SWAP IT UP
Watch eight-seater family wagon change into micro-hatchback as real life TRANSFORMER unveiled
The unique concept vehicle masked its splitting abilities with a hidden wheel bay
A TRANSFORMER style car that could change from a family wagon into a micro-hatchback is still leaving motor heads stunned decades on.
Plymouth's Voyager 3 was a minivan concept car revealed by the American car manufacturer almost 35 years ago.
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The two-in-one vehicle, in its larger form, was a six-wheeled eight-seater family wagon.
However, it could transform and detach its rear wagon to become a four-wheeled micro-hatchback.
The rear wheels of this smaller car were hidden when the vehicle was together in one piece.
Each segment of the vehicle contained its own four-cylinder engine, which were electronically-coordinated to deliver power independently or together.
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The bizarre concept car, which debuted at the 1990 Chicago Auto Show, also featured a glass roof.
The design was planned such that the front car could be attached to anything.
For example, if someone wanted to hitch up a motorhome, pickup bed, or van, they would be able to with the transformer style vehicle.
When Bob Lutz, then president of Chrysler, tried to explain the ethos behind the car, he was quoted as saying: "You see people going into downtown areas in full-size vans wasting fuel and clogging up space.
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“It seemed to us like a neat idea to be able to leave two-thirds of your vehicle at home."
However, the concept car never made it to the production line.
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The Voyager 3 was credited to Chrysler Designer Tom Gale by one source who called the vehicle the "worst concept car of all time".
Countless concept cars have been launched that never saw a glimmer of hope of being mass produced.
In the 1950s, Cadillac launched the Cyclone, a car modelled on the designs of NASA space ships.
The vehicle, which featured huge "jet engines" and a powerful V8 engine, was sadly the only one ever built.
More recently, Fiat revealed plans this year to launch five new concept cars inspired by the Panda, which will evolve into production models over the next three years.
The futuristic-looking concept vehicles take inspiration from the manufacturers old factory in Turin which featured a roof-top test track.
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