#7. 2002 Chevy Bel Air Concept Car – Who Doesn’t Want to Drive a Clay Brick with 4 Wheels?
Source: Youtube
When it’s time for a bad concept car, companies like to do one of two things. They want to pretend what the “future” might be like or they will try to make a car full of nostalgia.
What Chevrolet Was Thinking
It was time to tickle the heartstrings of everyone who drove any of the classic Bel Airs. Or anyone who ever saw one and thought it was the height of cool! Chevy executives were assuming that there was still a huge number of people who wished they could be driving around in Bel Airs. It’s one of the most common beliefs in car companies. They think that people who used to drive their car 30 to 50 years ago still want their cars. It’s a bit of a flawed concept. Tastes change. Nostalgia belief is great, but not quite as strong a pull as a lot of people think.
Source: Youtube
What the Public Thought of It
The public reception was… mixed. Oftentimes the public reception will be different between the diehard fan of a company or specific model and the rest of those people attending and viewing a new concept car.
For the most part, the public was a bit confused. Concept cars can often be showcases for new technology and equipment that is going to exist in future vehicles. However, when you’re creating your own nostalgic concept car, you don’t want to put too much that seems incongruous with the car itself. One of the weirdest things to possibly be involved in a nostalgia car is a special button on the wheel. The actual button on the wheel is a Turbo Boost button that would ramp up the power of the new engine. There’s something so wrong with a car trying to be a classy stylish vehicle but has a turbo button.
The appearance itself looked more like it was a floating cinnamon bathtub on wheels. While there were interesting little bits of the chrome windshield hints, overall it was very much lacking appeal.
