The 2025 Shanghai Motor Show is the buzz of the auto industry — not due to revolutionary EVs or autonomous technology, but due to a viral tweet that brought some of the most surreal, whimsical, and straight-up strange vehicles ever showcased at an international auto show to the attention of the world.
One of Autocar's posts ignited the web, featuring a set of vehicles that go against the grain, combining retro looks with vision straight out of the future. While most shows highlight efficiency, innovation, and understatement, Shanghai 2025 has built a niche for itself with statements on design that are daring, retro, and sometimes simply bizarre.
Here are the vehicles that left fans scratching their heads.
Skyworth Summer – The Electric Nostalgia Van
Unveiled in the replies to the tweet, the Skyworth Summer is a green-and-beige electric van that captures the spirit of the 1950s. With its round headlights, uncluttered vintage lines, and bubbly shape, it resembles a fond homage to the original VW Microbus. Under its retro exterior is an all-electric powertrain, uniting past and present in one very memorable package. It's not a car — it's a design statement that defies the idea that EVs have to be futuristic-looking.
Ultra-Luxury Sedan – An Enigma of Excess
At the head of the tweet's carousel is a big luxury sedan with no mistaking its presence. Its oversized chrome grille, aggressive lines, and mint-silver two-tone body remind one of Maybach and Rolls-Royce. But which company is behind this opulent creation isn't immediately apparent. With over-the-top styling and a huge footprint, it's intended to convey wealth and status, but perhaps at the expense of some viewers thinking that it's more concept art than real-world design.
Retro-Styled Off-Roader – Classic Military Meets Modern China
The second car seems to be an olive-green off-road SUV with a boxy body, chrome trim, and fat tires, a modern interpretation of old mil-spec trucks or early 4x4s such as the Suzuki Jimny or Mercedes G-Wagon. Though it could likely do well off-road, its actual influence seems to be at the show stand, where its retro charm combines with fresh Chinese craftsmanship.
Lowrider Coupe – A Chrome-Laden Piece of Americana
Lower down, the tweet is a fire-engine red lowrider-type coupe that might have driven off a 1960s Southern California boulevard. It sports fat whitewall tires, a stretched hood, and more chrome than a small city would need. The vehicle appears to be a nod to American automobile culture, specifically the lowrider culture, although it's probably a one-off or design study created for aesthetics. Whether it has a functional engine or not appears irrelevant; it's a mobile sculpture.
Why These Vehicles Are Making Headlines?
Whereas international auto shows conventionally focus on bleeding-edge technology, high-precision engineering, and mass-market viability, Shanghai 2025 is showcasing something equally essential: creative liberty. These cars demonstrate that not all cars must adhere to a thinning design template. There's space for imagination, for nostalgia, and cultural reinterpretation. Whether or not these cars become production models, they've accomplished what counts most at a show — creating buzz, breaking the mold, and being different in a crowded arena.
The viral Autocar post has already gathered over 30,000 views and hundreds of reactions, illustrating just how keen people are on cars that break the mold.
Conclusion
The 2025 Shanghai Motor Show made one thing very clear — the world of automobiles isn't about what's logical, efficient, or practical. It's also about personality. It's about pushing boundaries, accepting cultural influences, and occasionally, just having fun with styling.
In a field where so many cars are starting to run together, these aggressive, unorthodox designs are a refreshing shakeup. They make us remember that cars can still be newsworthy. They can be art, they can be nostalgic, or they can be satire — and that's something to get excited about.
These aren't cars. They're tales on wheels. And whether or not they ever make it onto the road, they've already arrived: in the public imagination.
With inputs from agencies
Image Source: Multiple agencies
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