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The future of car design has always looked a little bit outlandish.
For many decades, carmakers have experimented with unexpected ways to leverage technology in order to make cars safer and more comfortable.
Some of the innovations they have come up with remained at the concept stage, for better or worse, but others beat the odds and ultimately trickled down to production cars. Join us for a look at some of the most outlandish concept car interiors we’ve ever seen:
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Maserati Boomerang (1971)
Viewed from the outside, the Maserati Boomerang unveiled in 1971 isn’t strikingly unusual; wedge-shaped cars were trending during the early 1970s. What sets it apart from its peers is found inside. Positioned nearly vertically, the steering wheel rotates around an instrument cluster with seven gauges, various switches and an array of warning lights.
The concept is fully functional, meaning people drove it and realized this wasn’t the most ergonomic way to present information.
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Lancia Sibilo (1978)
Bertone designer Marcello Gandini drew the Lancia Sibilo concept in 1978 as he explored ways to replace the Stratos. He began by taking a Stratos platform and extending it by about 4in to fit a futuristic, sculpture-like body over it. The rally-friendly cockpit gave way to a clean, uncluttered design highlighted by a one-piece multi-function steering wheel.
The rim was shaped to fit perfectly in the driver’s palm and the gauges were embedded into the dashboard rather than grouped in a standalone instrument cluster.
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Opel Junior (1983)
The Opel Junior concept from 1983 was designed with an eye on minimalism. Its dashboard was reduced to a shelf onto which pods containing gauges and switches were attached. Familiar to Citroën 2CV owners, this layout emphasized the car’s sense of space, which was important in a concept as small as the Junior.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Junior’s interior was developed by a then-unheard of designer named Chris Bangle.
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Nissan ComCom (1985)
Nissan created the ComCom concept in 1985 for delivery drivers. Its boxy, function-over-form body hid an interior that doubled as a mobile office. The driver had easy access to a dashboard-mounted phone, a floppy disk drive, a primitive GPS displayed on a screen and a receipt printer.
Other Japanese automakers toyed around with the idea of making an office on wheels, including Mazda, but none dared turning the concept into a production model. Costs would have been high, demand would have been low and the threat of bad publicity spiraling out of control after a multi-tasker inevitably stuffed the car into a phone booth while removing a floppy disk loomed large.
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Oldsmobile Incas (1986)
Oldsmobile is not remembered as the most technologically-advanced brand in America yet the 1986 Incas concept placed it on the front lines of innovation. Created by ItalDesign, the mid-engined four-door wedded comfort and tech by offering sofa-like seats and a fighter jet-inspired command center.
Italdesign replaced the steering wheel with a pair of vertical handles surrounded by various buttons. It explained that, in the 1980s, research found motorists who grew up playing video games preferred this configuration. Information about the car and its surroundings was displayed on a wide screen positioned on the dashboard.
Oldsmobile wasn’t interested in turning ItalDesign’s Incas into a production model. In 2020, the video game generation still steers a car with a wheel but wide screens are slowly beginning to appear as automakers run out of real estate to display information on. Honda’s electric E and the production version of the BMW iNext will both use this layout.
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Volkswagen Orbit concept (1986)
Even an experienced pilot would have felt intimidated after slipping behind the wheel of the 1986 Volkswagen Orbit concept. Its dashboard was dominated by a wide panel that housed a selection of gauges, switches and screens, all of them digital. This layout replaced every button, knob and dial normally found on the dashboard except three that Volkswagen left in the middle of the steering wheel.
The Volkswagen Orbit didn’t reach production and the firm quickly forgot about the concept’s tech-intensive dashboard. However, in 2019, Volkswagen is again moving towards ever-wider screens.
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Chevrolet Blazer XT-1 (1987)
The Chevrolet Blazer XT-1 concept made in 1987 showcased many things, including an innovative four-wheel steering system, but simplicity in design wasn’t one of them. The U-shaped steering wheel was mounted around a fixed pod dotted with buttons and the driver sat in front of a television-sized screen which replaced the instrument cluster.
Two additional pods grouped more buttons on either side of the steering wheel, Citroën-style. All told, nearly 100 buttons were scattered across the concept’s cabin.
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Pontiac Pursuit (1987)
In the late 1980s, Pontiac wanted to position itself as the market leader in automotive technology. It demonstrated how it viewed the cabin of the 21st century by presenting the Pursuit concept in 1987. The driver sat in front of a rectangular steering module peppered with buttons and switches. Instead of turning the wheels via a column, the module sent electronic signals to battery-powered gears that individually turned the front wheels.
