That is what an Audi R8 might’ve looked like had it been offered back in 1980. At least, that’s what Autocar believes and I’m sitting here nodding along in agreement. It’s Gandini-esque to my eyes, and maybe it would serve to signify an even earlier union of Lamborghini and Audi.
Autocar didn’t stop with the imagined Audi though, as there are 10 other modern machines that get an old-school style drawn up. From the Dodge Viper to the Toyota Prius, there’s a little something for everyone.
Head on over and check out the full set.
[Source: Autocar]
Autocar imagines modern cars built in an earlier era
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17 responses to “Autocar imagines modern cars built in an earlier era”
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The Dodge Viper of the 1960s was a Shelby Cobra 427. Was just having this discussion the other day. The original Viper bench marked a Cobra, not a contemporary Corvette. That explains the lack of things like door locks, door handle, a functional roof, air conditioning, ABS, traction control, etc.
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It’s a cool find, albeit with mixed results, The Audi R8 done Lambo Uracco style is the most successful and the Viper clearly captures the Chrysler look of its period although more as a Corvette competitor than a Cobra equivalent. Thie Citroen Cactus also feels like something Citroen would have actually doen
On the other hand the Porsche Cayenne concept is horrendous and the Prius is weak sauce. Also the Matra Rancho pastiche of the Range Rover misses the boat, any late 70s BL project would look more like a Rover SD1 or Triumph TR7 mixed with Range Rover since David Bache would have had the styling job.-
I also see quite a bit of Lancia Montecarlo/Scorpion in the Audi R8. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bf273779633d172d097b71c837b43336c264a494b55d2ba1ecf459099347a003.jpg
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The Lancia was also my first reaction, but after a second look that engine cover screams Jalpa since it was often blacked out.
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Then you really mean the Silhouette. By the time the Silhouette begat the Jalpa, it was body-colored.
…I stand corrected. I have found a handful of images of Jalpas with it black (on non-black cars). On the Silhouette, however they were always black.
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First thing I thought of as well.
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There was an Audi Show Prototype done by Frua in 1974 using a mid mounted Audi 100 engine and gearbox, so we know what a 70’s mid engine Audi would look like.Right down to the behind door air intakes like an R8
http://www.carstyling.ru/resources/studios/1974_Frua_Audi_100S_Mittelmotor_Coupe_01.jpg
http://www.carstyling.ru/resources/studios/1974_Frua_Audi_100S_Mittelmotor_Coupe_02.jpg
And one year before Guigiaro designed an Audi that wasn’t mid engined in the Asso di Picche
http://www.carstyling.ru/resources/studios/1973_ItalDesign_Audi_Karmann_Asso_di_Picche_04.jpg
In the eighties Audi was all about Quattro, so Pininfarina used an Urquattro as a basis for the Quartz. (And later used some of the styling on some Alfas).
http://www.carstyling.ru/resources/studio/large/1981_Pininfarina_Audi_Quartz_08.jpg
In the nineties, Audi had a go, themselves, with a mid engine quattro two seater sports car, the Audi Quattro Spyder Concept, then they did another one to showcase their W12 motor, the Audi Avus. It was strongly rumoured that Porsche, through their family shareholding in VW group stopped production of the Spyder.
http://www.carstyling.ru/resources/concept/large/1991_Audi_Quattro_Spyder_Concept_Cutaway.jpg
http://www.carstyling.ru/resources/concept/large/1991_Audi_Quattro_Spyder_Concept_02.jpg
http://www.carstyling.ru/resources/concept/large/1991_Audi_Quattro_Spyder_Concept_08.jpg
So there never was an ‘R8 of the 80s, so maybe it could have looked like that .IMHO I think it might have looked less MonteCarlo/Scorpionish at the front.
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The Prius reminds me a lot of a British concept car from the 1970s that I have seen in a book somewhere. Couldn’t find a picture online. The 1980s ECV3 is close, but not the one. That basic rear end shape was determined to be the most fuel efficient shape for a car sometime in the last 50 years or so.
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“That basic rear end shape” is the Kamm tail, so dates back to the 1930s. Applying that concept to a compact two-box family car probably is about 50 years old though.
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There’s probably a reason they called that Cayenne concept the Porsche 999
(pronounced Nein Nein Nein!)-
+1 for a joke involving two languages.
Also, why should Porsche build an MPV based on a Citroen DS3? -
But it looks like a Porsche ‘Wagoneer’ Sooo cute!
https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/slideshow_image/6-porsche-cayenne-1967.jpg?itok=DnOjs5–
After all Harrah’s ‘Jerrari’ looked similar, even down to the vinyl roof.
http://cdn.barrett-jackson.com/staging/carlist/items/Fullsize/Cars/23710/23710_Front_3-4_Web.jpg
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The Prius concept’s beltline is just too weird and also too high.
So, the Gen 1 Prius was a packaging experiment – essentially going for a minimally sized engine bay and an upright passenger compartment – that got turned into a hybrid at the last moment possible. Worth noting that it was even a sedan. So, I’m thinking the 1970s version of the design looks a lot like a Nissan Prairie (or as we knew it, the Stanza Wagon), but with a trunk:
Now, if we try to translate the Gen 2-4 Prius concept to the 1970s… I’m thinking it starts to look remarkably like the Citroën GSA, although with a heavy injection of 1970s Toyota design language:
Basically, straighter lines, and the front end would look completely different (I’m thinking Celica-inspired, because most of Toyota’s other front ends wouldn’t have fit, I think).-
For a 70s version of the Prairie space saving concept, there was the Lancia Megagamma concept car.
http://cardesignnews.com/media/11989640/lancia-megagamma-04.jpg
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The Range Rover Evoque proposal is wrong. Rover did bring out a genre beating car at that time that brought into existence an entire new marque. And it was exactly the same size as the current Evoque.
This thing not required.
https://www.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/slideshow_image/8-range-rover-evoque-1979.jpg?itok=a-y0p4Wj
Because this thing existed then. ‘Designer’ enough, still the only automobile exhibited at The Louvre,and in an appropriately 70s ‘designer’ hue, Rescue Orange.No room for a full size car, a half scale model was used,(shown here).
http://www.range-rover-classic.com/_/rsrc/1468880102914/Home/land-rover-brochures/range-rover-1970-s/1971%20Range%20Rover%20Louvre%20Paris%20W.jpg -
This is pretty awesome. Are we a couple of years away from being able to order such “reskins”?
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Environmental and safety regulations have precluded this future.
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