In today’s ‘I’ve seen everything’ world it’s very difficult to blow someone’s mind away with just some radical new exterior design, though in 2016 Renault managed to stand out with the electric Trezor coupe and was crowned as the most beautiful concept car for that year, also it was voted as the most beautiful concept car at Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este in 2017. Gone are the days when concept cars were a glimpse into the far future of 30-40 years. Trezor, which translates to treasure, is a very contemporary vehicle with only a few over-the-top features. One might say - the future is now.
Love story
Let's start with the body. Renault designers took the idea that the most beautiful cars are those that possess both feminine and masculine features and implemented it into Trezor’s bodywork. Although they refer to it as a love story essentially it's the same thing.
There are two different finishes surrounding the vehicle. One is a hexagonal pattern and the other is smooth metal. The first one represents male side and the second - female side. End result is a beautifully sculpted precious work of art. So precious that the design director Laurens van den Acker did not want any door cut lines ruining it, so that's why Trezor has a huge canopy that opens up and forward instead.
Although Trezor is only 31mm higher than the old Ford GT40 decent effort is still needed to climb inside. But this will probably be changed if the car would make it to production. Not sure if the alien-like tail lights which increase their brightness by twisting the fiber-optic wires closer together will make it to production as well. But features like autonomous mode, regenerative braking and a convenient smartphone interface should, because even today this is not too futuristic anymore and can be found in one form or another on a recent Tesla model or similar e-cars.
Performance is not the main goal
Like a Tesla, it's also extremely quick. 0-100 happens in under 4 sec. with the help from a Formula E derived electric motor developing 260 kw and 380 nm. When the motor gets hot it can be cooled by honey comb-shaped air vents opening in the front. However, when they are closed the car is very slippery, the drag coefficient is only 0.22.
All this is quite impressive, yet the feature that Renault is trying to sell the most with is the car's integration into people's lives. And to do that they are basically making it as friendly to today's 'smartphone generation' as possible. A very contemporary sales pitch.
The mystical world of concept cars
In 2015, Mini also had an interesting concept to appeal to today's crowd by mixing British sports car looks with today's electric car technology with the Superleggera Vision. An idea which seemed to be very timely, yet for some reason it was left only as a one-off.
Other interesting concept which did not make it to the public is the 2014 Lamborghini Asterion LPI 910-4. From the outside it seems like it was Lambo's attempt to make a somewhat sensible hybrid, but the total power of 900 hp suggests that it was more of a competitor to the today's holy trinity of hyper cars. Maybe in reality it was not a worthy competitor.
Speaking of hyper cars, in 2015 Bugatti unveiled the Vision Grand Turismo which was actually a concept of the Chiron. Once again Bugatti showed that their concepts should be taken seriously. Same can be said about the Ford's new GT. Despite looking like a Jedi interceptor with its clever aero, Ford wants to beat Ferrari once more and this fast Ford should be available very soon.
However, chances are that it's not going to be the case for the Trezor and that this French treasure will be buried in the island of forgotten concepts as it's more of a technology showcase.
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