Tech - News
The Forgotten Ford Concept Car That Still Looks Futuristic Today
By MATT SALTER
Concept cars serve multiple functions in the automotive marketplace: They represent a statement of the manufacturers’ abilities, gauge customer interest in the changes, and serve as a way to show off. Like most concept cars, Ford’s 1996 “Synergy 2010” concept never hit production, but its features predicted the future of automotive engineering.
Ford’s guess at what cars would look like in 2010 had a wild retrofuturistic design, complete with polished surfaces, unnecessary changes to the wheel wells, and smooth or squared-off stylings. While the concept car’s outside failed to forecast the future of motoring, its insides succeeded with a shockingly modern list of engineering innovations.
The Synergy 2010 was a hybrid, combining an electric motor with a 1-liter diesel engine for a reported 80 miles per gallon, and had an onboard voice-controlled phone book. Almost 30 years later, Ford’s prediction of an affordable family sedan more interested in comfort, convenience, and climate responsibility has seemed to come true.