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Bond was a famous three-wheeler manufacturer in the UK after the war. Reliant (famous for their Robin) bought the company in 1970 and decided to create a sportier version of the Regal for the young generation. It was designed by Tom Karen (Ogle Design), who gave it this fantastic look and this saucer-inspired canopy. The car itself had better performance than a Mini (in a straight line, of course), but its price was higher, which resulted in sales; only 2000+ were built between 1970 and 1974. Source: Wiki Images: Kevin Van Campenhout

If you’re unfamiliar with Jay Ohrberg’s work, Story Cars highly recommends you check out all his work! This wild 1980s ride could comfortably seat eight people. This limo featured ten wheels, a sweeping hood, a massive spoiler, and the famous red Ferrari paint job. Thoughts? 📹: https://youtu.be/tLPsa_fuY-U (Uploaded via WheelsTV on 4/23/2015)

The "Wide Limo" was just one of longtime custom car impresario Jay Ohrberg's crazy concoctions, which spanned 2.5 cars wide and 30 feet long. Powered by two '75 Cadillac FWD engines with eight wheels per side, the Limo had to be disassembled to be transported from show to show. Amazingly, each half could be driven separately. 📸/📚: Pinterest

Combining the heart of a Lamborghini with an avant-garde design and gullwing doors, the Genesis was far from being an ordinary minivan. Renault proved that minivans could be exciting with the Espace F1 concept unveiled in 1994, but only a few people will probably remember that wasn’t the first attempt to make an otherwise bland genre of cars more alluring. Famous Italian design house Bertone envisioned the Genesis concept for the 62nd Turin International Motor Show with a V12 engine borrowed from the Lamborghini Countach Quattrovalvole, complete with a mighty 455 horsepower. The 5,167cc engine fitted with six Weber carburetors drove the rear wheels through a three-speed automatic gearbox rather than the five-speed manual transmission of the Countach 5000 QV. Remember that in 1988, Chrysler owned Lamborghini, hence why the gearbox was of the TorqueFlite type. With the gear ratios being very long, the Genesis wasn’t exactly quick. The fact that it weighed roughly 1,800 kg also didn’t help. Source: www.bertone.it Images: Carrozzeria Bertone s.p.a.

Mercedes’ solution was an huge Kammback — the name of the body style originates from the research conducted by German car aerodynamicist Wunibald Kamm in the 1930s. Not only did its design preview what was to come in the following years, but the low-slung body was also aerodynamically optimized as the concept had a drag coefficient of just 0.28. To meet the fuel economy goal, the Auto 2000 concept needed more than just a sleek body. That’s why Mercedes’ engineers came up with three frugal powertrain solutions. The first one was a V8 3.8-liter gasoline engine fitted with cylinder deactivation technology, which as you can imagine was quite the novelty back then. Whenever the engine’s full power was not necessary, half of the cylinders were temporarily shut down to save precious fuel. The next proposal for an economical engine was a six-cylinder 3.3-liter diesel that had two turbochargers. It granted the Auto 2000 with an “exemplary accelerating power” and needed only 7.5 liters / 100 km (31.3 mpg) while the car was doing 75 mph (120 kph) based on Mercedes’ testing procedures. 📚/📸: Motor1.com (written by Adrian Padeanu on 3/1/17)

If you liked Merc's mighty G63 6x6, you'll love this crazy 6x6 Renault 5. This wonderfully mad creation was built by Frenchman Christian de Leotard in the 1980s. He was also the man responsible for a 6x6 Range Rover that appeared in the late 70s, and he wanted to try the same trick with the humble Renault 5. As you can see from the above picture, one of the converted cars took on the Dakar rally. As if that wasn't enough madness, Leotard also created a Renault 5 Turbo Version. That car had a 5 Alpine engine in the front, and a Renault 5 Turbo unit in the back. It had two gearboxes with two synchronized levers. Sadly, this twin-engined machine is thought to have been destroyed in a 2003 fire, while the Dakar version was last reported to be rotting away in a museum in Cannes. 📚: Matt Robinson via CarThrottle.com 📸: oto6.fr

Meet the Steinwinter Supercargo. From depths of retro-future hell, this cargo carrier was the brainchild of Manfred Steinwinter, an auto engineer from Stuttgart, Germany. It made its first debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1983. This "nutzfahrzeuge," or "commercial vehicle," was the engineer's idea of efficiency—likely much different than what manufacturers have started doing today. Its low profile was believed to save on fuel costs by reducing the drag created by the gap from the truck to trailer, and its overall length is cut down, enabling more freight to be loaded without disrupting the legal requirements of vehicle size. The Supercargo was powered by an eight-cylinder Mercedes OM422 diesel engine that produced 276 horsepower and a whopping 753 foot-pounds of torque. The engine outputs its power to a 16-speed ZF transmission to a single axle in the rear. All this was packed into a platform that sat above the ground, only half an inch taller than a Lamborghini Huracan. One of the most important ideas behind this semi-truck was that it could be modular. It could tow a trailer behind it, a cargo container on top, or even be re-purposed as a tour bus. These applications could be nested on top of the truck, creating a low-cost solution that could be applied to many situations (similar to how Volkswagen uses its MQB platform to build vehicles). Source & Images: TheDrive.com (2017 by Rob Stumpf)

