On the beach: a photo essay.

Generally, concept cars are shown in controlled environments. At salons. Auto shows. In restaurants or conference rooms. All are places where the setting is set such that the vehicles are shown under the optimal conditions. Conditions that are established. After all, these vehicles are special, so they need to be seen in the best possible light.

The light in Miami's South Beach is certainly good if the amount of exposed skin is any measure of quality. But Miami's South Beach is anything but a controlled environment. Especially when the Umoja Culture Festival hits the Art Deco District on Memorial Day weekend. Not familiar with the Umoja lest? Well, then you probably aren't among the estimated 250,000 people who came from far and wide to party to the hip-hop beat, to see and to be seen, wearing bling-bling (and sometimes little else), rolling in tricked out Escalades and 7s, fitted with 20s and spinners.

Despite the evident presence of the law up and down Collins Avenue and Ocean Drive, to describe South Beach as a "controlled environment" would be to exaggerate.

Yet here we are, on the beach behind the Delano Hotel, a hotel that is modestly described on its website as "The Hippest Hotel on the Hippest Beach." The level of hipness is immeasurably boosted by a group from the Chrysler Group, especially three guys who are wearing outfits dominated by the color black, three guys who could probably teach Phillipe Starck, who designed the Delano's lobby, a thing or three about executing designs that turn more heads than Beyonce or Britney would. They are all three car designers, Joe Dehner, Mike Nichols, and Alan Bardngton, the first two from the studios in the Auburn Hills facility of DaimlerChrysler and the latter from the Chrysler Pacifica studio. They are on South Beach with cars. Concept cars. The cars that Chrysler has shown at auto shows during the past several months (Paris ... Geneva ... Detroit). The Chrysler Airflite and California Cruiser. The Dodge Avenger and Kahuna.

Oh, yes, there's that other one over there: the Tomahawk. (Mark Walters, who designed the Tomahawk, is absent from the beach that evening but he would have simply accentuated the quarter's fundamental Motor City Otherness--all appeared to have spent long hours in front of CAD screens or in garages, not in the sun.)

Then the cars move from the beach onto the road. South on Col lins. A quick left and then a right onto Ocean. Past the restaurants and the bars. Past the place-or is that "palace"--where Versace met his end. Past hundreds of people who do double takes. People who shout out, "What's that!?!" People who insist, "I want one!" People who make hand gestures that are those of approval, not something one should do with oneself. And people who are sitting in their rides who are undoubtedly feeling a sinking in their egos, knowing that no matter how much time and effort, no matter how many Benjamins, their wheels just didn't cut it when it came to those rigs. Not a chance.

The purpose of the South Beach adventure was to gauge the response of people to the vehicles, people who are in a highly fashion-conscious zone, people who are concerned with looking ... and looking good ... Clearly, the Chrysler Design staff has got it. Got it good.

KAHUNA" means "the Boss" in Hawaiian. No Woody of yore. Instead, milled aluminum trim along the side. Note how the wheels are pushed way to the corners for a solid stance. Below the surfboards (specially made for the vehicle, of course) there's a canvas top that folds from the windshield all the way back.

The KAHUNA has three rows of seats that can be moved For and aft, and the front pair can swivel 180[degrees]. Fold them Down and use the surfaces to tie down gear. Floor is covered with sisal, bringing to mind that beach mat.

Where does the PT CRUISER go next? Designer Hike Nichols suggests that it might be here: the California Cruiser, "inspired by the look of the '60s surf wagon." but with aluminum strips replacing the wood grain paneling of the forerunners, The B-pillar is pushed way back on this two-door version of what is presently a four-door.

Although the tail lamp bulbs on the Cruiser appear iridescent, when they are activated, they glow red. There are similar bulbs up front, which glow yellow.

Note what designer joe Dehner describes as the "lathe-turned bits" that form the tail light assembly on the four-door-with a hatch, the Airflife. It's a technical look that you'll he seeing from Chrysler on passenger vehicles. The Airflite was born after the CROSSFIRE coupe was introduced at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Apparently, Chrysler Group C00 Wolfgang Bernhardt asked Trevor Creed, senior vp of Design, if they couldn't put some "magic" in the mainstream 0-segment. And so they did.

The TOMAHAWK was never sketched, but modeled directly from Alias Wavefront software. Waiters worked with RM Motorsports of Wixom, Hichigan, to make this (mainly) aluminum 500-hp beast. About that firm he says, "They do mostly historic vehicle restoration--but 'restoration' it an understatement: They can build a car-or bike--from scratch." You might think that the Tomahawk would cause severely burned kilter thighs. But there's a belt-driven turbine fan that forces air into the hollow box where the gas tank would ordinarily be, which leads to two radiators and then to stainless steel headers that duct the air out file back. Awarding to Walter, the l,490-1b, bike, if re-geared, could probably hit 230 mph to 250 mph, not the 300+ mph or more that bandied about.