The Weird World of Wheels: Crazy car designs

Tang Hua Book of Songs

Chinese car designer Li Guangming isn’t afraid to take design concepts to the extreme.

Unveiled at the 2008 Detroit Motor Show, the Tang Hua Book of Songs, along with its brothers the Piece of Cloud and the Detroit Fish (I'm not making this up), were designed with "rounded, friendly" look in mind.

Mitsuoka Orochi

Dubbed ‘Japan’s latest everyday supercar’ by its makers, the Mitsuoka Orochi was first built in 2001.

The 3.3-litre 230bhp 2-door coupe has been redesigned twice, in 2003 and 2005.

The Nissan Pivo

First introduced at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show, the futuristic Nissan Pivo is now in its second incarnation.

Powered by a Lithium-Ion battery, the Pivo 2 has a 360-degree rotating cabin, designed to eliminate the need for reversing, and to make parking easier.

The Ferrari 312 B3 'Spazzaneve'

And now to Formula One.

Ferrari’s 312 B3 was nicknamed the Spazzaneve (meaning ‘snow plough’). It was tested in 1972, and meant to be raced in 1973, but never made it to the track. The above picture was taken at the 2006 Monaco Historic Grand Prix.

The huge holes on the front are air intakes, which provide cooling for the 180 degree V12 engine.

It looks like a bad F1 car, but a great soap-box racer.

Video: Half a car

And if drawing board inspiration escapes you, you could always cut the car in half…