From concept to now a prototype. Back in 2007, Hyundai introduced its Veloster concept that will compete with Honda’s sporty CRX. Two years after, the concept is now materialized with this prototype as shown.

According to various sources, the manufactured car will look 70-80% of the concept. Promising greater portability, faster performance and higher fuel mileage, enthusiasts believe that this will give Honda-CRZ a strong competition. Well, thats what we’ll be seeing when they market this in 2011.

As for interiors, sadly no spied shot for those. Maybe some part of this coupe’s 70-80% concept-to-product materialization will be its interiors. So its concept pictures for now.

Sources: Bobaedream.co.kr via AutoBlog.com

Introduced at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show, the 2011 Honda Odyssey concept modified its structure resulting to a sleeker appearance. Doing so, Honda promises that this will not lessen this minivan’s practicality.

With the current Odyssey fuel mileage pegged 17 mpg at city and 25 mpg at highway, Honda is expecting that with this concept will increase to 19 mpg and 28 mpg respectively.

As for its interiors, Honda promises that there will be more room for 2nd and 3rd row occupants with 3 child seats in the 3rd row. Well, here are some sneak shots of its interiors.

Source: CarandDriver.com

Wow. Just wow.  Really, is there anything else can you say about what Volkswagen has done here? Talk about recapturing the magic.  Sure it may not end up like the classic the Beetle or the VW Van, but come on, look at it! LOOK. AT. IT!  The VW Scirocco R is just one sexy beast, and the German carmaker has a winner here!

Ok, now that we’ve wiped the drool off, there’s really not much that can be said for the Scirocco R in the interior sense.  Sure the exterior is just so much meaner and sleeker, but the inside is just… perfection.  Classic black leather with no frills, aluminum in all the right places, sporty bucket seats , a more performance-geared instrument cluster and a flat-bottomed steering wheel.  There’s not much you can ask for in a sports car, but somehow, someway, the VW people have pulled it off.

We’ll be quite surprise if these babies don’t make it big one it hits dealers in Europe this fall.

[Source: World Car Fans]

It’s rare to see a multi-purpose vehicle that offers nice fuel efficiency.  Ok maybe not that rare, not everyone wants to be stereotyped as the SUV-driving Soccer Moms who burns gas like a 3-year-old eats chocolates (yes the analogy is hardly original or creative, but you still love us so it’s okay).  So while the 2009 Chevy Orlando may be one of the hundreds of so-called fuel-efficient vehicles out there, we can’t help but be impressed with the design.

Too many CRV and Rav4 fans, the exterior isn’t really anything new.  If you’ve seen one design, they tend to just blend into one monotonous look.  But that’s not the whole selling point of vehicles like the Orlando.  The interior, as you can see is trademark Chevy, even close to the design of the Spark and the Volt, but not with it’s own brand of flavor.   Of course the rest of the interior specs seem tend to simply embrace the “car for soccer moms” stereotype, but given the pluses of a 2.0L diesel engine, maybe the great American dads could find it to their liking. Five doors, abundant seating capacity, reconfigurable theater-like seats in three rows should be sufficient for a family of 7.  The seats are also foldable  for loading that cooler of Gatorade. No word of course if there is an entertainment system to keep the brats quiet, but then again, it seems details on the Orlando are currently scarce.

All we can say as of this moment is that we like what we’re seeing and hope the Chevy can give more details on what’s inside their new crossover.

[Source: Cartype]

It takes a Danish-based company to actually get the concept of a sports car right, would think that other car manufacturer’s from all over world would know how to make, granted they’ve done it before. But so far, the big boys have been missing the point entirely.  Yes there’s a recession going but sometimes it’s good to go back to the basics.  No fancy schmancy fluff like them floating seats, hackneyed design concepts or lame attempts at reinventing the wheel.  You see, sports cars are made to be fast, mean-looking and a joy to drive.  Really, how hard is that? You can make an argument about the car’s specs and whatnot, but really automobile business, at the end of the day, if you get the last two right, your consumer couldn’t care less if his/her ride is half a second slower than the competition. So kudos to Zenvo and it’s ST1 so far for simply going with what seems to be  a classic, no frills, kickass sports car.

[Source: Car Body Design]

There’s something to be said about intuitive and ground breaking design, and there’s also a lot tha can be said about design that’s just nice to look at.  Successful cars usually fall on either one of these categories, but it is the select few, the classics that somehow capture the essence of both design philosophies.   There many people who claim they can tell you, exactly which and what cars can do this, and even come up with awards for them.  With that in mind, does it really give a car manufacturer the excuse to put a $1.75 Million (or £1.2 million) price tag on your little snowflake?  Aston Martin seems to believe that yes, it sure does.