The Pursuit never received the green light for production; it was far too advanced for that. However, Pontiac sold some cars – including the 1988 Bonneville – with a cluster of chunky buttons right in the middle of the steering wheel. And, oddly, the Pursuit’s exterior design influenced the ill-fated General Motors EV1 made between 1996 and 1999.
Pontiac didn’t live long enough to release a car with steer-by-wire technology. In 2014, the Infiniti Q50 became the first mass-produced car to offer the feature.
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Volkswagen Vario I concept (1991)
The Vario I concept that Volkswagen released in 1991 explored how to turn a run-of-the-mill Golf into a more fun-oriented model. Inside, that meant installing seats with vivid upholstery and a turquoise dashboard.
However, the most unusual part of the Vario I’s interior was the stereo; it was a single-speaker cassette player that the passengers could remove from the car and take with them, which must have sounded clever at the time but now seems positively quaint...
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BMW Z13 concept (1993)
With the Z13, BMW gave the public and the media a preview of how it envisioned the city car of the 21st century. Presented during the 1993 Geneva auto show, it was the brainchild of designer Robert Powell. He later explained he began thinking about drawing a safe, quick and upmarket city car while commuting between his home in Stuttgart and his office in Munich in a 5 Series.
Powell’s team placed the Z13’s steering wheel in the middle of the cockpit. Engineers argued this packaging solution protected the driver from side impacts while making it possible to enter the car from either side. And, had it reached production, the Z13’s mid-mounted steering wheel would have helped BMW save money by not having to build right- and left-hand drive models.
The Z13 was unique; it was as nicely equipped as a 7 Series and powered by a 1.1-liter four-cylinder engine borrowed from BMW’s K1100 motorcycle. It remained at the concept stage but it nonetheless had a formative influence on the i3 released in 2013.
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Mercedes-Benz F200 Imagination (1996)
In the 1990s, many assumed, hoped or feared airplane technology would trickle down into the automotive industry during the 2000s. Mercedes-Benz prepared for the shift by developing drive-by-wire technology that allowed motorists to drive using joysticks and installing it in the F200 Imagination concept presented in 1996. It also replaced the instrument cluster by a screen that stretched the entire width of the dashboard.
Many of the technologies found in the F200 Imagination are found in production models in 2020. Digital gauges, for example, are available in a wide variety of cars. Navigation, speed limit information and even cameras in lieu of rear-view mirrors are either standard or optional on a growing number of models. But there is not a single mass-produced vehicle equipped with a joystick and automakers have stopped working on the feature. Most agree that autonomous driving technology, not video game-like joysticks, will ultimately replace the steering wheel.
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Peugeot 806 Runabout (1997)
Peugeot designed the 806 Runabout presented in 1997 as a luxurious boat on wheels. The concept came with a canvas top, a wrap-around windshield and a wooden deck that covered a cargo compartment big enough to store a matching jet-ski. Designers also added a wooden floor and wooden trim on the steering wheel to make it look like it came out of a boat.
The 806 Runabout wasn’t a preview of Peugeot’s entry into the yacht (whether water- or earth-bound) market. Its tall, swept-back headlights vaguely signaled the direction the firm’s design department wanted to take future models in.
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Chevrolet Nomad (1999)
Chevrolet’s 1999 Nomad concept put a modern, plastic-heavy spin on the original, 1950s Nomad’s interior. Stylists kept the switchgear to a minimum – which was easier said than done in 1999 than in 1959 – and used semi-transparent plastic where possible to reduce visual mass. The Nomad remained a concept car and it took automotive designers several more years to pivot towards cleaner dashboard designs.
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Toyota HV-M4 (1999)
Toyota presented the hybrid HV-M4 concept in 1999 as “the type of vehicle we could expect in the future.” Outside, it resembled a slightly more futuristic-looking Previa. Insider, however, it featured an instrument cluster whose background looked like a star-lit night and an information screen positioned under a crystal ball-like sphere on the center console.
In hindsight, the dashboard layout previewed the second-generation Previa but the sphere and the stargazer-friendly night remained at the concept stage. Its hybrid powertrain trickled down to the Previa, too.
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Ford 24/7 (2000)
All three variants of Ford’s 2000 24/7 concept shared the same forward-thinking interior. The firm explained it intentionally kept the exterior design as basic and straight-forward as possible to highlight the numerous technology features packed in the cabin. The screen integrated into the dashboard showed the various car- and media-related functions available as round icons arranged in lines, an interface very similar to the one found on every smartphone in 2019.