Jerry’s passion is for the Corvettes, and he modified several. With these wicked corvette designs, he managed to collect many awards! He also designed a van from a Corvette. That takes serious creativity and skill. What are your thoughts? Source & Image: SixMania.com

Pennington also designed the Corvette 6 wheels named “Mixer,” built to look like a concrete mixer truck. He lengthened the back to add an axis; then, he placed an aluminum canister resembling a concrete mixer. What are your thoughts on Pennington’s design? Source & Image: SixMania.com

Pennington Collision began in the garage of Jerry Pennington, a determined man who had a passion for cars. He started by fixing primarily corvettes and custom work but later introduced the show car line and custom vehicles. In 1968, he opened the doors to Pennington Collision to make his work more professionally known. In 1972, Jerry took his custom car, "The Scorpion," to Detroit's Auto Rama. There he won the Ridler Award for his outstanding imagination and vision. The Scorpion went on to win the International Championship for 1971 & 1972. In 1973, he built the Devilfish, winning the Ridler Award. Jerry was the first person to win this award for two consecutive years. In 1973, Jerry built a car for John Long of Atlanta, Georgia. His latest custom creation was called "The Atlanta Phoenix," which became the 1973 & 1974 International Champion. In 1979, he tried one last time for the Ridler Award at Detroit's Auto Rama, in which he took second place. This made Jerry the only builder to win three ICAS top awards. ICAS named Jerry Pennington "Builder of the Decade" from 1970 to 1980. He has also built a custom Corvette for "The Magician" television show. In 1982 Jerry's son, Ed, began managing the family business. Since Jerry's passing in 1990, Ed continues to run the legacy of Pennington Collision with the help of his family. Source/Image: Pennington Collision. http://www.penningtoncollision.com/history2.htm Pictured Above: Jerry Pennington's 1972 Ridler and International Championship awarding winning "Scorpion."

Bradley was a designer at General Motors from 1962 to 1966 who, against company policy, continued to submit designs to Hot Rod magazine under an assumed name. Mattel poached him in 1966 to design its brand new toy line called Hot Wheels, and Bradley designed all of them except one. He only stayed at Mattel for a year because he didn't think Hot Wheels would be successful, then left to start his own design company. Among other works, he penned the most recent example of the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. Since it has a letter of documentation from GM design staff, we'll assume that GM asked the then-freelancing Bradley to work some magic on its muscle car, this being the totally Hot-Wheels influenced the result. There are 17k+ miles on its 255-horsepower, 350 cubic-inch V8. The interior has tan leather, custom bucket seats, a wood grain dash, and one of the most awkward spare tire placements. Source: @autoblog (Instagram handle) (3/26/2015) Images: @siomotion (Instagram handle)

Surfite was a genuine surfer’s car. An Austin Mini Cooper chassis was under its unique custom surfboard carrier body, powered by a 1269cc Austin Mini Cooper chrome-plated engine. Ed tried to get Surfite in a movie that he heard was being filmed in Sportsman’s Cove in Malibu, and even though it was only a split second, Surfite made a brief appearance in Beach Blanket Bingo. Source: ratfink.com Images: ConceptCarz.com

Mega Cycle started in the mid-60s to imagine what a 21st century El Camino would look like. Original concept sketches were drawn up by a guy named Ed Newton, and the car was originally designed to carry Big Daddy's custom Harley-Davidson XLCH Sportster until he traded up to a show-stopping Triumph custom. Powered by a Buick V6, Mega Cycle originally called Captain Pepi's Motorcycle, and Zeppelin Repair, which was changed by car show promoters, did the car show circuit for about a year until Big Daddy traded it to a junkyard owner for the rear clip out of a VW Bug. The car sat in front of the junkyard for a year, where it served as a sign for the yard and, sadly, a home for the yard's resident dogs. When Big Daddy came to pick it up a year later, the interior was utterly trashed. Roth traded it again, and the car changed hands numerous times throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s. During that time, it was restored a couple of times, toured on the show car circuit again, lost its Triumph, regained its Triumph, and generally lived a hard-knock life. Source: Jason Marker (2018) via RideApart.com

The original Camaro/Firebird F-Body platform was barely off the drawing board when General Motors stylists began toying with sporty station wagon versions of the pony car package. The idea just seems natural, intuitive somehow. While this example, the 1977-1979 Firebird Type K, wasn’t GM’s first F-Body experiment in station wagons, it is by far the best known. Based on the clean second-generation Firebird body shell sculpted by famed GM designer Bill Porter, the wagon variant was styled by another accomplished GM studio man, Gerry Brochstein. The K stands for Kamm tail, a reference to the abrupt chop at the rear of the body, which reduces aerodynamic drag. While the rear glass was fixed in place, a pair of glass side hatches hinged in gullwing fashion allowed full access to the rear cargo compartment, which was nicely trimmed in carpeting with bright metal rub strips. 📚/📸: MCG on 1/4/17 via MacsMotorCityGarage.com

