text: Design News - Features - Concept cars put design pedal to the metal
  Feature Concept cars put design pedal to the metal
  By Bruce Wiebusch, Regional Editor4/8/2002 Post a commentEmail ThisPrintComment
  Concept cars introduced this year provide a glimpse of tomorrow's production vehicles. Some even successfully blend classic design from the past with the technologies of the future. Ford's new GT40 concept car is a revved-up re-design of the classic GT40 that became a racing favorite in the 1960s. But the new GT40 has even more horsepower than the original. New concept cars from General Motors include the Pontiac Solstice Roadster. "This car went from the first sketch to a vehicle we could drive in under four months," says Pontiac spokesperson Mary Henige. "That's lightning fast."
  The Audi Advantissimo puts all the car's information and communication systems within the driver's reach in ways the company describes as "instinctive" and "exceptionally easy to use." Strategic placement of the controls is important to the safe integration of Internet-enabled technology into the dashboard that they won't distract the driver. Other new concept cars feature original approaches to the way we think about the interior and exterior of cars. Mitsubishi uses door panels and seatbacks as removable storage units, creating more room inside the car for passengers and their stuff. Saab uses a cargo floor that extends electronically in its 9X concept car. And Johnson Controls introduced new automotive interior components�switches for doors and climate controls covered in fabric�in its Ariston. New exterior concepts include the bi-folding tailgate on the Nissan Quest. The SUV's glass roof also has a pop-up roof rack. Glass on the roof of the Vision GST from Mercedes-Benz is electrochromic. Occupants vary the tinting depending upon the intensity of sunlight.
  Noteworthy: A new high-pressure braking system in the GST uses large brake discs made of carbon fibre-reinforced ceramic. Body/chassis structure: alloy steel with high tensile strength
  Engine: 5.5-liter V8 Maximum Horsepower: 360
  With the Vision GST, Mercedes-Benz introduces a new six-seater concept with electrochromic glass that runs from the front windscreen to the rear of the vehicle. Occupants vary the tinting depending upon the intensity of sunlight. Ford GT40
  Engine: 5.4-liter, 32-valve supercharged and inter-cooled V8, Maximum horsepower: 500 Maximum Torque: 500 ft-lb "Anyone can do technology showpieces," says Chris Theodore, Ford's vice-president of North American product development. "But there's much more to a GT40. There's heritage and heart."
  Maximum Torque: 442 lb-ft Audi introduces its new multi-media interface in the Avantissimo. All main functions are directly accessible by pressing buttons. Selection within each menu is by means of rotary switch and the pushbuttons surrounding it. Email ThisPrintComment