Category Archives: CONCEPT CARS

CONCEPT CARS

Lancia Pu+Ra Montecarlo: A Ghost from Turin’s Golden Age

There are two types of car designers. The ones who carefully colour inside Stellantis’ corporate lines, making sure every plastic panel fits neatly with a budget brief. And then there’s Christopher Giroux, a senior Ford man who, in his downtime, decided to resurrect one of Italy’s most charismatic ghosts: the Lancia Montecarlo.

Yes, the Montecarlo — the rakish Pininfarina-penned coupe that arrived in 1975 with mid-engine mischief, rear-wheel drive, and the DNA that would go on to create the flame-spitting Lancia Rally 037, the last rear-driven car to ever beat Audi’s quattro in the WRC. Proper heritage. Proper romance. And Giroux thought: why not? It’s the 50th anniversary. Let’s bring it back.

The result is the Lancia Pu+Ra Montecarlo, and it’s equal parts retro postcard and sci-fi sketch. Think wedge-like profile, blacked-out nose, and T-shaped LED lights — the kind of thing you’d expect to see in Turin’s design studios after a long lunch of Barolo and cigarettes. Only here, the nostalgia has been filtered through Blender, Photoshop, and AI, which is either blasphemy or genius, depending on whether you still have Paolo Pininfarina posters on your bedroom wall.

From some angles, it looks like a glassier, sleeker Stratos. The front chin juts out with proper exotic swagger, while the roof gets circular cutouts like it’s been moonlighting as a Bauhaus experiment. Around the back, there’s a discreet spoiler, razor-thin lights, and a diffuser that seems to whisper: don’t worry, I’ll look fantastic in Martini stripes.

Speaking of which, Giroux didn’t just stop at the showroom fantasy. He built a full-blown Alitalia-liveried rally version, complete with gold alloys, swollen arches, and more intakes than a Dyson showroom. It’s a clear nod to the 037, but updated with LED daggers, a ducktail spoiler, and a diffuser that screams “I’m ready for Monte Carlo 1983, where’s my group B entry form?”

Of course, there’s one small problem: it doesn’t actually exist. No drivetrain, no chassis, no Stellantis green light. It’s a sketch, a digital passion project. Giroux hints at an EV layout — slim proportions, sealed surfaces — but he’s also teased exhausts and vented rear ends like it’s packing a mid-mounted turbo four. The truth is, it could be anything from a hairdryer to a hydrogen rocket.

And therein lies the tragedy. Because while Lancia is busy selling a single Ypsilon to pensioners and planning crossovers that’ll inevitably wear more chrome than soul, this Pu+Ra Montecarlo proves the brand could still build something with fire in its belly. Something worthy of the badge that once conquered rally stages and lit up Italian piazzas.

Will it happen? No. Stellantis has more spreadsheets than sports car dreams, and Lancia needs stable sales before Turin’s accountants let the word “coupe” into the boardroom. But still, Giroux’s vision is a reminder: the Montecarlo isn’t just history. It’s a challenge. A dare. A stylish ghost from the ’70s tapping Stellantis on the shoulder and whispering: remember what you used to be?

Source: Lancia

CONCEPT CARS

Hyundai Concept THREE: A Bold, Compact Vision of the Ioniq Future

Hyundai rolled into IAA Mobility 2025 with something small, sharp, and unashamedly ambitious: the Concept THREE. It’s the company’s first compact EV concept to wear the Ioniq badge, and also the clearest signal yet that Hyundai wants to democratize electric mobility without sacrificing personality.

Compact in footprint but brimming with character, the Concept THREE debuts a new design language called “Art of Steel.” It’s not just an aesthetic exercise—it’s a philosophy born out of Hyundai’s unique position as one of the few automakers that actually makes its own steel. That fact became the seed of an entirely new design direction.

Simon Loasby, Senior Vice President and Head of Hyundai Design Center:
“We asked ourselves: how can we celebrate steel? Not just make a car out of it, but design a form that expresses its strength, flexibility, and beauty. ‘Art of Steel’ is about capturing the artistry of bending, curving, and flowing steel into volume.”

Paper, Steel, and the Birth of Form

The design team didn’t start with clay. They started with paper sculptures.

Nicola Danza, Head of Exterior Design, Hyundai Design Center Europe:
“When you look at a steel coil in a factory, gravity alone creates highlights as it bends and folds. Even the gentlest curves reveal something beautiful. We simulated that first with paper—studying tension, flow, and natural form—before experimenting with actual steel sheets.”

From those experiments emerged the Concept THREE’s most distinctive visual cue: three intersecting bends running across the fender, door, and C-pillar. These layered planes create highlights that shift in the light, giving the compact hatchback a taut, muscular stance without resorting to overwrought surfacing.

Loasby recalls the moment the winning silhouette appeared.

