This week I had the opportunity to go to the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit thanks to Ford. While I’ve never been a true “car geek”, I was excited about the opportunity to see what new green, eco-friendly auto features are being developed, and what new technology is in store for cars in the future. I specifically wanted to stay away from concept cars, because I knew it would be like falling in love with the man who won’t commit. Concept cars are sexy, cool, exciting, and fascinating. And you can’t buy them.

But then this happened:

Lincoln launched their new Concept C car yesterday. And I did what my momma said I should never do: fall in love with the wrong kind of guy.

I didn’t want to tell Ford that I’m not the kind of gal that is into luxury vehicles. I’m just too practical; they never seem worth the extra tens of thousands of dollars. But yesterday, practicality gave way to lust. And suddenly I understood car geeks. In fact, I feared I was becoming “one of Them.”

So, let me remind you that this isn’t a car you can buy — in fact, it will never be a car you can buy. I was able to talk to one of the actual Concept C designers at the show, David Woodhouse. He explained to me that concept cars are like fashion shows: they push the limits of reality in the hopes that the engineering, technology, and production teams can find a way to make the dream a reality.

The Concept C is Ford’s first American attempt at a luxury car that isn’t the size of a boat. While I love compact cars, I realized that this is a really difficult thing to do for a car designer. With so much less “square footage” to work with, a car has to have a lot more to it in order to command a luxury price tag. In fact, David even called it “Jewelry”. That’s exactly what it looked like on the inside of the car:

I know this is completely silly of me — but I was probably more impressed with the laser-etched flowers on the seats than I was with the 43 MPG fuel efficiency! Drool, drool, drool!

Other details that blew me away?

• This car is actually “Social”! If you were driving it and you happened upon another Concept C, it would flash its lights and say hi to the other driver!
• There are no rear view mirrors, only cameras that display everything behind you on the dashboard.
• A T-shaped sun roof and high windshield make it feel like you are in a convertible when you sit in the car.
• Doors open automatically with a push button, not a pull handle.
• Most of all, the absolutely sleek look of the seats and dashboard made me feel like I was driving around in an art museum — I kid you not.

And as if the design of the Concept C didn’t make you drool enough already, there’s a whole other side to the car that can’t be captured in a picture: an in-dashboard computerized Human Machine Interface (HMI) personal assistant, “Eva“.

• “Eva” can not only act as a GPS, but she can also recommend the most fuel and/or time efficient route based on weather, time of day, and traffic conditions.
• If you don’t know where to go, “Eva” can also search the Internet for you and find it.
• She can find just about anything else you need to find on the Internet, too, like news, sports, even email — as in, not just downloading your email, but reading it to you and responding back, all via voice commands.
• Of course, “Eva” can dial your phone and make a call via bluetooth, but if you happen to make an appointment on that call, “Eva” can also put that appointment on your calendar and sync it with your work or home computer.

While there are certainly other cars on the market even now that are targeted to women, the Concept C is a woman’s dream. At the same time, the designer David and I talked about what may or may not make it into actual production. He said that while the seat shape and style are his favorite part of the car, it would also be difficult to mass produce them in the way they are currently built. And another journalist mentioned that that steering wheel has about no chance at all to make it into reality.

In my personal opinion, if you are going to make a small, fuel efficient luxury car, it’s these tiny details that make or break the design. Without the “art museum” interior, this car is another boring Mini-Cooper, which is cute, but is decidedly not luxurious.

So there you have it — a summary of my affair with the car that was never meant to be. What do you think of it?