The screen wasn’t touch-sensitive, however. Users navigated this primitive infotainment system using voice commands.
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Toyota POD (2001)
Part car and part consumer electronic, the 2001 Personalization On-Demand (POD) concept was designed jointly by Toyota and Sony. While it was sized for crowded Japanese cities, its interior offered space for four passengers on individual pivoting seats each fitted with a large screen. Drive-by-wire technology replaced the steering and the pedals with a hand-operated pod that looked like a toy.
The POD gathered information about the passengers, like their favorite style of music, and tailored the in-car experience accordingly. Facial recognition technology ensured the whole experience wasn’t putting the driver to sleep. While Toyota hasn’t released a car as wild-looking as the POD, much of the technology packed in it is seeping down into production models as 2020 approaches.
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Honda IMAS (2003)
The IMAS concept Honda presented during the 2003 Tokyo auto show looked like a first-generation Insight beamed down from outer space. Inside, parts like the dashboard, the steering wheel, the center console and the door panels seemingly drew inspiration from the human skeleton. It was an intriguing – and not universally appreciated – design that never made it past the concept stage.
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Bertone Cadillac Villa (2005)
The Bertone-designed 2005 Cadillac Villa concept was inspired by contemporary architecture and built on an evolution of the platform found under the SRX crossover. Outside, it looked like nothing Cadillac had ever made; it was closer to a Chrysler Town & Country than to an Eldorado.
Inside, it featured a sofa-like rear seat and door panels that were almost entirely transparent to give the occupants a clear, unobstructed view of the world around them. The front passengers could access information about the car and its surroundings via a 23in, television-like screen provided by Bose and attached to the dashboard. The screen displayed navigation directions, among other functions.
Like many other automakers and design houses, Bertone accurately predicted the future of car interior design involved touchscreens. However, even Tesla hasn’t dared offer a screen as big as the Villa’s.
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Mitsubishi CT-MiEV (2006)
The multi-function steering wheel was no longer unusual or particularly noteworthy during the middle of the 2000s. Mitsubishi attempted to re-invent it by adding even more features in the space where the spokes meet. The left side of the 2006 CT-MiEV concept's steering wheel featured a diagram of the hybrid drivetrain and buttons that let the driver access the media and navigation menus. The right side housed warning lights that lit up when the fuel level was low or when the on-board computer detected a mechanical problem.
Mitsubishi never brought this technology to production; a majority of motorists would rather have an airbag than a check engine light in the middle of their steering wheel. That hasn’t stopped China-based start-up Byton from pledging to bring a car with a steering wheel-mounted touchscreen to mass production during the early 2020s.
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Citroën Hypnos (2008)
The Hypnos concept that Citroën presented in 2008 had an interior that looked like it was made with melted Skittles. Rather than taste the rainbow, four passengers could sit on it as they traveled to their destination. Citroën never fully explained the reasoning behind such a vivid interior.
The rest of the Hypnos had a much more lasting influence on the firm’s line-up. Its design more or less previewed the Mitsubishi-based C4 Aircross released in 2012 while its diesel-electric hybrid powertrain was later fitted to the DS5 and Peugeot’s 3008.
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Kia Imagine (2019)
There are two sides of the Imagine concept that Kia unveiled at the 2019 Geneva motor show. On one hand, it's a preview of a production-bound electric car the South Korean firm has previously described as its emotional flagship. On the other hand, it openly makes fun of the car industry's obsession with dashboard screens. Its dashboard is fitted with 21 individual, high-resolution displays that show the infotainment system plus information about the car and its surroundings.
Kia hasn't revealed when the Imagine will transition into a production model. Its SUV-fastback cross proportions and its electric powertrain will likely remain with only minor tweaks but we expect (and, frankly, hope) that at least 19 of the 21 screens will stay at the concept stage.
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Citroën 19_19 (2019)
The electric 19_19 is one of two concepts built by Citroën to celebrate its 100th birthday in 2019. The French firm noted its designers set out to make the interior look and feel like a living room on wheels, which explains why the rear bench resembles a sofa. They even added a bookshelf; Citroën clearly anticipates bookstores will remain open in the distant future.
The driver gets information from a screen positioned in the middle of a steering wheel that looks like it's made with solid marble. On the other side of the car, a panel positioned in front of the hammock-like passenger seat displays the infotainment system. An on-board, artificial intelligence-powered personal assistant essentially reads the driver's mind by suggesting restaurants, rest stops and hotels, among other points of interest.
The 19_19 intentionally looks like nothing else on the road. Time will tell if it becomes the status quo sooner or later.
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