If Gundam mated with Will Smith's Audi in I, Robot, the offspring would resemble these futuristic concept cars from European brand Peugeot. The cars car-like vehicles were all entries in the 2008 Peugeot Design Contest. Designers were asked by organizers to create vehicles for that ambiguous but tantalising "city of the future." Areas of focus included environmental awareness, "social harmony," interactive mobility and efficiency. As you can see in the "Blade" vehicle above, efficiency is improved with the wind turbine that designer Ying Hui Choo added to charge an on-board electric battery.

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Every second year, Peugeot has a design competition to create the next generation of motor vehicle. The 888 is one of the 21 finalists for this year's competition, and even though it's not as sleek and shiny as some of the other entries, it's practically a Transformer, making it the epitome of all motor vehicles that have ever been conceptualised in the back of some creative type's mind in the history of the world.

The brainchild of Norweigan designer Oskar Johansen, the 888 is a two-seater with a bit of space for luggage in the back. It's powered (at least in the designer's mind) by lithium-ion batteries located in the boot, which power four electric engines (one for each wheel). There's also solar cells on the boot for a bit of extra juice while your driving.

The best feature of this car though is the fact that when driving around the crowded streets of a city, it arches up using a hydraulic tilting system, so that the driver sits a bit higher and the wheels are closer together, increasing maneuverability. But when you hit the open road, the axles separate again, lowering the vehicle's centre of gravity and keeping the driver comfortable during long drives.

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It seems like invisibility is on everybody's mind these days, what with the potential for it jump out of science fiction and into reality a few steps closer thanks to the hard work of a bunch of egghead scientists. But in the world created by this cool nes Peugeot ad, all cars are invisible. Well, all but the one they're selling, of course. I don't care about some mediocre French car, but the visuals in this ad are pretty top notch. Check it out. [Space Invaders via Notcot]

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Car manufacturer Peugeot has put together Jean-Luc Picard and Jerry Lewis in their new 3D testing and prototyping system, a three stage virtual reality system that, while not as spectacular as the JTAC dome simulator or capable of firing bazookas from a Humvee, provides with an experience so close to reality that Peugeot's engineers actually use it to design and feel cars without actually building them:

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