Gallery: LA Auto Show Design Challenge Goes Hollywood
01honda-intelligent-horse
In a world where the Los Angeles Auto Show is just around the corner, only one design team can win the LA Design Challenge, which showcases the most forward-looking concepts we'll see all year. Each year, designers are given a theme to explore. Last year, it was a [no-compromises 1,000 lb. car](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/autopia/2010/11/la-auto-show-design-challenge-picks-cadillac-smart/). For 2011, the Design Challenge has gone Hollywood, showcasing cars based mostly on classic films -- and sometimes imaginary ones. Even though the results are pretty outlandish, the Design Challenge is still the closest that the modern auto industry comes to recapturing the glamor of GM's Motorama shows. This year's concepts almost universally touch on the auto industry's concerns about artificial intelligence and fuel scarcity -- though one particular studio seems to be hung up on grandmothers. A panel of expert designers will choose a winner on November 17th. Honda Intelligent Horse ----------------------- From Honda's American development team comes a *High Noon*-inspired concept with big, broad shoulders. It takes more than big broad shoulders to make a man, though, so Honda turned their concept into a horse. This particular horse is from thousands of years in the future, when the wild west is populated not by men, but by self-aware cars competing for fuel. Who will prevail? Cue the Ennio Morricone music. *All photos: LA Design Challenge*
02hyundai-stratus-sprinter
Hyundai Stratus Sprinter ------------------------ From Hyundai comes a car fit for a vampire -- Elena, the *Countess of Siberia*. In the fictional film, Elena battles eastern European communists from her blimp, the DB Atlant. On land, the Stratus Sprinter is her ride. Both can disappear and reappear depending on time of day, which means they must have been fitted with Lucas electrics. No clue why Hyundai would have Elena battling Tito and Ceaucescu, or why Hyundai decided to name their concept after two of the least inspired cars of the past decade.
03maybach-berline
Maybach Berline --------------- If Baz Lurhmann directed a retelling of Cinderella, the Maybach Berline would be her pumpkin chariot. Except it's not a pumpkin, it's a “Royal Lounge,” with large divided gullwing doors and retractable stairs for easy egress in glass slippers.
04mercedes-benz-silver-lightning
Mercedes-Benz Silver Lightning ------------------------------ From Mercedes-Benz comes this year's only concept with a sense of whimsy: the Silver Lightning. It's piloted by two self-aware crash test dummies known as Hanz05 and Franz02, who are in a mission to fight the evil Dr. Barrier. The vehicle is supposedly based on Mercedes past, including the W125 series, a Silberpfeil racecar of the late 1930s and the Uhlenhaut SLR from the 50s.
05smart-341-parkour
Smart 341 Parkour ----------------- What the hell is wrong with Smart's design team? They've developed a single-minded obsession with grandmothers. Last year's concept was supposedly built from carbon fiber [knit by "robot grannies."](http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=la%20design%20challenge%20wired.com&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CC4QFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fstag-komodo.wired.com%2Fautopia%2F2010%2F10%2Fla-auto-show-design-challenge%2F&ei=wiW5TpmVFo-DtgfZz6jQBw&usg=AFQjCNFDSW8h14SiOgahRT_CFMR2rdQ0Fw) This year's prospective Smart is based on a film called *Annie Get The Grannies,* about a green reporter hot on the trail of some nanotech nanas that have disappeared from the Smart factory. We've never heard of it, so it's probably made up -- or a disturbing German art *haus* flick filled with black and white images of insects crawling over dead bodies. Oh yeah, and there's parkour, too. The car flies and climbs walls like David Belle. Maybe something got lost in translation, so we'll spell it out loud and clear for them: Hey! Smart! Your concepts don't always have to be about grandmothers!
06ultra-subaru-horizon
Ultra Subaru Horizon -------------------- From Subaru comes a new sci-fi thriller, *Divided*. The world has been split in two, and each side is permanently bathed in either day or night. Humans can only safely live in darkness, but all the world's fuel is stuck on the sunny side of the cloven earth, where no human has ever ventured. The Horizon is developed with specialized shielding to cross into the light. The concept may be far-fetched fantasy, but the design itself is grounded in the very next generation of cars from Fuji Heavy Industries. Look at that trapezoidal grill, and you'll see shades of the upcoming Legacy sedan.
