Concept Cars & Prototypes Photography | Kraaibeek Art Gallery

Some cars never make it to a showroom — and some make it there only after years disguised as something else. This collection brings together two kinds of automotive rarity: design studies, wild styling exercises built to explore an idea and never meant for production, and factory prototypes, real pre-production or one-off examples of cars that did eventually reach the road. From Mercedes-Benz’s Wankel-powered C111 to a glass-roofed Lamborghini Espada built years before its production debut, these photographs document the cars that shaped — or nearly became — automotive history.

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Design Studies

A design study is a styling exercise built to explore a look, technology, or idea — never intended for production. This section features some of the boldest “what if” cars ever built, from Mercedes-Benz’s experimental C111 to student concepts and coachbuilder tributes that pushed automotive design in directions their makers never expected to sell.

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Factory Prototypes

A factory prototype is a genuine pre-production or one-off example of a car that did go on to reach the road — built to test, validate, or preview a model before it reached customers. This section features rare early and one-off examples of cars you may already know, from a pre-series BMW 507 to a glass-roofed Lamborghini Espada built years ahead of its time.

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Record & Test Vehicles

Not every remarkable car was built to be looked at or driven home — some existed purely to chase a number. This section features purpose-built record cars, machines reshaped generation after generation for pure aerodynamic efficiency rather than styling, sent to the high-speed track at Nardò, Italy, to break diesel, speed, and endurance records. Mercedes-Benz’s later C 111 record cars — descendants of the original design study, but barely recognizable as such — set some of the fastest closed-circuit speeds ever recorded in their era.