Show cars provide designs for the future

By Bernie Walsh

Nothing grabs more attention, earns more media space, or stimulates more conversation than the often-radical concept vehicles that appear at leading international car shows.

Indonesian consumers are likely to be treated to a range of these concepts of the automotive future at this year's Association of Indonesian Automotive Industries Jakarta Auto Show, to be held at the Jakarta Convention Center from July 24 to August 5.

Do these dramatic, futuristic exercises have any connection to reality?

Are they as fanciful and unlikely as they often appear?

The answer, simply, is no. Few carmakers display concept cars that fail to give at least a glimpse of what the future might look like.

Hyundai's well-publicized HCD series, beginning with the HCD-I in 1992, is showing up in recent vehicles, such as the new Elantra model introduced during 1995. The Honda FSX show car, that first appeared in Legend-sized form at Tokyo in 1993, clearly influenced many of the design features in the Ascot, an Accord twin that sells on the Japanese domestic market, as well as in various European locations.

The flat side panels and sharp intersection lines that were revealed in the FSX, plus many other features, including the basic grille shape that is not strictly Honda-traditional, all appear, in slightly muted form, in the Ascot.

Another good example is the Toyota MR2. The first hint of the company's desire to build an accessible mid-engined sports car was in 1983, only a year before the car appeared in production guise.

The styling of the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class, which goes on sale in May, with its striking front end, utilizing four oval lights surrounding a traditional Mercedes grille, was previewed more than a year before introduction in the "study coupe", a two- door styling exercise that used almost exactly the same nose design.

The German company, more or less locked into its traditional grille design, had to devise a way of making its new E-Class visually distinctive and used the oval headlight theme of the study coupe to "soften" market reaction before the new car's introduction.

So, while many concept cars might appear to be little more than mere fantasies at their first show appearances, in reality, they usually have a distinct and practical role to play.

This may range from gauging public reaction to new design ideas to teasing future buyers with what often turn out to be pretty accurate indications of what they will be driving in three years' time.

Often, show cars can be used to acclimatize buyers to new shapes and proportions, even if initial reactions tend towards being negative.

For example, Japan's seemingly lackluster efforts at the 1993 Tokyo show, where many observers speculated that the country's designers were "losing the plot" on car designs, are revealed now as an indication of an inward-looking direction the industry was intending to take.

The latest crop of new Japanese cars shows the same stylistic direction that was evident at Tokyo in 1993. These are styled with an emphasis on pleasing the local market, which never really liked the rounded shapes that were very much in vogue during the early 1990s.

Engine bay aesthetics -- once only seriously addressed in show cars -- are now recognized as an important part of a vehicle's overall image and there are few manufacturers today that don't spend a reasonable slice of their development funds making sure the under-hood appearance is compatible with the exterior.

Show cars are also an opportunity for designers to gauge public reaction to new trim fabrics and colors; the outrageous trims and upholstery colors used in today's show cars might not look so unlikely in a few years' time.

Another interesting phenomenon with concept vehicles is the fact that many people tend to overlook the technical innovations that are often put on display for the first time. Many of the forward-thinking ideas that are part of the show circuit are taken up in mass production three years later.

Although a lot of the advanced technology is slow to reach the Indonesian market, some of the things that seemed pure fantasy in show cars are now reality on roads in Japan, Europe and the United States. These include driver aids such as satellite navigation, monitors that warn if a driver is getting drowsy at the wheel, or other less-obvious ingenuities.

So, rear-seat air bags, micro headlights, distance-warning devices, or even distance-control devices, are indicators of what drivers will one day see as a regular part of their environment.

There are also less visible innovations in many of the flashy concept cars.

These might include design breakthroughs in the area of engines -- such as the ultra lean-burn Toyota concept car at the 1993 Tokyo motor show -- or new suspension configurations similar to the ingenious system developed by Nissan, also seen at Tokyo in 1993, that first appeared in production form in the new Maxima, then in the latest-model Pulsar.

The fact is that the designers showing their future wares today have a considerable influence on what we will find acceptable, what we will actually like, in an aesthetic sense, in the future.

Similar to the clothing fashion industry, top car designers are able to initiate trends, then nurture them as their concepts are picked up and adapted by others.

Guided by the culture of the market they are designing for, the top stylists are usually able to predict pretty accurately what will, and what won't be acceptable.

This does not always happen. Japanese designers found out to their detriment that although the rounded "female" shapes adopted during the early 1990s were in vogue and popular in most other markets, the domestic market didn't really accept them.

This is largely because of a Japanese culture that has generally favored hard edges and straight lines. This can be traced back to ancient warrior costumes that contrast noticeably with rounded metal armor -- following the form of the human body -- that, in the past, was used by Europeans.

However, at the end of the day, there is a certain consistency in what will eventually prove pleasing to the eye and, therefore, likely to induce a buyer to act.

Generally speaking, a new car buyer, given an open choice of what is available on the market, will choose the product that is considered the best looking.

Designing a car that is fashionable and trendy to the extreme can bring problems too. As quickly as a style becomes fashionable, it tends to become unfashionable. This is why many carmakers produce designs that may first be judged as too safe or conservative.

Doing this, they are avoiding the flavor-of-the-moment trap and, if the shape is well-balanced and essentially pleasing, will help ensure the design's longevity.

However, if a car doesn't get its appearance right in the first place, then no amount of clever marketing, or even rock-bottom pricing, is likely to make it succeed in the marketplace.

So, yes, show cars are a relevant and valuable force in the continuing evolvement of the passenger vehicle. Fanciful they might appear but within every radical shape and outlandish idea, there is always a solid, practical core.