Why do most of our brand new cars still look like they were released in the 1990s? Judging by most of the concept designs released over the last few years, it seems like we’re destined to slide from the clunky, boring silhouettes of the late 20th century right into dorky, bulbous autonomous vehicles with absolutely nothing stylish and fun in the mix. According to car design engineers, the primary reason for the serious post-1970s decline in the aesthetics of everyday vehicles is simply shrinking profit margins for manufacturers. Fun and exciting car design still exists, but the catch is – of course – a very high price tag.

Ground Stealth Fighter SUV by Karlmann King

High-end auto manufacturer Karlmann King presents a luxury sports utility vehicle (unofficially known as ‘Ground Stealth Fighter’), built to perform in extreme temperatures with pretty much any luxury you can imagine at hand. Features include a limo-style rear passenger compartment, Playstation 4, mini fridge, Nespresso machine, safe, Apple TV and rainbow mood lighting. Considering that it takes a team of 1,800 people to design and 30,000 hours to manufacture just one, it’s not surprising that it costs about $1.85 million.

2018 Aston Martin Lagonda Vision Concept

Aston Martin takes its understated classic style and kicks it up a few notches with its 2018 Lagonda Vision, a fully autonomous luxury vehicle with a sleek profile and a windshield that stretches over the entire yacht-inspired cabin. The Lagonda is the first of the vehicle maker’s new line of electric cars, aiming to bring automotive luxury into the future.

Jaguar D-Type: From 1956 to 2018

Ever wish automakers would revive classic designs from the 1940s – 1970s for modern usage? The golden era of the automobile brought us a whole lot of unique silhouettes and fun styling that we just haven’t seen since. It’s certainly not for everyone, but Jaguar is re-releasing its classic D-type race car, which first debuted in 1956. Only 25 of them will be built at the Jaguar Land Rover Classic Works in England. But in this case, there’s no electric engines, no contemporary interiors. Every single part is being produced to the original specifications.

Lyonheart’s Interpretation of the Classic Jaguar E-Type

Another classic design revived for the 21st century is the Lyonheart K coupe, a reinterpretation of the Jaguar E-type. Designed, engineered and hand-built in England, the K features carbon fiber panels, an aluminum chassis and a 5.0-liter supercharged V8 engine. Price tag? About $582,000.

Vision Mercedes-Maybach Six Cabriolet

Mercedes brings us a cabriolet version of its Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6, a 750-horsepower electric concept car with 200 miles of range. Like a lot of recent concepts, it’s got one big cabin with accessible storage rather than a separate trunk. It’s full of glowing lights and buttons for the feel of a boat that’s also a spaceship. You guessed it, this one is also “luxury of the highest order” (in Mercedes’ own words) with a price tag to match.

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A Balm For Boring Contemporary Cars 14 Fun Stylish Modern Vehicle Designs

Guerilla marketing catches one by surprise, and instantly generates a ripple effect through the most coveted advertising holy grail: word of mouth. When cars, such a large part of our typical lives, are thrown into unique and wild advertising campaigns it’s difficult not to tell one’s friends.

(Images via core77, artculture, graphics, kosmograd)

Wireframes models are indispensable to car designers, enabling them to manipulate the shape of vehicles before they’re created. How cutting edge would a new car have to be to escape the confines of the computer before it’s even able to be produced? It’s possible a random side street holds the answer.

(Images via omgbestru4realz, paid4space, hastalacreative, mactalk, designboom, jetsetta)

Smartcars are not known for fulfilling the typical American car values: Power, Looks, and Size, but it’s hard not to be won over when they own their small size as their biggest asset. Creative advertising equate their economical qualities as similar to that of a bicycle, and their small size is accentuated by being showcased in oversized vending machines.

(Images via theinspirationroom, toxel)

Just try slipping this into the shopping cart without the wife seeing… It looks like someone managed to fit this full sized Alfa Romero into a typical shopping cart, though it definitely didn’t escape notice.

(Images via theinspirationroom, funniest-commercials)

When would someone least expect a car advertisement? When they’re moseying down the beach looking for shells to add to their collection. To add to the unexpectedness of such an encounter, these sand sculptures are sure to trigger the ecologically minded subconscious into relating these cars to nature.

(Images via businesspundit, guerillasushi, guerillapromos, guerrillasushi)

One of the few things worse for a car than getting a deep scratch, is getting an overzealous paint job. Throwing paint liberally onto a car is a great way to accentuate an advertisement that’s straining to exceed its boundaries, and an even better way to get tags wagging.

(Images via transportspecs, tomgooday, adsoftheworld)

The best guerilla ad campaigns are temporary, but thanks to the elephantine memory of the internet, the best campaigns live on. One can’t get much more temporary than cars carved to the last detail out of ice, casually parallel parked on a typical city street.

(Images via coloribus, gdpsu, francescomugnai, graphicdesignatl)

A billboard is most effective when it’s parked in front of one’s door. There’s a lot more room for creativity when an ad isn’t stuck in a rectangular shape hanging high above the road. One example of great (though inefficient) marketing, are the empty wheel well graphics that say “got insurance?” on the other side.

(Images via toxel, whatsalltheracquet, weedguru, paper-plane)

What’s more fun than crushing a car? Nothing. That’s why it’s one of the most effective and eye catching ways to advertise a product. These products may not be larger than life, but at least they’re larger than a car.

(Images via worldphotocollections, worldphotocollections, hotfunnynews, cartype)

Sometimes it’s hard to take the billboard out of an ad campaign, so why not spice it up with a life sized vehicle? Adding a little bit of flair isn’t conventional, especially when an ad campaign goes a little overboard.

(Images via dailyshite, adsoftheworld)

Guerilla campaigns don’t only involve cars when new cars are involved. A great message can be passed along and a little creativity doesn’t hurt.

(Images via norcalminis, restartithere)

Mobile guerilla advertising bring the show on the road, catching eyes and proving a point with every mile driven and every passenger’s attention caught. It’s little doubt guerilla campaigns are the best way to get people interested, though it’s doubtlessly too expensive to do on as large a scale as companies would like.