The Aston Martin One-77 debuts in Concorso d'Eleganza, Villa d'Este, Gaydon, Warwickshire

The Aston Martin One-77 was unveiled to the public simultaneous to its winning the Concorso d’Eleganza design award in Warwickshire, England, which we didn’t even know existed.  Probably a society thing in the UK. If that’s not high brow enough for you, it was held in the Villa d’Este, which is probably one of them fancy British hotels that we will never ever visit in this lifetime.  A quick look at this supercar concept will probably give you an idea as to why that just happened.

Nice sleek design and... stitches!? Must be going for the "hand-made" look

There’s really little that can be said about the exterior, and no, it’s not because this blog is only interested in the interiors, but come on look at it, it looks great and sporty.  A supercar that doesn’t even have those two prerequisites has auto fail on it.  Moving on however, the interior is really a little conundrum in a sense that we like it.  Monochrome pallete, leather all around, nice little metal here and there, a futuristic-looking center console which seems to be all the rage nowadays. But the stitches… while exuding that “hand-made” feel just looks a bit… tacky. It might be possible that the finished product will look different, but we’re not really keen on getting rid of the stitches just yet, executed properly it we feel it could give a lot more character than say… adding overpriced crystals on the damn thing.

Oooh... what does this button do?

Overall, the insides of the Aston Martin One-77 does look like the bastard child of luxury car (say, a Rolls Royce) and a sports car (say a Ferrari) but it works. Much can be improved on the seating design, but you have to give props to Aston Martin for at least trying to not use generic black leather seating in this one.  The details as to what else can be found inside this award-winning concept are scarce, so until then, we’ll reserve judgment on whether or not it really is worth the hefty $1.75 million.

The One-77's Interior is confused little thing, but it's lovely

[Source: Jalopnik]

Car concepts are fun in a “what the hell where they smoking?” kind of way.  Although we get a few gems from time to time, it seems a vast majority of them have some sort of sci-fi hard on that leaves most motorist either staring with their mouths wide open or scratching their head, there is of course, the rare kind that happens to do both at the same time, and that’s where the Nissan Qazana comes in.

Either Nissan’s engineers are big fans of speed racer or maybe they had just love futuristic B-movie style on their concepts, or they have a winning idea on hand.  Really, the Qazana is as baffling as it’s name. Look at it, look at that name, how do you even pronounce it? Ka-za-na? Sounds like a rejected 80s hair band female protagonist.  Yes, you heard, it’s feminine, despite looking more like futuristic war SUV.

The girliness doesn’t end with the exterior, oh no.  The hot red interior renders doesn’t help its cause.  This is probably what people thought off when the Toyota Echo first unveiled their interior shots.  But you know what? Girly or whatever, it actually looks like a viable design.  Heck the entire  car looks like it could work.  Of course, red leather is just so vintage and somehow, someway, the Nissan Qazana makes it work in a modern way.

Oh you mean they designed it after a motorcycle? Wait, interior? motorcycle? HOW DOES THAT WORK!? Kidding aside, the interior looks sporty yet cozy, probably giving you the “joy to ride feel”.  And this whole floating seats thing is turning into a trend.  Also, the entire interior just feels so… rubbery, like a pimpin’ caddy back in the 50’s.

Other than that, most of everything is standard fare, high-tech central touch screen for GPS, sounds, other gadgets. Probably controls to whatever new element they’ve added. Maybe Internet? How cares really. At this point in time everyone’s just distracted at just how red the inside is.

Yes its got a kooky name, but it’s also a compact crossover that doesn’t look too ridiculous and is aesthetically pleasing to the eye.  So maybe Nissan was right about saying that the design ideas behind the Qazana may be what the car of the future will be like, maybe not.  But at the very least, the Qazana looks like one of the few viable concepts to come out for a long time.

So here’s the deal Nissan, you make this happen, and maybe just maybe, you’ll make at least one car-loving enthusiast happy.

[Source: ZerCustoms]

Seems like General Motors and Opel have decided to finally get there act together a bit.  Finally deciding to act on the demands of consumers by providing a viable fuel-saving vehicle that could save many a motorist precious little Benjamins (or Euros).  Enter the 2011 Opel Ampera, which is so revolutionary that it’s probably the most viable electric car… wait, another electric car!? What is it with this whole electric thing anyway, ever since the 90’s some company keeps coming up with one that’s suppose to revolutionize the industry.  So does the aptly named Ampera (see, it’s a pun! Amp! electricty!) succeed where many have failed (miserably) before?

