Category Archives: CONCEPT CARS

Citroën has never been shy about zigging where others zag, and with the unveiling of its new ELO concept, the French brand is doubling down on its century-old habit of rethinking what a car should be. Following the wonderfully oddball OLI from 2022, ELO represents Citroën’s next big leap—a rolling laboratory of ideas built to anticipate how we’ll move, work, and live in the near future.

And if Citroën has anything to say about it, the future is compact, cheerful, electric, and unexpectedly spacious.

A Minivan for the New Electric Age

The ELO measures just 4.10 meters long—city-car territory—but inside, it opens up like a modernist studio apartment on wheels. Electric-only packaging gives designers the freedom to push wheels outward, flatten floors, and stretch volume in ways combustion cars simply couldn’t. The result is a “little one that thinks big”: a machine that wants to be your commuter pod, weekend camper, mobile office, and six-seat family shuttle—all at once.

Citroën calls it a “tiny house on wheels,” and for once, the marketing doesn’t feel exaggerated.

REST. PLAY. WORK. Repeat.

Inside the ELO, the usual car/interior distinction dissolves. It’s less cockpit, more living room. Seats slide, fold, rotate, and vanish in ways that make current minivans look downright rigid.

Everyday setup: four seats, with the driver sitting centrally—McLaren F1 style—for maximum forward visibility under a panoramic 180-degree windshield.
Conversation mode: the driver’s seat swivels around to face the rear passengers, turning the cabin into a rolling lounge.
People-mover mode: two additional seats unfold from hidden compartments, expanding capacity to six.
Adventure mode: the entire interior converts into a sleeping space for two—think micro camper van without the bulk.
Entertainment mode: the cabin transforms into a home-cinema setup, reinforced with onboard power solutions.

It’s modularity pushed to the point of playfulness, and in a market where every interior is starting to feel like a tablet with seats, that’s refreshingly human.

The Cheerful Personality Missing in EVs Today

Where many electric concepts lean into sterile minimalism, the ELO embraces “joie de vivre.” Bright colors, expressive surfaces, and a kind of toy-like friendliness define the exterior. Citroën wants this thing to feel accessible and optimistic—a counterpoint to the cold futurism dominating the EV landscape.

This isn’t a car that takes itself too seriously. And that’s a good thing.

Co-Created with the Outdoors Experts

To build ELO, Citroën tapped partners who understand real-world lifestyles:

Decathlon contributed expertise from its outdoor gear team, helping inspire functional, durable, sustainable interior materials and clever onboard storage.
Goodyear developed new “smart” outdoor-ready tires capable of adapting to the car’s varied use cases—urban commuting one moment, dirt-track detours the next.

The result is a concept that feels grounded rather than purely theoretical. You can imagine using this thing tomorrow, not in some distant utopian cityscape.

A Signal of Where Citroën Wants to Go

Xavier Chardon, Citroën’s brand chief, frames ELO as a thesis statement: bold, accessible, responsible, and designed around well-being rather than horsepower arms races. The company is entering Formula E, refreshing its lineup at high speed, and clearly wants to reassert itself as Europe’s friendly disruptor.

Design boss Pierre Leclercq puts it bluntly: design must combine style and function—and ELO is the purest expression of that philosophy. Citroën’s designers had “fun,” and it shows.

So What Exactly Is ELO?

A hint at the next Berlingo? A preview of a future city camper? Or simply a manifesto for how Citroën believes electric packaging should be used?

Maybe ELO is all of these. But most importantly, it’s a reminder of something the industry sometimes forgets: cars can be clever. They can be playful. They can make life easier instead of more complicated.

Whether ELO becomes a production model or stays a showpiece, Citroën’s message is clear: the future of mobility isn’t just about range and charging speeds. It’s about giving people back their time, space, and freedom.

And if that future looks anything like ELO, it might actually be fun.

Source: Stellantis

CONCEPT CARS

Lexus LFA Concept: The V10’s Ghost Haunts Lexus’s Bold Leap Into the Electric Unknown

December 5, 2025 Francis Mitterrand

For more than a decade, the Lexus LFA has lived in a sacred corner of the car world—a limited-run V10 masterpiece whose wail could send shivers through carbon fiber. So when rumors began swirling about a new LFA, enthusiasts expected a familiar formula: a Lexus-flavored take on Toyota’s latest GR GT supercar, likely with a fire-breathing internal-combustion engine.

Instead, Lexus dropped a shockwave.

The new LFA Concept, unveiled in Japan alongside Toyota’s twin-turbo V8 GR GT, isn’t the next evolution of the iconic V10 halo car. It’s something far stranger—and far bolder. The LFA name now adorns an all-electric performance flagship, one Lexus says represents the technologies engineers should “preserve and pass on to the next generation.”

That’s philosophical language for a supercar with zero published specs.

A Silent Successor

Here’s what we know: Lexus isn’t ready to talk numbers. No kilowatts, no battery capacity, no performance estimates. The brand’s tight-lipped approach leaves us speculating about everything from motor count to horsepower. But Lexus seems fully aware that, no matter how potent the output, nothing it builds can replicate the original LFA’s F1-inspired shriek. Even Toyota’s new V8 can’t scratch that itch.

What makes this whole situation even more intriguing is the architecture beneath the sculpted shell. The LFA Concept rides on the same aluminum platform underpinning the GR GT and GT3 race car. Lexus almost certainly had the option to slot in Toyota’s new twin-turbo V8, yet deliberately didn’t. In a market where electric supercars struggle to find traction—and where enthusiasts still crave cylinders—this is a contrarian move.

