2008 Los Angeles Auto Show: Extreme Concept Designs

Los Angeles, America — The end of the year is always a busy time for automakers: it's motor show season. In the last month we've had this year's biggest motor show, Paris, and no more than a week later the Australian International Motor Show bobbed up. Now it's time for America to have it's last big show for the year with the LA Motor Show, before we move to Detroit early in 2009. Along with the usual range of new cars and products, the 2008 Los Angeles Motor Show will also be home to some wild new concept designs, which you can read about below. Every year the L.A. Auto Show is host to a design competition, and this year's theme is "Motor Sports vehicle for 2025". Because Los Angeles has one of highest concentrations of auto design studios on the globe, some of the designers have gone all out in 2008: Mitsubishi Motors MMR25 This concept car is one of the wildest designs we've ever seen here at the Motoring Channel, first and foremost because of its running gear. The Mitsubishi MMR25 features bizarre-looking wheels, if you could call them that. Half-way between a combine harvester's blades and Michelin's conceptual Tweel, these rubber coated 'blade' structures give the MMR25 the kind of go-anywhere ability that most 4WDs would die for. As the photos show, snow and sand are no obstacle for this design concept which is purpose built for both tarmac and off-road surfaces. Mitsubishi calls the MMR25 an 8x4 wheel drive vehicle. The 'bladed' wheels are omni-directional, which means the car can be facing one direction and moving in another. Would it need two steering wheels? Mitsubishi's designers say this form of motion can aid the vehicle on race tracks because it can be perfectly aligned for corner exits before passing the apex, which is an interesting idea. This concept vehicle has also got a number of rally racing options available to it and who knows? We could be seeing cars like this racing around in 2025 [it's doubtful - Ed]. Engine type is unknown, but is expected to be cold fusion or hydrogen powered which would give the car an explosive turn of speed with almost zero CO2 emissions. It's also unknown where the driver and/or passengers sit, because the body appears to have been a design of form over function. However there are two small slits either side of the central snout that could be viewing portals. The front and rear suspension struts are aerodynamically designed, in essence performing two jobs. As well as suspending the car and reducing surface impact, the suspension struts are quasi front and rear aero aids, acting like spoilers or wings to improve downforce and tyre blade grip.