As the summer peaks and we creep into fall, we start looking forward to auto show season. New Cars! New Trucks! Concept Vehicles! But let’s face it, concept cars are often just blowing smoke. Sometimes, just sometimes, we get lucky, when the manufacturers arrive at the shows and nail it. They convince you and I that the car of our dreams is coming...soon. Let’s imagine what it would look like if this season they get it all right.
1. 2020 Nissan Frontier NISMO
It’s not that crazy of an idea. We had a NISMO Frontier back in 2008. Maybe it wasn’t that big of a hit, but those, my friends, were different times. The world was less chaotic; we were surer of our future. These days, we’re living in a world where our collective unease and dissatisfaction can only be cured by one thing: speed. What’s more fun than a sport truck? Exactly.
2. 2021 4x4 Chevy Bolt
It’s cute. It’s fun. It’s fully electric. It’s got a range of over 200 miles on a single charge, but imagine if it could climb mountains too! The 4x4 Chevy Bolt would be the perfect vehicle for off the grid living—solar power your ride, live in the sticks and stick to the man! Sure, Chevrolet may not be thinking about this demographic as much as it is pursuing DINKs, city-dwellers or Millennials, but hey, dirty hippie money is still green.
3. 2020 BMW 9 Series Van
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7…8… BMW is running through those numbers quicker than an '80s aerobics class, but there's one segment that the Bavarians have yet to touch. Mercedes is reporting record sales of its Sprinter vans, particularly here in the States, so why let Stuttgart have all the fun? Why doesn’t BMW just take this X7 Concept, remove some seating and box it out a little? Rich dads would snatch it up those luxe vans like crazy!
4. 2022 Ragtop Chrysler Pacifica
Speaking of vans, what about the mothers? Minivans have come a long way, baby, but they still don’t make you the "cool mom." You know what would? Letting the wind run through your hair (and everyone else’s) on the way to soccer practice. The ragtop Pacifica would be the perfect antidote to the carpool blues—top down, radio up and rugrats too windblown to whine. Mission accomplished.
5. 2021 Kia Niro Transformer
Since we’re dreaming, imagine if Kia took their popular hybrid, the Niro, and made it transform on the fly into a 1,000hp supercar. That way, you could commute to and from work, pickup your grandma at the airport and still spend your Sundays ripping through the canyons like a boss. Plus, when you get pulled over for speeding, you’ll press your “transform” button and your rubber-burning widow-maker will morph back into a sweet, calm, harmless little Niro. The officer would come back, lift his RayBans and rub his eyes before saying, “Sorry, I thought you were someone else,” and drive away. Sound like a pipe-dream? Hey, if Kia can pull off the Stinger, anything’s possible.
Let's not be cynical or pessimistic about what we'll see at this year's auto shows. Will we get a Jeep powered by positive thoughts? Will there be a Porsche GT3 that you can finance with a fist bump? Hey, you never know.
Photos courtesy of: Nissan USA, Chevrolet, BMW USA, FCA North America and Kia Motors America