don’t actually see on production cars). The roof rack is removable. There’s actually even a built-in fish tank in the rear. *Fish not included.

The engine is a 4.6-liter V-8 making 240 horsepower and it does run and drive (although you can’t register it, unfortunately). It’s the only one like it ever built and sold four years ago for $49,500. This time around it carries an estimate of $40,000-$60,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $15,675.

The 1999 Packard

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1999 Packard Twelve Prototype

Offered by RM Auctions | Plymouth, Michigan | July 26, 2014

Photo - RM Auctions

Photo – RM Auctions

Packard is one the most revered American automobile manufacturers of all time. Their glory years were from their founding by James Ward Packard and his two partners in Warren, Ohio, in 1899 up through their huge pre-war touring cars and limousines. They built some of the finest cars money could buy. Unfortunately, their post-war fortunes were not as grand. They merged into Studebaker and the marque disappeared for 1959 (after two years of selling re-badged Studebakers).

Or did it? Well, yes, it did – but that didn’t stop the new owners of the Packard trademark – Packard Motor Car Company of Phoenix, Arizaon – from constructing this “new” Packard in 1999. The styling is unique and has little bits of classic Packard styling added in (like the grille). It’s a four-door luxury sedan prototype in working order – a concept car for the road. The styling can be polarizing for some, but I don’t really mind it as it reminds me of the kind of crazy era of concept cars that proliferated through the 1990s. I’m thinking “Chrysler Thunderbolt” here.

The coolest part is that this car is all-original. It’s not a re-bodied Lincoln or something like that. The chassis is aluminium. It has four-wheel drive. The engine is a 8.6-liter V-12 making 573 horsepower. It’ll hit 60 mph in only 4.8 seconds. Not bad for a sedan – from 1999.

This car popped up on eBay in 2009 and I don’t know the outcome, but it hadn’t met its reserve by the time it hit $125,000. So I’m guessing they want more. On the plus side, should you choose to spend it, you’ll have the newest Packard on the block. Read more here and check out more from RM here.

Update: Sold $143,000.

Lincoln Quicksilver

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1983 Lincoln Quicksilver Concept by Ghia

Offered by Mecum | Kissimmee, Florida | January 23, 2013

1983 Lincoln Quicksilver Concept by Ghia

So what in the world do we have here? Actually, this car has shown up on this site before – it was sold at Auctions America’s 2013 Auburn Spring auction earlier this year, where it brought $9,570. And it’s set to cross the block again.

The Quicksilver was actually built by Ghia in Turin at Ford’s request. Ford debuted the futuristic (minivan? crossover? wagon?) at the 1983 Geneva Auto Show. The car was a hit and Ford toured the thing all over the world, hitting auto shows until 1986.

The car sits on a stretched version of an AC 3000 ME (a very rare British sports car from the era) chassis and uses a mid-mounted 2.8-liter V-6. It seats five and is fully functional, albeit not road-legal. It would be a most-amusing car to own and weird out everyone in town. Absolutely no one would be able to guess what it is. And it can be yours for somewhere in the neighborhood of ten grand. Click here for more info and here for more from Mecum’s sale.

Update: Sold $27,000.