“One sketch just jumped off the screen. We called it the Aero Hatch. The roofline accelerates just behind the rear passengers for headroom, then plunges into a ducktail spoiler. Aerodynamic, efficient, but also emotional. And honestly—who doesn’t love a ducktail spoiler?”

A Hatchback Without a Face

Unlike other brands that force a single corporate grille across their lineup, Hyundai embraces individuality.

Nicola Danza:
“Every model is a chance to invent something new. Our cars don’t share a single face, and that’s deliberate. That freedom is what allows Hyundai to create fresh identities for each segment.”

The Concept THREE’s face is crisp and modern, punctuated by playful details—like the mysterious “Mr. Pix.”

Simon Loasby:
“We wanted to create a character for this car. The team chose the pixel—so we made Mr. Pix, a little figure hidden throughout the design. You’ll find him in the displays, HUD, speaker grilles, even the rear loudspeakers. The designers had fun with it, and people enjoy discovering him.”

Inside the Curve

Step inside and the Concept THREE doubles down on its mission: keep the driver’s eyes on the road, hands on the wheel.

Raphaël Bretecher, Head of Interior Design, Hyundai Design Center Europe:
“We clustered key screens around the steering wheel, so you’re not searching through menus for basic functions. Screen reduction is key—it’s about immediacy, not distraction.”

The cabin architecture plays with both safety and sustainability. An illuminated battery strip glows subtly along the floor. Door panels use aluminum foam—lightweight, structural, and visually striking. Upholstery blends wool with metallic-finished leather, creating what designers call the “Curve of Upholstery.”

Emilie Grimm, Advanced CMF Designer:
“Because it’s a concept, we can push materials that aren’t yet ready for mass production—like UV-absorbing tinted glass, seat fabrics from recycled ocean waste, and floor coatings made with aluminum powder. It’s about previewing innovations that could trickle into the next generation of Ioniq.”

Small Car, Big Future

Hyundai’s compact EV concept is more than just a showpiece—it’s a preview of where Ioniq is headed.

Simon Loasby:
“Concept THREE stretches the bandwidth of electrification. It prepares us for a compact, lower-cost production car that makes Ioniq accessible to everyone. And, just like the SEVEN concept, the production version will be even better.”

Playful details, a ducktail spoiler, recycled aluminum powder floors, and a digital pixel mascot—Hyundai is showing that small EVs can be affordable and emotional. The Concept THREE isn’t just a vision of what’s next for Hyundai. It’s a reminder that the future of mobility doesn’t need to be bland—it can smile back at you.

Source: Hyundai

CONCEPT CARS

Škoda Reimagines the 110 R Coupe as a Futuristic EV Concept

Sometimes the smartest way forward is to look back. Škoda has done just that with a new digital concept that channels the spirit of its classic 110 R coupe, the cult-favorite two-door that once brought a whiff of sports car glamour to Eastern Bloc roads. Now reinterpreted for the electric era, the project is the latest in a series of design studies that use heritage as a springboard for future ideas.

The original 110 R debuted in 1970 as the sporty sibling to the Škoda 100 sedan. It wasn’t powerful—just 62 hp from a rear-mounted 1.1-liter four-cylinder paired with a four-speed manual—but its rear-wheel-drive layout and sleek fastback shape made it a beloved, attainable coupe for enthusiasts behind the Iron Curtain.

Fast forward more than 50 years, and designer Richard Svec, who joined Škoda in 2023 after a stint at Italdesign in Turin, has reimagined the 110 R for the EV age. Rather than leaning into retro pastiche, Svec focused on proportion, stance, and form to capture the coupe’s essence while pushing its style into the future.

The result is a compact two-door, two-seat electric coupe with a low roofline and fastback tail. Its face nods to the past with headlamps that echo the “melancholic” look of the original, now rendered as sharp rectangles with retractable, body-colored covers. A recessed front end incorporates Škoda’s new “Tech Loop” design language, previewed on the Vision O concept.

Performance cues abound. Inflated fenders wrap around large center-lock wheels with aero covers, while hood ribs, a visible protective cage, and deep side intakes reference the original’s racing pedigree. Out back, hidden taillights and a thin LED strip mirror the car’s front-end graphics, giving the coupe a unified look from every angle.

Škoda has yet to disclose powertrain details, but speculation suggests a rear-mounted electric motor—true to the original’s layout—would be the logical choice. If it borrows from the brand’s current EVs like the Elroq or Enyaq, output could hit around 286 metric horsepower, a number that would make this lightweight coupe plenty quick.

As with most digital concepts, Škoda has no plans to put the 110 R Coupe into production. Still, the design exercise hints at what could be possible if the company’s bread-and-butter EVs continue to succeed. With mainstream profits secured, Škoda could have the flexibility to indulge in halo products like this—cars that connect emotional heritage with a forward-looking identity.

For now, the 110 R digital coupe remains a tantalizing glimpse of what might be: a reminder that heritage can still guide the future, even in the age of electrification.

Source: Škoda