Land Rover-built Judge Dredd city cab

As the transforming BMW makes headlines across the world, Vijay Pattni rounds up the ten craziest concept cars of all time.

BMW GINA Light Visionary Model

It’s a transforming BMW – the stunning BMW GINA Light Visionary Model features a moveable lightweight aluminium space-frame body covered by fabric, meaning the Beemer can change shape at the touch of a button.

BMW chiefs say the GINA is not a concept in the standard sense, so we won’t ever see this in production form.

But we can expect elements of the car’s design, including the headlamps which open and close like a human’s eyes, to feature in future Beemers.

View more images of the stunning BMW CS concept

Mazda Taiki

Unveiled at the 2007 Tokyo motor show, the stunning Taiki concept car features the next generation Wankel ‘RENESIS’ rotary engine which is likely to power the new RX-8.

And this new engine is wrapped inside one of the most outlandish shapes in the world – the concept Taiki is inspired by “the flowing robes that enable a celestial maiden to fly in Japanese legend”…

View more images of the Mazda RX-8 RS

Nissan Pivo 2

Nissan’s new GT-R is picking up accolades everywhere it goes – including setting a Nurburgring lap time quicker than the Bugatti Veyron.

But its tiny cousin couldn’t be more different – the cutesy Nissan Pivo 2 features a rotating cabin which turns up to 90 degrees for ease of parking, and is powered by batteries.

And the Pivo 2 features a robot interface which talks to you as you drive.

View more images of the Nissan GT-R

Judge Dredd Land Rover

Rambo and Rocky star Sylvester Stallone appeared in 1995’s action flick Judge Dredd as the hard-hitting agent of justice in a violent future.

And Dredd’s car was equally imposing – Land Rover was tasked with building Dredd’s city cabs, and produced thirty bright yellow beasts.

Auto Trader Writer Alex Eckford went to Land Rover’s Solihull plant to celebrate 60 years since the first Land Rover rolled off the production line to see the monster Dredd cab in the flesh.

View more images from the Land Rover visit

Citroen DS Robot

At the 2006 Paris motor show, New York engineering collective Amorphic Robot Works premiered its take on Citroen’s cool transforming robot advert – by building its own.

The ‘totemobile’ is a converted 1965 Citroen DS which uses massive electric pumps to transform it into an 18 metre tall totem pole, which Amorphic say is “the final maturation of an enormous biological organism.”

Mercedes-Benz Boxfish

Car designers take inspiration from all sources – the interior of the new Ford Fiesta is modelled on a mobile phone, the Toyota Auris’ insides were carved according to the Notre Dame Cathedral, and the gorgeous Jaguar XK was modelled on British actress Kate Winslet.

Mercedes however, chose to model one of their concept cars on something a little more… aquatic.

In 2005, engineers at the Mercedes-Benz Technology Centre looked to the “aerodynamic and streamlined” boxfish to help produce the Boxfish concept, which achieves a drag coefficient of just 0.06 in the wind tunnel – meaning it’s very slippery through the air.

The inspiration behind famous car designs

View more images of famous car designs

Peugeot 20Cup

Peugeot is renowned for its handling technology and has produced some of the greatest hatches ever, including the legendary Peugeot 205 GTi and the Peugeot 306 GTI-6.

And in 2005, Peugeot’s motorsport division rolled out this three-wheeled 120bhp concept – the bonkers Peugeot 20Cup.

The Peugeot 20Cup is built on a one-piece carbon-fibre chassis with a two-seater cockpit and a very low centre of gravity – and weighs less than 500kg.

Milner Motors Air Car

Congestion, jams and stop-start traffic – modern day driving can be a drain on your energy.

But Milner Motors promises to banish your congestion worries with its concept – the Milner Motors Air Car.

Premiering at the 2008 New York motor show, the Air Car features fully retractable wings and space inside for four and will fly through the traffic.

But not for a while – as yet it’s only a concept car and has no engine.

Citroen C-Metisse

Citroen unveiled a green supercar at the 2005 Paris motor show – and this is the full working model.

The Citroen C-Metisse features gullwing front and rear doors, a mad interior which Citroen claims “reinforces the sensation of being in a fighter jet”, and a hybrid-diesel engine which returns 45mpg – but still propels the C-Metisse from 0-62mph in just 6.2 seconds.

View more images of the Citroen C-Metisse

Tang Hua Book of Songs

This Chinese car weighs just 500kgs, has two seats, measures 1.8-metres in length, and shares the Tang Hua stable with its brothers: the Tang Hua Piece of Cloud and the Tang Hua Detroit Fish.

The Tang Hua Book of Songs is powered by a 3.5kw motor to propel it towards its daring top speed – of 27mph.

The Weird World of Wheels - Crazy car designs

Check out the BMW GINA concept in action: