Week 18: '09 Corvette Stingray Concept Car

I love concept cars, the automotive equivalent of runway fashions -- cars (and clothes) as outrageous, bold, dramatic and weird as they dare before growing up and settling down into the safety of consumer markets, where they will sport more conventional and acceptable lines, and where they will keep their creativity much more hidden.

Concept cars, to a certain extent, bring a bit of childhood dreaming to the serious business of car making. These are cars that will never hit the road exactly as displayed, and that absolutely doesn't matter. They are there to excite and amaze.

My ten-year-old inherited a huge hodge-podge of Legos from my oldest son (now 21 and living on his own) and, over time, has made his own additions to this big lime green storage container. Found in this box are bits of various Lego theme sets covering underwater adventures, the old West, Star Wars, knights and dragons, Indiana Jones and more, as well as classic Legos, all mixed together in a timewarped blending of history, pop culture, science and science fiction.

What emerges from this green box in the hands of my two sons (age four and 10), just as what emerged some  12+ years ago in the hands of another son, are creations of  pure concept -- anarchy over the once planned structure of the Lego theme, with every piece re-purposed into something else, forming machines that fly, dive, or race, creating buildings that offer tele-transporters, or travel in space, or serve ice cream and all varieties of candy, concept creations that amaze, and astonish... with lasers.

There are always lasers.

These are the concept cars of the Lego jungle, built for the sake of being built, with minimal concern for practicality.

Try to do that now.

I dare you.

Try to use Legos or some other toy set and just build something fanciful, without worrying about the details of what exactly it does or why that piece was designed for something else. Just dream and play.

My guess is that, for many of us as adults, we might find this difficult. After all, we've had many years of training in the school of practicality and acceptability.

We might even cling to the safety of the classic yellow Lego squares.

For many of us, at some point, dreaming shifts from being freeing to being scary, as the friction caused by what might be possible grinding against the limitations of our practicality sends sparks into our consciousness that we hope don't cause a mental fire.

Since losing my job, I've had the luxury, the absolute gift, of spending time with my children, of watching them learn, and talk, and imagine. I didn't see my dire situation as a gift at first, but I do now, and I am a better human being for the experience.

 For the first time in years, I'm permitting dreams to grow without being bullied by the status quo. For the first time in years, I'm seeing a world of possibilities, and, even better, a world of living, outside of the constant noise and rush of prefab ideals of success.

I might not be able to build that crazy Lego flying ice cream store yet, but, I'm able to play again, and that's a great start.

So here is to the concept car, may it live on.

Now if it only had a laser.

Photo of the Corvette Concept Car courtesy of Phil Pekarcik. 
This car is part of the 2010 Matchbox new model, so get looking if you want to still find it on the shelves.