Here's how you can tell the auto industry is getting its swagger back: Company executives are teasing us with sports cars again.

Joe White on Lunch Break looks at some standout concept cars from the Detroit auto show, including Acura's NSX supercar, Chevy's Code 130R and TRU 140S, a futuristic minivan from Chrysler and a sports car from Lexus and Toyota.

The crop of concept cars at this year's North American International Auto Show in Detroit came in a wide variety of styles and sizes. But the predominant message seemed to be: "Give the people something fun to dream about."

Concept cars are the auto industry's way of road-testing new ideas for automotive styling, interior layouts or integrating technology. Until about a decade ago, auto-show concept cars were often wildly futuristic and fanciful exercises, with little chance of actually hitting the road.

More recently, budget-conscious auto executives have focused on using concept cars to whet appetites for soon-to-be launched production cars (this year's Honda Accord Coupe concept is one), or to test whether a product idea under serious consideration has legs with potential buyers.

Acura NSX concept. Honda Motor Co.

Chevrolet Code 130R concept General Motors

Chevrolet Tru 140S concept General Motors

Chrysler 700C concept Reuters

Toyota NS4 concept Toyota Motor Corp.

Lexus LF-LC concept Toyota Motor Corp.

2012 Lincoln MKZ concept Ford Motor Co.

Here's a sample of the show cars that were on display at Detroit's cavernous Cobo Center convention hall last week.

You decide—Build it, or bag it?

Acura NSX Concept

With its Acura brand's sales down 41% from 2005, Honda Motor Co. is attempting to resurrect its NSX supercar as a U.S.-built, all-wheel-drive hybrid aimed at wealthy technophiles who want extreme performance in a refined, eco-friendly package. Acura once set itself apart from its larger rival, Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus, with the NSX, but in 2005, Honda killed it and repositioned Acura as a brand for ultrarational people.

Pros: The old NSX had a cult following, for good reason. It offered a close approximation of Ferrari looks and performance, but with Honda reliability and a lower price tag.

Cons: The new NSX looks a lot like the current Audi R8. That may not be daring enough for a car that won't hit the street for three years

Chevy Code 130R and Tru 140S

Chevrolet is evidently wondering how to offer sporty cars for youths unable to heft the payments for a Camaro or a Corvette. They served up two very different possible answers in Detroit, only one of which will likely get built. The Code 130R is a small, rear-drive car that harks back to Detroit's glory years. The Tru 140S is a rakish, front-drive car in the Japanese/Korean "Fast and Furious" mode.

Pros: Chevy can use both of these cars to catch younger buyers before they scoot over to the Asian brands.

Cons: Chevy may be too late. The soon-to-launch FR-S from Toyota's Scion brand will scoop up kids enamored by retro, rear-drive cars like the Code 130R. The TRU 140S looks like the Veloster that Hyundai is already selling.

Chrysler 700C

Have you wondered how Chrysler will re-establish its dominion over the minivan market? Probably not. But someone at Chrysler has to, and one result is the Chrysler 700C, a "surprise concept" it says is aimed at testing audience reaction. With its oddly proportioned roof pillars and side windows, the 700C is a throwback to the days of wacky auto-show concept cars.

Pros: Chrysler still sells more minivans than Honda or Toyota and a more boldly styled minivan could move Chrysler back to No. 1 on more family's shopping lists.

Cons: Chrysler's done little to trumpet the car, leaving the auto blogosphere to carry the ball. Unless Hollywood casts it in a live-action "Jetsons" film, the oddball elements of the 700C may not go far.

Toyota NS4/Lexus LF-LC

Toyota is struggling with an adrenaline deficit in both its mass-market Toyota and luxury Lexus brands. Toyota used the Detroit show to signal its plans to juice things up.

The Toyota NS4 plug-in hybrid is described as "a midsize concept for potential global market introduction by 2015." In other words, it could be what the next Camry hybrid looks like.

The Lexus LF-LC, a sporty hybrid coupe, is a product of the brand's push to dispel its image as the brand for rich people who like boring cars. The LF-LC's sharp angles and unusual "spindle" grille shape won a best-concept-in-show award in Detroit.

Pros: The LF-LC says Toyota is serious about giving Lexus a distinctive identity. It's about time. The NS4 is a breath of fresh air for the staid Toyota brand.

Cons: The Lexus "spindle" grille is a polarizing look that may not age well. The NS4 is a step in the right direction for the Toyota brand, but bolder steps may be needed.

Lincoln MKZ

The Lincoln MKZ is a critical step in Ford Motor Co.'s latest, and possibly last, effort to salvage its Lincoln brand. The MKZ concept replaces the current Lincoln grille with upswept, horizontal bars borrowed from a 1938 Lincoln Zephyr. The roofline gets a more coupe-like arc, the better to distinguish the MKZ from its mechanical sibling, the Ford Fusion.

Pros: This MKZ looks less like a knockoff of the cheaper Ford, and that's a good thing.

Cons: The MKZ's toughest competition lives in its own house. Nearly all the buzz about Ford in Detroit was focused on the bold looks and advanced technology of the 2013 Ford Fusion, which wears a grille appropriated from a real luxury brand, Aston Martin.

Write to Joseph B. White at