CONCEPT CARS RETROSPECTIVE
SHOW STOPPERS
Motor show concepts are automotive ideas presented as high art but designed to gauge public reaction and pave the way for new ideas. Felix Page revisits some of our favourites
Its name works better in Italian, but the 2uettottanta was beautiful either way
ALFA ROMEO 2UETTOTTANTA
Catchy, no? Well, ‘2uettottanta’ might roll off the tongue more smoothly if you’re from Turin.
Pininfarina’s 80th birthday present to itself in 2010 imagined a reborn Duetto, giving an enticing vision of what an Alfa MX-5 rival could look like. Too good to be true? Yes, but we got the 4C three years later, and that was just as beautiful.
BENTLEY JAVA
Amore affordable ‘baby’ Bentley with a thumping V8 engine and a removable roof? Not so outlandish a concept in 2023 given that the Continental GT’s strong sales have kept the lights on in Crewe for two decades now. But back in 1994 the very idea was almost unfathomable –until the reveal of the Java.
This imposing luxury cabriolet was the headline act at that year’s Geneva motor show but, despite looking nearly ready for the showrooms, it was presented by then owner Rolls-Royce as a pure concept, and one they openly said that would probably need its underpinnings to be supplied by a partner to make production. The Sultan of Brunei, though – not one to take no for an answer – had 18 Javas built, based on the ‘E34’ BMW 5 Series, in estate, coupé and convertible bodystyles.
Bentley Java caught Sultan of Brunei’s well-heeled eye
Ford Probe was the shape of things to come – kind of