So the Chevy Volt-based Ampera boasts of this thing called Voltec technology which basically means you get more mileage-per-juice (did we just invent a new unit of measurement?) which has been the downfall of electric cars ever since the damn things were invented.  Basically, you get 60 km from the car’s lithium-ion battery, which ain’t bad.  But what’s interesting is that this baby is self-charging, or rather will be charged by the combustion engine. Probably that characteristic effectively qualifies it as a hybrid. Exciting no? Well, now that you know that the Ampera is supercharged to drive… the question is, what does this five-door four-seater have in store on the inside? It’s got to be something majore right?

Right?

Wait, that’s it?

So the Opel Ampera, for all it’s electricity-ness has absolutely nothing to say about the interior? Fine. We’ll bite.  Despite all the focus on this here EE-LEK-TRAW-NIKS, Opel has little or nothing to say about the interior other than the renders.  That’s all well and good, since when did those car makers ever focus on interiors (which explains the lack of decent updates lately) but come on! Really GM, Opel? Nothing?  Sure it’s nice, but it’s just render, nevermind that the red accents on the door is a nice touch, but that’s it?

You know what? Nevermind, granted the 2011 Opel Ampera will be in official production 2 years from now, we can probably wait a little bit more to find out what “The Most Electrifying Euro Car”  has in store inside.  Rest assured we’ll try to be there when that update comes.

[Source: Jalopnik]

Seems like this whole limited edition thing is actually catching on. Scion is the latest car maker to jump the bandwagon, although it can be argued that they’ve been on it all this time, really who keeps track? A sexy car is a sexy car, limited edition or no.  That being said, Scion has just announced that it’s limited edition tC RS 5.0 will be one of it’s features in the 2009 Chicago Auto Show.

The upgrades seem to be more on the visual side, with TRD pitching in.  Nothing much has changed on the inside, it’s still patterned after the hit A-Team tv show, so expect some black and some red thrown in for good measure. TRD will be putting in some floor mats, and for that added “prestige:, a numbered badge is included in the cabin.  Only 2000 of the RS 5.0 will be in production.

Now, visual upgrades are nice, that’s what this blog really focuses on, but performance upgrades need to be part of the deal if you’re going to release a limited edition and change the price tag.  But hey, who knows, it might actually catch on, like the whole re-releasing of older models as “limited-edition” packages.

[Source: Car and Driver]

With GM’s future becoming bleaker in bleaker, it’s nice to know that they’re still persistent in rekindling their relationship with the car buying public.  While some companies are known for their flagship models carrying them over the red year in year out, sometimes it’s the other product lines that save the day.  While originally suppose to debut during the Detroit Motor Show, the Chevrolet Spark had to take a rain check with it’s eventual date with consumers due to the internal troubles.  Now that Chevy has finally cleared up it’s schedule, it seems the Spark will have a second shot at wooing the public at the Geneva Motor show, and if expecations are halfway met, maybe, just maybe this will be a start of a beautiful relationship.

So what’s the big deal with the diminuitive Chevy Spark anyway?  If you’ve heard of the Chevy’s Beat Concept, then you’ll probably have high hopes for one of the concept’s spawns, which is (duh) the Spark.  Pushed as a fun and trendy compact car, the mini-car is geared toward the budget-weary consumer (both in short term i.e. the car’s inital price and long term i.e. fuel economy) and/or a younger generation that want to have a more personal connection to your car.  Maybe if the Spark came out earlier  it would have probably given the VW New Beetle some competition as Mandy Moore’s ride of choice in her “Candy” music video. Well ok, not really, but what we’re really getting at here is that it’s more “cute” than anything, if not, borderline “girly”.

Looking inside,the Spark is deceptively roomy, but still wants to be identified as a small fry thanks to the motorcycle-ish instrument cluster found in the steering wheel column.  Which works on motorcycles but looks awkwardly bulky in car. The “cute/girlish” factor is even emphasized thanks to the color template and fabrics used, but maybe it’s an isolated case with this parituclar color.  Form-wise, it’s your standard fare interior of any sedan or coupe that isn’t above the mid-end models. Perhaps the biggest plus here is Chevy’s claim that the Spark will have acoustics that are usually found in larger vehicles despite being a mini-car. Other than that, it’s decidedly very Chevy-esque, with a dual cockpit layout still prominent.

Now, you might think that there’s some sort of hatred or animosity towards this cute little package, but to be quite honest, that’s a small issue considering that it the form-factor and positioning of the Spark is pretty tight.  Of course, consumers will just have to wait and see if the Spark deserves a call back and possibly, a potential second date.

[Source: World Car Fans]