I goofed yesterday. Multiple times, actually, mostly because it’s a day that ends in Y. Specifically, I goofed with yesterday’s Autopian Asks question, which should have clarified that I was looking for cars that were never made, not merely ones that didn’t come to the States. No wrong answers, though! The Ask is always yours to answer as you like.
Now, about those cars that coulda, woulda, shoulda gone into production, but did not. As usual, you Autopians do not disappoint, and every missed opportunity ya’ll clocked was indeed a very sad what-might-have-been. And a nice treat, as I had forgotten about quite a few of your picks! Which reminds me, I need to pick up some Prevagen. And stop drinking a gallon of Aspartame a day, probably.
Let’s dive in.
Max Headbolts
The Ford SHOgun is the best car no one ever got. May not be the spirit of the question, but it’s the right answer.
Jay Leno, like you, is a man of impeccable taste, and not just in denim-on-denim combos. Amongst his many other conventionally super, muscle, and vintage cars are wonderful weirdos like this, the Shogun (or SHOgun) that Max mentions – a Ford Festiva with Taurus SHO’s Yamaha 3-liter V6 and plopped into the cargo space to drive the rear wheels. I’m sure you can imagine how much fun that is, and Jay’s video (click the pic to watch, or right here) will only reinforce just how wonderfully nuts a production SHOgun would have been. And here’s the kicker: it DID go into production! Kinda. Special Editions, Inc. made seven of the cars after the prototype. So, not exactly “find yours at your local Ford dealer” production, but still. 
AM
Ford – GT90 hands down, GM – Indy Corvette mid-engine 4 decades before this one, Chrysler – Portafino it would have given the modern Maybach a run for the money.
How did I forget about the GT90? This stunning supercar would still look shockingly different than anything else on the road in 2026, so you can imagine how wild it was in 1995. As its name implies, the GT90 took inspiration from the GT40, but not nearly as much as the Ford GT would ten years later. One can only wonder what direction Ford’s supercar would have gone in if the GT90 went into production ahead of the much more retro 2005 design.
Melanie Fuhrman
The Buick Avista concept from like ten years ago. A jaw-dropping beautiful twin turbo V6 coupe based off the Camaro would have been an amazing halo car to show that Buick is back.
Great pull, what a beaut. This 2016 Alpha-platform concept car could have easily been a production item, and while some might prefer V8 power, the concept’s 400-horsepower turbo six would have been plenty. Would Buick buyers have gone for it? Maybe not. Would new customers have gone with a Buick for the first time to get one? Maybe so.
Isuzu Mysterious Utility Wizard
I’m going to go with one of my favorite stillborn cars, and it’s from the era when Japanese automotive companies could burn money with reckless disregard up to and including fully redesigning cars that haven’t even come out.
The Nissan MID4 II was a mid-engined 4WD twin-turbo 6-cylinder sports car with four-wheel steering years before the Acura NSX debuted. They only didn’t come out with it because they thought it’d lose money. Great looking, most likely wonderful to drive—and a peak into an alternate universe where Nissan actually did launch that expression of what it was as a company at that time, something Honda and Toyota have done more successfully over the years, at least with higher-end sports cars.
It doesn’t look like it’s from the 80s.
No, it does not look like it came from the 80s. I think IMUS (I’m not typing out that long-ass user name, I’m on a deadline here) has nailed it with that write up, what more can I add? Besides my wish to live on Earth II where the MID4 II went into production and started a sensible-supercar battle with Honda that never cooled.
M SV
The US production car I was most interested in that never happened was the Elio. I always knew it was a scam but it was interesting.
You know what? YES. I’m not sure it was a scam, though; I think Elio just failed. Anyway, there is still a place in my heart for the super-efficient-commuter-pod concept, especially on three wheels. Related: though not currently in the “failed to go into production” category, you can park an Aptera next to the Elio in my dream garage of three-wheeled weirdos. I’m rooting for you, Aptera.
Jack Trade
Ford Mach 2 from the late 60s. An amazing two seat mid engined sportscar that did what the Corvette is doing now. A single one was produced, it was featured in period ads, but not only was it never put into regular production, that single example has been missing for decades.
I think we need to tell the full story of the Mach 2, that is one fantastic-looking piece of mid-engine American muscle right there. It’s pure eye candy and looks very not-1960s from its pop-up headlights to its tapered tail, and look at those flying sail panels – reminds me a bit of the second-gen Ford GT, albeit in a much more restrained and smaller-scale treatment. And it’s missing? What an enticing mystery!
Frosteeman
The answer for this will always be the Nissan IDx. A RWD sports coupe with 510-inspired styling and over 200hp in NISMO trim? Yes, please! Oh, the things that could have been!
Hold up, it’s been 13 years since Nissan dropped this 510-flavored concept? Man, time flies. And I imagine a production IDx would have flown off dealer lots, even if it had to lose its side pipes along the way (but hopefully not). Sigh …
Next, soon: a fresh Autopian Asks!
Top graphic image: Nissan
I’d have to agree 100% with Frosteeman
The Nissan IDx was the best looking/most practical/most reasonable seeming concept that could have made it to production. Even in regular, production car guise (i.e.: no sidepipes, etc…) it would have been great: a simple 3-box design with good (510ish) proportions, the right number of doors (2), and (hopefully) good picks from Nissan’s parts bin in terms of a decent (and not overly complex or plastic-laden) drivetrain (preferably not something sourced from Renault).
Oh, what could have been…
Elio always set off my scam/impossibility alarms. Several outlets gave it more attention than it seemed to deserve for a vaporware project, and not in a “this doesn’t add up” way. I couldn’t tell if people were genuinely excited for this thing or if they just weren’t interested in asking tough questions.
PETER. How about a trigger warning next time? You can’t just go show a picture of the IDx like that without letting us decide if we want to see it or not!
Now I’m going to be depressed the rest of the day. Thanks.
The IDx has always been amusing to me because I knew someone on a forum who claimed to work for Nissan that insisted for like 8 years that everyone just needed to have patience because there would be news about it soon. No real preproduction mules were ever seen running around. No news was ever made about it after the concept that suggested there were plans to put it into production. No explanations were given for how Nissan could have feasibly build it.
He did this as Nissan continued to basically collapse on itself. He did this as Nissan stretched the GT-R out over 18 through increasingly questionable facelifts. He did this as Nissan left the 370z out to rot completely. He did this as Nissan made financial decisions that even at the time were obviously dumber than if they had just been setting the small amount of development money they did have on fire.
And when it finally became patently obvious during COVID that it never was going to come out (and was probably never intended to in the first place) and he was basically doing an “My Uncle Works at Nintendo” schtick the whole time (I’m sure he does work at Nissan but he acted like he say in boardroom meetings)? Crickets.
The Mach 2 looks like what would happen if you went back in time and described an NSX to a comic book artist. (This is not a bad thing.)
Hard Top Mach5
Go Speed Racer Go!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5XmMWnsiqU&list=RDe5XmMWnsiqU&start_radio=1