From Beach Resorts To Video Game Controllers
Here's a secret about great car interiors: the ones that stick in your memory rarely started as car interiors at all. Somewhere in a studio, a designer got bored staring at seats and dashboards, and decided to have a little mental wander somewhere new. Whatever they found, they decided to bring back with them. The results range from subtle, a single stitching pattern or color palette, to total reinventions of what a cabin is even for. Concept cars tend to be where this experimentation runs wildest, since there's no need to worry about crash regulations or cupholder ergonomics just yet, but plenty of these ideas have made the leap into showrooms too. Buckle up for a tour of 20 interiors that prove the automotive world is happy to steal good ideas from absolutely anywhere.
1. Infiniti QX50 Autograph
Close your eyes inside the QX50 Autograph, and you could almost be checking into a five-star coastal hotel. Chocolate brown stands in for timber and tree cover, creamy off-white channels sun-bleached sand, and deep navy nods to the ocean just beyond the lobby doors. Open-pore maple rounds things out with a tactile, natural finish. It’s almost too relaxing.
2. Citroën C4 Cactus
The C4 Cactus borrowed heavily from the world of furniture makers, most obviously in its wide, cushiony, sofa-like seats. Straps, buckles, and handles echo old-fashioned travel trunks, the kind you'd picture stacked on a steamship. Together, these touches turn a small, budget-friendly car into a curated experience.
Kickaffe (Mario von Berg) on Wikimedia
3. Lexus LF-Z Electrified
Lexus named this cockpit "Tazuna," the Japanese word for rein, and built the car’s layout around the bond between a horse and its rider. Steering-wheel controls and the head-up display are positioned so the driver barely has to glance away from the road, mimicking how a skilled rider stays connected to their horse through subtle, minimal movements.
RuinDig/Yuki Uchida on Wikimedia
4. Nissan Ariya
Modern EV tech and centuries-old craftsmanship shouldn't get along, yet the Ariya makes it look effortless. Geometric Kumiko woodworking patterns show up throughout the cabin, paired with Andon-style lighting that plays with light and shadow around the footwells and door panels.
5. Rolls-Royce Phantom
The dashboard of the Phantom is a mini gallery wall. Created so owners could commission artwork for their vehicle, this idea is a literal interpretation of personalizing your car.
6. Mercedes-Benz Vision AVTR
Born from a partnership tied to the Avatar films, the Vision AVTR leans fully into the fictional world of Pandora. Organic, almost living shapes, unconventional controls, and nature-inspired imagery ripple through the vehicle, exploring the tangled relationship between humans, technology, and the natural world.
7. MINI Vision Urbanaut
Why should a car interior stop being useful once you've parked? The Vision Urbanaut rethinks that assumption entirely. Front seats rotate to face inward, a rear "Cosy Corner" invites lounging, and the dashboard folds down into a daybed. There's even a "Street Balcony," an opening windshield that turns the front of the car into a porch.
8. Renault Symbioz
Developed alongside a connected smart house, the Symbioz concept was pitched as a mobile extension of the home. Its dashboard retracts, and the front seats pivot to accommodate hands-off, autonomous travel. Docked with its companion house, the car essentially becomes another room.
Rutger van der Maar on Wikimedia
9. Audi Grandsphere Concept
Forget economy class. The Grandsphere trades typical luxury-sedan formality for something closer to a private airline suite. During automated driving, the front seats recline and the steering controls retreat, opening up generous space for passengers. It's built around the privacy and unhurried comfort you'd expect from first class.
10. Genesis Neolun Concept
The Neolun concept takes ondol, the centuries-old Korean underfloor heating tradition, and stretches it well beyond the floor. Heating films run through the floor, dashboard, door trims, seatbacks, and console sides, wrapping occupants in warmth from nearly every direction. The traditional home-comfort concept gets a futuristic upgrade.
11. Peugeot e-Legend Concept
Beneath its screens and digital flourishes, the e-Legend has the soul of a mid-century sitting room. Paldao wood was chosen for the vehicle, as its dark grain mimics rosewood and ebony furniture from the 1960s. Silk velvet and cabinetmaking-inspired patterns deepen that vintage, furnished feeling.
Rutger van der Maar on Wikimedia
12. Peugeot Inception Concept
Steering wheels are so last century. The Inception concept swaps the familiar circular wheel for a rectangular "Hypersquare" controller straight out of a gaming setup, operated with steer-by-wire tech and thumb controls.
13. Honda e
The Honda e wants you to feel like you're lounging at home on the highway. Wood-grain trim, richly textured surfaces, and melange-style fabric that resembles sofa upholstery soften what would otherwise be a screen-dominated dashboard. Despite all that glowing tech up front, the cabin never loses its residential, cozy character.
Spielvogel For a gallery of some more of my uploaded pictures you may see: here. on Wikimedia
14. Lincoln Navigator Black Label Yacht Club
Big, comfortable, and dressed for the marina, the Navigator's Yacht Club theme brings nautical elegance into a full-size SUV. Coastal blue leather and whitewashed teak trim carry the boating motif throughout, so it feels like you're stepping aboard a well-kept sea vessel.
15. Lexus LS
Few interiors pack in as many distinct Japanese craft traditions as the LS. Hand-pleated door trim mimics origami folds, decorative glasswork draws on Kiriko cutting techniques, and ambient lighting echoes the soft glow of Andon lanterns. Each element is tied to a specific, tangible feature, letting old-world craftsmanship live comfortably alongside a thoroughly modern luxury sedan.
16. Lucid Air
Instead of one universal cabin theme, the Lucid Air offers several, each tied to a specific California scene and time of day. Santa Cruz channels bright, breezy midday sun; Tahoe leans into golden sunset tones drawn from the lake and surrounding mountains; and Mojave captures the moody hush of a desert night.
17. Spyker C8 Preliator
Spyker has always leaned into its aviation roots, and the C8 Preliator's cabin makes that connection unmistakable. Aircraft-style switches, analog dials, exposed machined metal, and turbine-shaped air vents give the cockpit a distinctly mechanical, old-school flight-deck feel. In an era of glowing touchscreens, it's refreshingly tactile and unapologetically analog.
18. DS X E-Tense
On the passenger side, the DS X E-Tense turns into something closer to a cocoon than a seat, its shape stretching backward like a bird's wing mid-flight. Colorful feather detailing, crafted using techniques usually reserved for couture fashion, adds an unexpected artistic flourish.
19. Renault EZ-Ultimo
Rather than designing a conventional cabin, Renault built the EZ-Ultimo as a private mobile lounge, drawing on contemporary architecture and high-end hospitality. Wood, marble, and leather combine with privacy-focused bodywork and plush seating to evoke the polish of a boutique hotel or first-class cabin.
20. Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 Cabriolet
This vehicle pulls influence from everywhere. Flowing shapes and open-pore wood flooring lend a yacht-like elegance, while diamond-button Nappa leather calls back to classic Chesterfield furniture. Three vents tucked beneath the dashboard add a hint of aviation styling on top of it all. Whatever it is, it sure is luxurious.
