The Ferrari of the future?

Given how well resolved these designs appear, they could well have been penned by one of these famous styling houses, but they're actually the handiwork of students. Yep, students.

However, they're not just any students -- they belong to four of the most prestigious schools worldwide: the Center for Creative Studies of Detroit, Coventry School of Art and Design, the European Institute of Design of Turin and Tokyo Communication Arts.

The 1:4-scale models were created for Ferrari's 'concepts of the myth' contest, which was organised in partnership with Pininfarina and with the support of Alcoa (the company that produces aluminium spaceframes for Ferrari).

The designs are intended to propose "stimulating alternatives to the internationally acclaimed shapes of the current and previous mid-engined eight cylinder cars and the front-engined twelve cylinder cars."

Key design criteria in the eyes of the judges will be how "innovative and fresh in style" the designs are, as well as the level of functionality offered by each.

The students' projects are currently on exhibit at the Galleria Ferrari in Maranello, and the four winning entries will be announced at a ceremony on Friday, November 18.

The board of jurors will include the Ferrari Style Committee -- whose main members are Luca di Montezemolo, Piero Ferrari, Jean Todt, Amedeo Felisa and Massimo Fumarola -- and the senior management of Pininfarina (Senator Sergio Pininfarina, Andrea Pininfarina and Ken Okuyama).

A coveted prize lies in store for the four contest winners: they'll have the opportunity to gain work experience at Ferrari or Pininfarina, transforming the academic project into professional practice. The winners will also receive an aluminium reproduction of their model from Alcoa.