Lexus LC 500
When Lexus first debuted in the LC as a great Grand Tourer concept car, it was simple: great and just a concept.
Then at the North American International Auto Show (aka Detroit Auto Show), the company unveiled a production version… that looks virtually identical. It’s rare that a car goes from concept to production with such small changes, but when your designers get it right the first time, change for the sake of change is stupid. Add V8 471 hp or a 354 hp V6 hybrid, and this is one of the alluring Lexus.
Rezvani Beast Alpha
Rezvani made a splash a couple of years ago when he announced he was going to create a very cheap (relatively speaking) offering with a legitimate performance supercar called the Beast.
Fast-forward, and the newest version of the Beast, the Alpha, features two of the most daring doors ever to grace a car.
They don’t open up, turn outward, or pivot, but slide forward like what you’d expect to see in a futuristic sci-fi movie.
Mazda MX-5 Miata RF
When the world’s best-selling roadster hit the street a quarter of a century ago, the only thing separating it from absolute perfection in the eyes of enthusiasts was a hard top.
Now in its fourth generation, the Miata finally has another best thing about choosing a coupe: a Targa retractable top option that doesn’t look like the Porsche 911 Targa. Its beauty is evident, even if the mechanized cover system is not.
Jaguar I-Pace
Jaguar has just had one of the most successful design rebrands an automobile company has ever experienced. Following trails like the F-Type, XE and F-Pace SUV, they made their first all-electric vehicle.
Just look at it. It’s so beautiful and so far from what Jag did, you’ll forgive me if you think this is just a statement of intent for the designers and not a legitimate future product. It’s actually a concept version for now, but Jaguar has already confirmed it’s going into production.
Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6
Submit this file under how designers would treat cars if no restrictions were placed on them. Its ultra-thin lines and impossibly long front fascia give the car an almost 1930s Art Deco feel.
As with some of the other cars on this list, this is mostly an artistic exercise, although its design language will eventually seep into the upper echelons of the Mercedes lineup.
Buick Avista Concept
There really is no better way to describe the concept of Avista than simply amazing. 400 hp coupe based on the same platform as the Chevy Camaro and Cadillac ATS – meaning it shouldn’t be too expensive for GM to develop, but alas, it’s one of the sexiest cars GM will ever build.
It’s a damn shame and the Avista will go down in history as one of the greatest teasers in American automotive history.
Bugatti Chiron
A new Bugatti doesn’t show up every year… or even every decade, so when it does, the company’s designers have the unenviable task of painting what will no doubt be the poster car of the future.
With that kind of pressure, all they did was create an incredibly smooth collection of sharp edges and swooping lines that visibly seeped into the classroom.
Alfa Romeo Stelvio
On the one hand, Alfa Romeo building an SUV sounds like sacrilege… but on the other hand, Jaguar’s stunning butt with its F-Pace, as well as BMW and Porsche, have joined the game a long time ago, so Alfa really didn’t have a choice.
Given the beauty of the Stelvio, perhaps it’s actually more of a shame that Alfa Romeo hasn’t made an SUV all these years.
Infiniti Q60
Infiniti makes righteous coupes really nothing new.
In the third generation of a relatively young brand, its great traveler has outdone himself in the design department, combining angles and curves and the brand’s DNA in ways that shouldn’t work…but they do anyway.
Lamborghini Centenario
That Lamborghini is on a relentless quest to redefine automotive madness is hardly in question, but the Centenario takes the company’s design language to comic-book-like levels of madness.
Look long enough and you can see the not-quite-bland Aventador (on which the Centenario is based) lurking beneath the extravagance of the design. Look dreary enough and you’ll start counting how many years you’ll have to work just to afford a down payment on a roughly $2,500,000 car.
Acura Precision Concept
Yes, it’s a design concept, but it’s still a pretty neat exhibition of what Acura’s designers have planned for the future.
While it’s unlikely that self-destructive rear-hinged doors will ever make it to a production Acura, the sharp lines will almost certainly be.
Toyota C-HR
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Toyota is making a compact crossover to go head-to-head with the Nissan Juke. What is surprising is the wildness of the C-HR lines.
Perhaps even more beautiful than the C-HR’s bodywork is the beauty under its skin: it’s designed to be legitimately sporty, and the first signs that it’s achieved its goals.