This thread is supposed to shine a light on all the automakers' creations that were worked on, but for some reason the companies ultimately decided to stop it - whether due to management changes, market shifts, political issues, bankruptcies or anything else. For starters, here's an amazing write-up of Mazda's premium brand, Amati, and the circumstances that led to the idea of it, and then the discontinuation of the work on Amati. https://jalopnik.com/it-was-japan-s-most-daring-car-then-the-economy-implod-1826265571 And staying on the topic of luxury cars, here's a list of all models Land/Range Rover planned for the 2010s. We cam see that there was supposed to be a bigger Land Rover model above the Discovery, a Discovery more competing with SUVs like the G-Class than with crossovers, a car slightly below the current Discovery Sport and one below that, a pickup Defender and a car with similar styling, but less offroady Evoque/Discovery Sport chassis.
http://www.trucktrend.com/cool-trucks/0309st-chevrolet-turbo-titan-3-concept-vehicle/ The '66 Turbo-Titan III. It was one of those turbine-powered vehicles, and a pretty unique one at that. Unfortunately, costs and regulations on top of needed refinements killed the idea of this ever landing in production. NOX and the Clean Act of 1970 would've also been a destructive factor had this ever even managed to be produced. But, to be fair, it was pretty novel at the time and had some unique features that probably won't see the light of day nowadays (not counting the retractable headlights, since those were a bit common around the mid-to-late 60s by then).
It was a concept that wasn't supposed to be produced and as such is not the topic here. The topic is cars that actually had a chance of reaching production.
Ah, alright. Here's an actual one that I remember learning about by stumbling on some render: The mid-engined Viper. It was one of those proposals that actually got through to the point of being mocked up, but there was 2 major lingering issues that eventually ended all possibilities of it happening: investment and tradition. Some people would've thought that it would've not been worth making a new mid-engined car, but instead something more mainstream. There was also the gearbox, which they had 2 options to go with but weren't explored fully enough to be utilized. As for tradition, some people in the Viper team felt that it was either too European, or contrary to what the Viper meant to them. Overall, that unfortunately ended any possible "GT-killer/competitor" from Dodge since then, and there's still not exact plans to revive the idea as far as I know.
The Jensen Interceptor was originally going to be a Jensen-designed roadster. But before it managed to enter production, Jensen had Carrozeria Touring redesign the car as the coupe/convertible we know today.
Surprisingly enough, the new Mach E wasn't even planned to have any Mustang inspiration at the start. It was originally just gonna be an electric "FWD compliance", likely similar to the 5th gen Explorer and Escape at the time. Sometime in 2017, the CEO decided to have designers throw out the original design in favor of something more strong and impactful, which they ended up following the roots of the Mustang heritage. Rest is what we got with the brand new Mach E. https://www.motor1.com/news/382783/ford-mustang-mach-e-boring-front-drive-compliance-car/
IIRC it was also supposed to share more parts with ordinary Fords than it does now. In the late 90s, Range Rover was experimenting with the idea of making one with a BMW V12, with a front end redesigned to fit the longer engine. However, it failed to reach the market. The idea of a V12 Range Rover was entertained once again in the next generation, this time with an Aston Martin V12, but that one didn't even reach prototype stage.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_EV-1 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_98 https://www.saabplanet.com/saab-viking-concept/
While the EV-1 and Viking likely weren't meant for production, the 98 is a welcome addition to the thread.
Here's an interesting thing I stumbled upon while browsing old magazines. Apparently, in 2012 VW was toying with the concept of creating a new budget brand - a Dacia competitor - in the light of rising budget car sales. It was going to sell three cars - a B-segment sedan (base price of ~€6k), a B-segment wagon (base price of ~€7k) and a B-segment 7-seater minivan (base price of ~€8k). That would have been really competitive pricing, undercutting competing Dacias by nearly €1k. The savings were meant to be made through a variety of ways. First, the mechanicals: a stretched Mk4 Polo platform, only fitted with older NA/turbodiesel engines. Then the bodywork, with as few curves as possible to still have the cars look OK. Equipment? Only two airbags and ABS as standard safety equipment, and similar austerity in other base spec areas. And finally, the cars were to be made in India and China. However, the new brand idea was shelved, despite the budget car market (Dacia in particular) growing. Shame, because it could have made for some interesting cars to slot below the not-so-cheap-anymore Skodas. Renderings (courtesy of Auto Świat) below. --- Post updated --- A thing I just learned about is that the Jaguar Mark II was also prototyped as a really low-slung coupe, not just the sedan it came as.
Some concepts do reach production though like the current-gen NSX was a concept car before it went into production (I actually saw one of the concept ones before it did). Also, any car that has any chance at all will have a concept form first won't it?
There is a difference between "we want to make one of those" and "this is what we think the future might look like". And this is 99% the latter.
2016 Škoda Roomster. In 2016 Škoda planned to replaced the existing Roomster with this rebadged VW Caddy. Also shares engines with Caddy. It was cancelled because Škoda decided to focus on SUVs and crossovers. Good decision if you ask me, because it makes no sense to offer 2 essentially same vehicles, with no major equipment or powertrain differences between them. About 100 examples were made. 1990 Yugo Florida Sedan. With the introduction of Florida, Zastava wanted to expand that range with sedan and wagon. This is sedan prototype from 1990, which hasn't reached production for an unknown reasons. Pity because it looks pretty nice. In 2002 Zastava also made another, this time functional prototype, which was just normal hatch Florida without 5th door, and with controversial design. Overall idea was great, but execution (read design) is something that led this version even out from the consideration for production. There was also presented a wagon Florida, which looked really beautiful. Also never reached production.
Vans are often bought on which dealer gives the best pricing. When you have two dealer networks instead of one selling a car, there is a bigger chance that one of them will give the best price on the market. This model seems to work for Eurovans.
Saab 9000 With 4,0 V8 Made in Finland. Sadly GM bought Saab and they said ''This is not good, we have a V6 for American markets'' Only five (5) examples were made, one is on a Saab, three (3) are in museum and the last one disappeared (probably in someones garage). 4,0 V8 was made from two (2) Saab's Inline four engines and it had 2,3's gearbox on it. A man from Valmet was testing that Saab and he got 1500mk ticket from speeding EDIT: Because these engines were build without good building instructions each engine was unique. Each engine received a different amount of horsepower. Basic amount was around 230hp to 280hp, some say it even produced over 300hp. This was in 1988, Finland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_V8 --- Post updated --- Saab 9000 Cabrio Also made in Finland but sadly it never went in to a production lines.
In 2008 Audi was considering building an R8 with the 6.0 V12 TDI diesel engine, with 500 HP and 1000 Nm (738 lbft)', and even built a prototype/concept version. However, it was cancelled after the projected costs of building a strong enough transmission would have been too high.
