Dream cars: why don't you build these cars?

W hat the world of cars was still manageable a few decades ago. There were clear drawers: small, compact, middle-class and upper-class cars. With hatchback or notchback or as a station wagon. In addition, a few dream cars among the coupés and convertibles. Plus off-road vehicle. Point!

Explosion of the number of variants

The number of body variants has truly exploded since then. There is hardly a segment in which there is not at least one additional (high roof or SUV) variant. And crossovers are increasingly determining the offer, as higher-level station wagons with off-road vehicle look or with coupé elements, but also mixtures from other segments. Suddenly even coupes with four doors pop open. And customers quickly lose track in the jumble of variants and names - ask your average car-loving neighbor about GLK and CLC, 3008, 4007 and 5008 or CX-7 and BT-50.

Especially since the times are long gone when a brand is committed to just one segment: the best example is the sports car icon Porsche, which has long since sold more SUVs called the Cayenne than the 911. Or the British luxury brand Aston Martin, which suddenly also has a three-seater for the city center based on the Toyota iQ. Or the Italian dream car manufacturer Lamborghini, which is thinking out loud about an SUV.

Who expects an SUV from Alfa or Seat?

Alfa Romeo will have such an off-road model in a few years Bringing the market because the Italians also want to be successful in the SUV country USA in the future. Seat developed an SUV (similar to the Tribu study) long ago and just put it on hold because insufficient demand is expected for it. The same applies to the van version of the Volkswagen Polo.

After all, the manufacturers know that an additional variant can lead to in-house cannibalization instead of just conquering the competition. The temptation for manufacturers to throw more variants on the market and thus to satisfy the consumer's desire for variety and variety (new German: 'Variety Seeking') is increasing. After all, the consistent use of architectures - commonly known as platforms - makes it affordable nowadays. And the 'modularization' continues.

That's why auto motor und sport has brought together here which literal 'dream cars' would still be conceivable: For example the Bentley Continental GT as a sporty station wagon, aPickup version of the Mercedes ML or the van version of a VW Polo. If the Audi R8 is somehow too small for you, you can have your super sports car stretched by 30 centimeters. For auto purists, this is more likely to be classified in the 'nightmare' category. Long versions are enjoying growing popularity outside of Germany - especially in markets such as the USA, China and Saudi Arabia ... admittedly (and fortunately) not yet in super sports cars.

As always, you will find more exciting exotic species in the large photo show. By the way, the father of these photos is auto motor und sport 'futurologist' Christian Schulte. The 49-year-old, studied (automotive) designer has been visualizing the future model portfolios of car manufacturers exclusively for auto motor und sport since 2001. And for other customers, such as the body builder Xenatec, Schulte sometimes designs dream cars in the form of conversions of existing vehicles that are produced as individual items on customer request.