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Mazda’s global design director, Laurens van den Acker, claims that Mazda is looking “well down the road with the Nagare”, perhaps even “where Mazda design will be in 2020″. The car pictured above was introduced at the LA Motor Show in 2006, a year after Mazda’s exhibit of three other concept cars that came with just as much a shock. Spectators were completely wowed by the sight of this dramatic, futuristic concept car.

Two major themes with the Nagare are the spirit of driving and the soul of sport cars. As made clear from images of the Nagare, it looks completely seamless and flowing. This is not surprising, though, since the name translates from the Japanese word for “flow”. The design of the car is extremely unique; the wheels are “wrapped into the wheel wells”, making them a part of the Nagare itself. There is one door on either side of the car that lifts upwards, revealing the beautiful high-tech interior. Flow has so far been used to shape the outsides of Mazda cars, but designers are now trying to bring the same concept of flow into interior views.

A few concepts played a vital role when considering the creation of the inside of the Nagare. One is lighting, which Laurens van den Acker believes can be broken up into four aspects:

“The first aspect is to create a visual lightness: things need to ‘look’ light. We can achieve this through creating ‘floating surfaces’, thin looking shapes, openings etc.

“The second aspect is physical lightness: the interior parts and pieces need to ‘be’ as light as possible, in terms of weight.

“The third aspect is the mental aspect of lightness – this is the fun aspect because we don’t want things to become too serious. With Zoom-Zoom we are more young at heart so I want us to make sure that we keep a twinkle in the eye.

“The fourth aspect is sustainable lightness: the environmental aspect to this. ‘Don’t leave any footprints behind, tread lightly, etc’. Of course, choice of responsible materials and processes, re-use etc plays an important role.”

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Driver orientation is the other main concept of the Nagare. The makers of the car attempt to reduce driver stress and anxiety with the smooth, aesthetically pleasing features of the Nagare that create a calm and peaceful atmosphere.

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Information about the specifics of the car has not been disclosed yet. Mazda is currently only focusing on the design of the car.