When delusions become reality
12/05/2024
We know this phenomenon from "The Simpsons": What was intended as a satirical and absurd joke turns out to be a frighteningly accurate prediction a few years later. This also applies to some of the nonsense model variants that auto motor und sport printed on the occasion of the IAA 1997. Fortunately, six-wheeled small cars or delivery van convertibles have not (yet) materialized. But all the other "car suggestions" have found their way into showrooms in some form or other.
The "Bentley Abu Dhabi" as a high-riding all-wheel drive version of the Turbo RT, for example, looks like the awkward ancestor of the Bentayga, Cullinan and DBX. The four-door Ferrari 550 Familiare with its 3.20 meters is the somewhat dachshund-like predecessor of the Purosangue. If you turned a blind eye, you could even see a pre-stage of the X-Class in the Mercedes-Benz CL 500 as a platform truck. From 2001, there really was even a long version of the A-Class - albeit not as long.
Interestingly, the Range-Rover V8 Opera Coupé has remained without a conceptual successor to this day. Yet it was far more consistent than anything that is sold today as an SUV coupé: As befits a true coupé, it only has two doors. But perhaps that is precisely why it failed. Because the uselessness of its design would have been a little too obvious.
