10 Concept Cars That Looked Better As Production Cars

The usual transition from concept to production car goes something like this: a shiny concept is revealed and gets everyone talking, a few years go by, and then a production car turns up looking not quite as swishy as the headline-baiting concept.

We recently covered 10 instances where that transition was particularly disappointing, but what about when it goes the other way around? What about when a production car winds up looking better than the concept that previewed it? Despite the realities of getting a car through all the bureaucratic, regulatory and financial hoops needed to put it on sale, there are times when, in our view, this has happened. Read on for 10 examples of that.

Mercedes-Benz Vision SLR

Mercedes first presented its concept for a front-engined mega-GT in 1999 with the Vision SLR, inspired by the legendary (and legendarily expensive) 300SLR ‘Uhlenhaut Coupe’ of the 1950s. The retrofuturist vibes were very much there, but something about those proportions was a bit… off.

Thankfully, by the time the car – jointly developed by McLaren – had morphed into the production SLR in 2003, all the slight styling weirdness had been ironed out, and it had become a classically handsome – if a bit confused in its personality – continent-devourer.

Nissan GT-R

Here’s another instance of slightly weird proportions arguably spoiling an entire concept: the original 2001 concept for the R35 Nissan GT-R. While it carried lots of Skyline hallmarks, it had an oddly tall, curvy greenhouse combined with much boxier, R34-inspired front and rear ends, and also looked a bit naked without any kind of rear spoiler.

This had all been refined when we saw the production version in 2007, which was a far more cohesive thing that was able to settle into its own identity after shedding the Skyline badge while retaining clear family links to its predecessors.

BMW Vision EfficientDynamics

The production BMW i8 arguably looked more like a concept car for the road than anything else in the last 20-odd years, but the original concept – 2009’s clumsily-named Vision EfficientDynamics – was a bit too sci-fi for our tastes, with its glassy flanks that would reveal if you’d thrown on a pair of grubby tracksuits for a long drive.

This had all been toned down for 2013’s still-striking hybrid production car, which we also reckon is one of the most underrated, intelligently designed and engineered sports cars of the 21st century.

Mazda RX-Evolv

Mazda first floated the idea of a four-door successor to the RX-7 in 1999 with the RX-Evolv. The lineage is clear, but we’re not sure the Evolv’s ultra-slim headlights and bulbous tail work too well.

2001’s RX-8 concept – much closer to the finished item – was better, but we reckon it took until the 2003 production version for the design to properly mature into the handsome, lovably esoteric oil-burning weirdo we know and love today.

Audi TT

The original Audi TT is rightly considered a design classic, and we’ll just get the obligatory reference to the German Bauhaus school of design out of the way now. The concept that appeared in 1995 was very close to the final product, but to our eyes, was spoiled somewhat by its weirdly thick B-pillar.

The production version fixed that with the simple addition of a small rear quarter window, extending the windowline and giving it a much cleaner overall look that solidified it as the icon it is.

Bentley EXP 9 F

That Bentley was working on an SUV was common knowledge by the time the EXP 9 F concept was unveiled in 2012. Nobody was quite ready for the way it looked, though. Its bluff, LED-festooned Mulsanne-inspired front end and boxy body made it look like a Range Rover had crashed into a Swarovski shop.

The Bentayga production car that debuted in 2015 was still hardly the last word in restrained elegance, but then it was a Bentley SUV, so that wasn’t really the point. It was at least better than the EXP 9 F, though, and was improved further by a 2020 facelift.

Mini ACV30

BMW acquired the rights to the Mini brand in 1994, and the world (but Britain especially) waited with bated breath to see what would become of the iconic small car. Our first inkling came in 1997 with the ACV30, a curiously bulbous concept car, marking 30 years since the original Cooper’s first underdog victory at the Monte Carlo Rally.

The eventual 2001 production car went down a much more conventional route, with a sympathetic but very well-considered update of the Issigonis original. There is one aspect of the ACV30 we wouldn’t have minded seeing the light of day in some form, though – it was based on the MG F, meaning it was mid-engined and rear-wheel drive.

Honda SSM

Honda mooted the idea of a new two-seater roadster in the mid-’90s, showing off the SSM concept in 1995. Designed by Pininfarina, bits of it were fantastic, like the clean, short rear-end and long bonnet. The front, though, with its low-set headlights, was just plain weird.

The Japanese manufacturer took matters into its own hands for 1999’s S2000, which carried over much of the SSM’s styling but with a far more conventional, and prettier, front end. Again, though, there’s one element of the SSM we wouldn’t have minded finding its way into at least one version of the S2000: its high-revving five-cylinder engine.

Volkswagen Concept D

We all had a bit of a laugh when good old mass-market Volkswagen – whose name, let's not forget, means 'People's Car' – showed off the Concept D in 1999, a vast luxury car with a V10 diesel engine and an ungainly fastback body.

We all stopped laughing in 2002 when it went into production as the Phaeton, V10 diesel and all. Thankfully, it had shed its hunchbacked shape for a much less challenging traditional saloon look, although we’d be surprised if the Concept D didn’t end up lending some inspiration to the original Porsche Panamera.

Porsche Type 754

The Porsche Type 754 sort of looks like we’ve asked AI to rustle up with a picture of an early Porsche 911, but it was in fact a very real 1961 prototype for what would go on to become one of the longest-running sports car nameplates ever.

We’re glad, though, that by the time the 901 debuted in 1963 (and was quickly renamed after a friendly letter from Peugeot’s lawyers), it had shed the 754’s awkward back end for the gently sloping roofline and curved tail we know and love to this day.