The other day, we first saw Mazda’s new Shinari concept, which will debut at the Paris Motor Show, showcasing Mazda’s new design language. At the time, we only found an illustration, but Mazda has updated the Web with some live pictures and video. The tight lines and voluptuous curves of the Shinari  look even more ravishing in its real, live reflective paint. Hit the break for more pictures and a short video clip. [via Carscoop]

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Mazda is in the process of shifting design languages from Nagare to the new Kodo…riveting, I know. The company unveiled its first example of the new design language in a concept that it calls the Shinari. While the paradigm shift might not be especially interesting to anyone without a Mazda-sponsored paycheck, the concept is certainly worth a look. A five-door hatchback with the look of a streamlined coupe, the Shinari exemplifies the new focus on “soul of motion.”

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Take a look at what could be the future of automotive design when today’s generation of bright-eyed design students steps across the line and begins running things. The AMV-R (Automotive Visual Racing)–yeah, name needs work–is a design by Alexei Mikhailov, a student at the Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning in Toronto.

It’s a little too derivative of the Ferrari Enzo, if you ask me–not that there’s anything bad about the Enzo, but the styling looks a little recycled. I really like the bow-tie exhaust, though. A few more angles await after the break.

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Good news/bad news: Citroen is considering producing two of its most intriguing concepts in recent memory: the Survolt sports coupe and the Metropolis luxury sedan. Unfortunately, there’s no Citroen here in the U.S. But since most Americans wouldn’t be buying one anyway, the good news wins: we’ll still be able to gawk at the models if Citroen pulls the trigger. As an added bonus, I’m thinking the production Survolt will lose the pink gills.

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Take a short sprint down memory lane, and you’ll recall all forms of sexy electric concepts back at the Geneva Motor Show. Outside of the Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid, the Citroen Survolt was arguably the most interesting and sexy electric born in Geneva 2010.

The concept is currently being prepped for a run at the Le Mans Classic this weekend and Citroen has released a new teaser video. Off the showroom floor and onto the track, the Survolt puts 300 horses worth of dual electric motors to work. One of the most short, to-the-point videos you’ll see in the auto world, the teaser is seven seconds of nothing but Survolt straightlining. [via WCF]

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Looking more like a design study of the next Transformers villain than of an actual car, this BMW X9 concept was brought to us by Tunisian design student Khalfi Oussama. Unfortunately, Oussama didn’t offer any information with the car, leaving us to guess at exactly what was going on in his mind when he designed it. From the pictures, it looks like the X9 has been primed for a little off-roading. I can’t say I dislike it, but from the modified kidney grille with what comes off as a moustache to the orange striped tires that look like they’re going to pop claws ala The Animal, it just looks a little cartoonish. Interesting, but certainly over the top. [via Carscoop]

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You know that 19-year-old jack bag that drives around past midnight every night pumping bass from his piece of s ‘97 Honda Civic? It’s time to embarrass the hell out of him. If Audi goes through with this project, you can roll right past him in a Q7 SUV and make his trunk-mounted Kickers sound like a cheap iPod dock.

Teamed up with audio manufacturers Bang & Olufsen and Bose, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology, Audi has designed a prototype audio system for the Q7 that makes use of no less than 62 speakers. Called simply the Audi Sound Concept, the system uses 52 mid-range drivers placed in a circle around the cabin, five tweeters, four woofers on the doors and a 12-inch sub in back. In addition to the speakers, three computers control the system and an amplifier in the trunk delivers the juice. That’s a lot of capability.

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On our Tuesday tour of Mediterranean area design, we move eastward from Spain to Italy where this Lamborghini Cnossus concept was born. A thesis collaboration between two Scuola Politecnica di Design students: Russian student Victor Filipchenko and Portuguese student Nelson Simoes, the Cnossus is named after a city on Crete. The designers took some inspiration from the Lamborghini Countach and made a Lambo all their own.

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It’s pretty rare that you see the words “concept” and “for sale” in the same breadth. Usually, concepts wow the world for the duration of an auto show or two and then crawl back into their company garage and never mutter another word.

Imagine our delight to report, therefore, that this 1960’s Pininfarina X Concept, a retro-futuristic masterpiece with a little bullet nose and flaring rear-end, is up for sale. The concept looks a little like a streamliner mated with a circa-1950’s Cadillac, and it’s sheer awesome. It also features three wheels for an extra touch of rare coolness. Power comes from a 43-hp Fiat engine.

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