Previews the future of the “puristic sports car,” apparently.
With the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance coming up soon, carmakers have begun teasing the various new products, future products, concepts and design studies that they intend to show to the crowd in California. Audi is one such carmaker, and they’ve got the PB18 e-tron inbound that they reckon can show us what sports cars will look like in the future.
The PB18 e-tron won’t have far to travel: It was developed at Audi’s Design Loft in Malibu, California. It’s understood that the 2-seater is a “design study for a puristic sports car of the future,” which sounds a lot to us like a stripped-out, driver-focused machine, like a modern-day take on famed drivers’ cars like the MGB roadster and the Jaguar E-Type.
No technical specifications or other details were provided by Audi on the upcoming design concept, but it’s plain to see that the PB18 will take a low, wide form and come replete with an LED light signature that has become typical of Audi cars. What’s also evident in the teaser are real-time video cameras mounted at the top of the cockpit that take the place of conventional rear-view mirrors, though it’s unclear where they’ll display inside.
There are details to be gleaned from the name itself, too. ‘PB18’ bears reference to Pebble Beach, but it also carries the ’18’ moniker which suggests more than a passing resemblance to the R18 e-tron Quattro racer that won Le Mans thrice between 2012-2014. A parallel that we find interesting is that the R8 supercar took inspiration, name-wise, from a Le Mans-winning Audi too. And with the R8 project set to be wound down, could the PB18 also be hinting towards a zero-emissions drivers’ car for the Audi showroom of the future?
The Audi PB18 e-tron won’t be alone in previewing a design concept at Pebble Beach: Mercedes-Benz intends to bring the Electric Silver Arrow to the Concours, envisioned as a nod to Stuttgart’s highly-streamlined record-breaking cars of the past.
