Concept cars of the 1980s

Latest installment in our ongoing series about concept cars, in which we covered the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s concept cars so far. As amazing as the 1980s were regarding design, in concept car design I find most models remarkably undistinguished and generic, not at all like the seventies with all those bold ideas. There are some exceptions though, such as the above-pictured Ford Cockpit from 1981. As a plastic commuter car on three wheels it certainly looks strange but somehow cool. (By the way, a bit similar approach was chosen by the Daihatsu Trek from 1985, which is a one-seater offroad vehicle that's convertible to a sleeping cell. Neat.)

Carstyling.ru: 1981 Ford Cockpit (Ghia)


Yes, this 1986 Corvette Indy is a sleek car, as with most of these cars from the 80ies here the real show is inside the cockpit though, check out the super sophisticated spaceship consoles inside. Why don't we have car interiors like this by now?

Carstyling.ru: 1986 Chevrolet Corvette Indy


Another really futuristic vehicle. What's really cool here is that you can see the kickass engine through the tinted glass in the back. Also this car has no doors, the canopy would open and the steering wheel flip out so you can enter. Another great and functional cockpit with a ..hm radar? Missile crosshairs? I have no clue.

Carstyling.ru: 1985 Buick Wildcat


Uh la la, this one screams bad-ass for a couple of miles. Boxy, flat and edgy, it's a pretty bold design. Only one drivable vehicle was ever made.

Carstyling.ru: 1980 Aston Martin Bulldog


Ford Probe was eventually made into a regular sports car, but the design studies went some different ways: the later ones such as the IV and V had aerodynamics as a top priority and excelled in this respect.

Carstyling.ru: 1982 Ford Probe IV


If I could choose this would be my everyday vehicle to go to the supermarket. Ultra-flat, folding doors, aggressive red interior with ultra cool LED displays, GPS system (?), CD player, mega-sleek dashboard, what do you want more?

Carstyling.ru: 1984 Peugeot Quasar

Postscript: One of the most striking designs from the 1980s is the trapezoidal Citroen Karin which we've featured on the blog before.