Design First, Answers Later

While the powertrain is a mystery, the sheetmetal isn’t. The LFA Concept is gorgeous. It’s lower, sharper, and more cohesive than many EV sports concepts we’ve seen recently. Lexus clearly intends the LFA successor to stand apart from Toyota’s version, and nowhere is that clearer than the cabin. Unlike the Toyota’s more traditional cockpit, the LFA Concept interior embraces futurism—clean surfaces, minimalist interfaces, and the kind of conceptual flair you expect at an auto show, not at a dealership.

Production Bound—Eventually

Lexus isn’t playing coy about the bigger picture, though. This concept is not a design exercise destined for storage. Lexus openly acknowledges that the car is headed for production, and the renaming of last year’s “Lexus Sport Concept” to “LFA Concept” all but confirms it will wear the legendary badge when it arrives.

What Lexus won’t say is when. But given Toyota’s GR GT is expected around 2027, the LFA’s road-ready debut should follow a similar timeline—perhaps a bit later as Lexus fine-tunes the tech it hopes will define its electric future.

The Legacy Question

Will an EV ever fill the emotional void left by the original LFA’s V10—the sound, the rawness, the sense of mechanical magic? Probably not. But Lexus isn’t trying to recreate history. It’s redefining what an LFA can be, even if that means stepping into territory supercar buyers haven’t fully embraced yet.

It’s a risk. It’s unexpected. And it might just be the kind of disruptive thinking that made the first LFA legendary.

Source: Lexus

CONCEPT CARS

A Retro Icon Recharged: Škoda 100 Reborn as a Modern Electric Limousine Concept

November 25, 2025 Francis Mitterrand

When the original Škoda 100 rolled out of Mladá Boleslav in 1969, it was the brand’s first true people’s car—affordable, modestly powered, and eventually a million-seller. But designer Martin Paclt, a veteran of Škoda’s exterior team, saw something more in its clean lines and easy-going silhouette. His reinterpretation of the 100 isn’t a nostalgia play or retro tribute. It’s a complete reframing of a Czech icon as a premium, electric, limousine-leaning sedan—with engineering decisions as bold as its styling.

A Familiar Shape, Upsized for the Future

Paclt’s early sketches weren’t anchored in the past as much as in current Škoda form language. “I drew from the proportions of the Superb,” he says, and the resulting concept naturally grew wider, longer, and more planted than the 1969 model. This was intentional: the 100’s timeless simplicity, he argues, resonates with Škoda’s present-day Modern Solid design approach.

Crucially, he avoided the obvious trap—retro mimicry. The concept carries over the essence of the original through stance and proportion rather than copy-pasted details. It remains a classic three-box sedan, but with broad, flowing surfaces, a confident posture, and the kind of visual elegance that the old 100 hinted at but never fully embodied.

The Original: A Million-Selling Everyman

Between 1969 and 1977, Škoda built 1,079,708 units of the 100/110 series. For a country where private-car ownership was rare, this rear-engine, rear-drive sedan became a national staple. Its 1.0- or 1.1-liter four-cylinder engines eked out 35 to 46 kW, depending on trim. But what truly cemented its popularity were its proportions, fold-flat seats, and simple yet upscale detailing.

Those visual hallmarks provided raw material for Paclt’s reinterpretation—but only as a starting point.

Honoring the Past With Modern Tech

Look closely at the new concept and the callbacks become clever rather than literal:

A four-element headlight signature replaces the original circular lamps.
A sculpted bonnet with a central crease carries the Škoda logo like a modern hood ornament.
Fine light strips front and rear reinterpret the old chrome trim and rear venting.
And the bold oval graphic—front and back—echoes a defining motif of the original 100.

But then Paclt’s design takes a decidedly unconventional turn.

The Car With No Rear Window

Yes, you read that correctly.

The original 100’s front and rear glass were nearly interchangeable. Paclt seized on that quirk and flipped the idea: what if the rear glass disappeared entirely?

The result is a striking, sculptural rear end where body panels mirror the form language of the front. It’s dramatic, rule-breaking, and guaranteed to split opinions. Which, Paclt says, is the point. “Design should evoke emotions.”

This decision also opened the door for technical creativity. With no window to occupy the upper rear section, Paclt integrated a roof-level fresh-air intake, assisted by subtle vents in the fenders. This feeds cooling air to the rear-mounted electric drivetrain—another nod to the 1969 car’s rear-engine layout.

Everything in the Back—Again

Paclt preserved the spirit of the original 100’s mechanical layout but repackaged it for the EV era. The electric motor and key components sit behind the cabin, enabling:

Rear-wheel drive, which he openly admits he enjoys;
A pushed-forward front axle for a short overhang and dynamic stance;
A primary front trunk, supplemented by a small upper storage area over the rear drivetrain.

It’s a smart blend of nostalgia, practicality, and EV packaging.

Designed From Scratch, With Pencil First

For a designer whose specialty is headlamps, crafting a full concept car was a rare opportunity. Paclt began with fast pencil sketches—his preferred method for testing ideas quickly. Once the theme clicked, he refined it and built a 3D model atop the current Superb’s vehicle package, adjusting width and track to create a properly grounded, premium presence.

His decade-plus at Škoda includes work on the Enyaq, Karoq, Kamiq, Kodiaq, and concept studies such as Vision X, Vision 7S, and the recent Vision O. The 100 reinterpretation let him step beyond lighting and into full-body form, a shift he hopes to pursue more in the future.

A Czech Classic Reimagined for the EV Age

The result is a confident, modern, and unmistakably Škoda reinterpretation—one that respects the 100’s history while daring to break conventions, including abandoning the rear window entirely. It’s not a production preview, but it’s a thoughtful exploration of how heritage models can inspire something fresh rather than simply nostalgic.

If Škoda ever green-lit a futuristic, limousine-like EV with rear-mounted power and a design philosophy driven by purity over ornamentation, this is the blueprint.

Source: Škoda

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