The concept car is a wonderful thing, a way for car companies or designers to let loose and get creative without being burdened by safety regulations, roadworthiness, or, in some cases, even common sense. Concept cars get us used to new ideas in car design, let us preview new models, or serve as a way for a company to pay homage to past glory. But mostly, concept cars are just great eye candy.

Since there's no need to worry about being road-legal (or even practical), often a concept will be no more than a painted clay model on wheels, incapable of moving under its own steam. At the far opposite end of the spectrum is the thinly disguised new car, maybe with a bit of plastic cladding to make it look a little funkier. But more often, there's usually a real car involved, often anything that was lying around the office and could donate its chassis or engine to the cause, enabling the concept to be driven—frequently with a 20 mph limit to prevent everything falling apart.

Here at Cars Technica, we've decided to put together the following gallery of our favorite concepts to celebrate the art form. Don't be too cross if your favorite car isn't represented: we limited ourselves to concepts that didn't (or won't) make it into production as regular models (so no Mercedes SLK or Porsche Boxster or Audi TT concepts I'm afraid). We were also limited by images we could legally use, either from manufacturers press archives, or those with Creative Commons licenses. However, if you feel we've made a significant omission, feel free to post a photo in the comments thread. With that, bring on the cars!

Listing image by Aston Martin