Darryl Starbird is an American designer and manufacturer of custom cars and hot rods, known for his innovative and futuristic space-age car designs, often with a bubble top. The Trik Truk is a futuristic pickup with 6 spoke wheels and four front wheels like the Tyrrell P34. It was designed like the Deora with a cantilever at the front. The entire cockpit electrically lifts upwards like the Lancia Stratos HF Zero. The entire interior is made of leather and velvet. There is still a major technological innovation, the steering wheel support is in the central position, and it is possible to tilt the steering wheel right or left depending on the person who wants to drive! There have been at least two versions. One with a very pointed front, headlights on the sides. Then, a newer version with a more rounded front, headlights forward. Trik Truk was built from a 1978 Chevy van. It was exhibited at the 1987 Geneva Motor Show. Source: Marc on 4/21/20 via SixMania.com

The EX-7 was a 2-seater concept car made by Toyota and shown during the 1970 Tokyo Motor Show. It was an experiment (hence 'EX') to see what a supercar based on the Toyota 7 (hence '-7') race car would be like. The mid-mounted 5 L engine was similar to the Toyota 7 engine, except that EX-7 did not have turbochargers. The Toyota 7 had 800 bhp, but the EX-7 was detuned down to 450 PS for road use. The transmission was by a manual gearbox as part of a transaxle. Double wishbone independent suspension was on all four wheels, and vented disc brakes were used on both the front and rear. The body shape was similar to that of other supercars, like the Mercedes C111, with a long flat nose blended into an extended windscreen and a high rear with a vertical cutoff. The doors were shaped like a typical gull-wing door, but the hinge was at the end of the roof section of the door, and each door opened to the rear. Source: Andrew Biddle - blog.toyota.co.uk Images: www.spiegel.de; www.2000gt.net; blog.toyota.co.uk

In the 1980s, Pierre Tissier presented on the Citroën stand at the Paris Motor Show. Presented was the Citroën CX14 “Penthouse”, a prototype both very fast and livable. The interior was very complete with luxurious comfort. Also, the engine was a powerful 2400 GTI. Do you know anything else about this machine? 📸/📚: Bruno Tourmen 2/28/18 via SixMania.com

Unveiled at the November 1969 Turin Salon was the first concept by Giorgietto Giugiaro for his new firm, ItalDesign. Dubbed "Iguana", a small production run of cars was planned but never actually happened for one reason or another. The use of brushed-steel bodywork was certainly novel and Giugiaro later adopted a similar treatment for the DeLorean DMC-12. Elements of many earlier Giugiaro designs were apparent on the Iguana, everything from the De Tomaso 2000 Competizione to the three-seat Bizzarrini Manta. Source: www.italdesign.it Images: oldconceptcars

The Alfa Romeo Eagle is a concept car built by Pininfarina. The car debuted at the Turin Auto Show in 1975. Three years after unveiling their Alfetta Spider prototype built using the chassis and drive-train of the Alfetta Berlina, Pininfarina presented a new Alfa-based styling exercise. The goal was to show that it was possible to design an open car with good passive safety. Like the Alfetta Spider, the Eagle had a targa top but was built using the Alfetta GT as a base. The Eagle's wedge-shaped body was designed by Aldo Brovarone, who drew inspiration from the sports prototype cars and the Alfa Romeo 33/TT/12 in particular. The body was characterized by a prominent rearward-inclined or swept-back roll-over bar. The interior diverged strongly from the contemporary Alfa style, with soft matte plastic dashboard finishes, a mono-spoke steering wheel, and fully digital instrumentation. With a 91.0 kW (122 hp) 4-cylinder Twin Cam engine in standard GT tune, good aerodynamics, and weighing just 1,000 kg (2,204.6 lb), the Eagle was rated at a maximum speed of 198 km/h (123.0 mph) while returning significantly better consumption than the model from which it was derived. As with Pininfarina's earlier Spider proposal, the Eagle did not produce. Alfa Romeo's management instead opted to refresh the style of the Duetto. Source: wikipedia Images: ClassicDriver.Com (by Rémi Dargegen) and CarStyling.ru

Cyclone Sportshauler, Lincoln-Mercury's newest show car, carries a surprise in its trunk. The car, designed by Ford's Design Center, has a special compartment that stores an all-terrain vehicle behind the two front seats. The Sportshauler has a unique rear window and deck lid which form a rear door that opens electrically. When the rear is fully open, a tailgate drops to the ground to form a ramp and the vehicle is lowered by an electric winch. The all-terrain vehicle can be replaced by a minibike, snowmobile, or other recreation vehicles. Cyclone Sportshauler will be unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show, November 21-29 at Cobo Hall. 📸: ford-trucks.com