Which car is considered the first concept car?

The Buick Y-Job is generally considered the first concept car. Built by Buick in 1938, it was designed primarily to preview styling and technology rather than to be sold as a normal production model.

Harley Earl, General Motors’ influential design chief, created the Y-Job as a working “dream car.” Its features included hidden headlamps, power windows, flush door handles, wraparound bumpers, and a low, streamlined body. Several of those ideas later influenced Buick styling.

The wording is sometimes qualified because earlier experimental or publicity cars, such as the 1929 Auburn Cabin Speedster, are also described as early concept-like vehicles. However, the Y-Job is the standard answer because it established the recognizable automotive concept-car tradition and is widely credited as the industry’s first true concept car. It was not a Buick model sold through dealerships, and its name did not indicate a regular production series.