SEAT: FIVE CONCEPT CARS TO EXPLORE THE FUTURE

Concept cars are generally described as design exercises that shape the future. They are a perfect opportunity for designers to let their imagination run free and sketch the silhouettes of cars to come. There is some truth to this, as concept cars do show what future street models will look like. The following five Seat creations are evidence of this.

Seat Bolero
One of the stars at the 1998 Geneva Motor Show, the Seat Bolero not only was this coupe sedan equipped with a 330 hp engine but it also featured pioneering light clusters. The Bolero is the initial starting point where the lights are independent, housed behind a transparent polycarbonate cover instead of the usual glass.

Seat Toledo Electric
1992. While Barcelona scrambled to prepare for the Olympic Games, Seat engineers were busy on their own milestone event. Their exciting challenge was to come up with an electric vehicle to guide the Olympic flame torch relay and the Marathon event. The result was an electric Toledo equipped with batteries weighing 500 kilos and featuring a range of 65 kilometres.

Seat Tribu
Seat currently has three SUV models in its range, the Arona, the Ateca and the Tarraco, but began taking steps towards this segment long before. One of them was the Salsa Emoción (2000), which was more of a crossover, but in 2007 the manufacturer displayed a concept car which was a proper SUV – the Tribu: this model features the first clear indications of building an SUV in the future.

Seat IBE
2010, Paris Motor Show. Seat presents the IBE concept car which turns out to be milestone in the brand’s design. Its taut lines, proportions, LED headlights. All of its elements point to the design DNA of the future range. The IBE clearly defines the design language of the third generation Leon.

Seat 20v20
The Seat 20v20, unveiled in 2015, was an hybrid crossover with a futuristic approach to connectivity. At its core was the Personal Drive, a coin-shaped touch device that operated a a mobile navigation system and remote control to activate the car’s climate control.