A time-honored tradition for car enthusiasts is anxiously awaiting the next generation of the [insert model name] to see in what ways it’s better or worse than the previous model. Most of the time, the new thing is an improvement overall, as car technology is ever improving, and car styling ages quickly, so newer = better is frequently true. But not always, which brings us to today’s Ask and those cars that felt like missed opportunities at the time, or maybe seemed like the right car for their moment but in retrospect leave you pining for what could have been. My call was the fourth-gen Eclipse, a real miss as a chonky cruiser that should have been a lighter, more lithe machined (and less goofy looking). I put the question to the gang:
Brian
The Alfa Romeo 4C stands in my mind as one of the biggest almost-hits of the 2010s. It had so much going for it: An absolutely stunning design, a carbon-fiber monocoque, a mid-engine powertrain with a snarly turbocharged four-cylinder at its heart.
But despite all that, it’s sort of faded into obscurity for two reasons: 1) Because it wasn’t very good to drive, and 2) Because it didn’t have a manual transmission. Had it come with a third pedal instead of that standard dual-clutch, any qualms about driving quality would’ve been quickly forgiven, and the 4C would be cemented in history.
Jason
I always thought the ID.Buzz became a missed opportunity. This was a car I was eagerly anticipating – I’ve been hoping VW would resurrect the Type 2 as a modern car for a long time, and really lean into its retro aesthetic, so when they first started showing prototypes (which started way back in 2001, remember) I was very excited.
The end result had a lot of the look I was hoping for, but the decision to make it a pure battery EV – which was an understandable choice, considering VW was crawling out of the Dieselgate morass – saddled it with a price that’s just too damn high and the low-ish range limits its ability to do what it should do best: be a fantastic road trip car.
A new Microbus should have been a slam dunk for VW. What we got just wasn’t.
Stephen
Chrysler Aspen. Especially with how far out front they were with the hybrid version way back in the pre-bankruptcy days. Full-size, 4WD Hemi lux truck is a highly lucrative and profitable segment, and one that fits the Chrysler brand perfectly. Additional investment could’ve segmented the Aspen as a continued offering in the segment and offered a viable choice vs the other domestic full-size SUVs and the Armada/QX.
Sadly, we know that the Aspen was short lived and today Chrysler continues to flounder with only one minivan offered in its stable for years now
Your turn:
What Cars Were The Biggest Missed Opportunities?
Top graphic image: Mitsubishi
All M-Bs since the W123/124 have been visually disappointing.
GM has some real humdingers but the biggest one recently is the Chevrolet SS. Here we have a literal 4 door Camaro before Ford could even mumble “Mustang sedan” Glowing car reviews, and what an opportunity to retain customers who had a Corvette or Camaro but now need to do family duty.
But, they couldn’t even be bothered to give it a real name much less letting it have the opportunity to be successful. It should have been a Chevelle and gotten a modern interpretation of the 70’s icon for its sheet metal. The sport sedan was a crazy hot segment at the time and Chevy couldn’t be bothered.
Imagine it getting a second generation on the Alpha chassis to go alongside the Cadillac twins and the Camaro. Imagine a supercharged version! Used examples hold their value really well but GM seems to blind to such endeavors. Instead we got the Malibu RS, good job GM.
The Mazda3 Turbo. I should know because I own one lol! It’s a noticeable upgrade in acceleration and luxury over the 1st and 3rd gen Mazda3 hatchbacks that I previously owned, but the stock tune is just leaving so much performance on the table. The 2.5-liter turbo four that debuted in the 2016 CX-9 is noticeably torquey in a 3,400 lb car, with significantly more low and mid-range torque compared to all the true Japanese sport compacts, but above 4,000 rpm the torque drops off a cliff and it just feels kinda dead. 250 hp is still way more power than anyone really needs in a daily driver, but I’m constantly thinking about pulling the trigger on a JB4 tune. Also, I get why there continues to be no manual option for the turbo 3, but that doesn’t make it any less disappointing. I wonder if the new eLSD from the CX-30 Turbo Aire Edition could be swapped into an AWD Mazda3…
The 4th gen Eclipse really is more of a spiritual successor to the 3000GT. They’re nearly the same size. Here is where I’m going to go into Mr. Incredible-at-Insuricare mode:
I’d like to tell you the 4th gen Eclipse could’ve been offered with AWD, but I can’t.
I could tell you that the rear diff and suspension assembly from the Endeavor basically bolts in. But I can’t.
I would also like to tell you that there could have been a 5th gen Eclipse built on the Lancer platform that would have made a return of a turbo 4 banger and AWD very possible. But. I. Can’t.
The Plymouth Prowler. It was an aluminum-bodied roadster with a rear-mounted transaxle and stunning styling, and they couldn’t be bothered to aim it at enthusiasts.
The Pentastar is one thing, it was fairly advanced and novel at the time, but pairing it with an automatic completely eliminated any chances of relevance for the car. If the drivetrain had either performance OR engagement, whether they gave it a V8 or a manual, it could have been salvageable, but with neither, and with a unique transmission layout that can’t be interchanged with any existing manual units, you might as well go build a fiberglass T-bucket kit or a Locost 7 blueprint instead of trying the drivetrain swap.
“I want to make an expensive 2-seat convertible without front fenders, but fuel economy is a top priority I DRAW THE LINE at shifting gears!”
The Prowler was too far ahead in the product line than the 4.7 V8 that was coming. It was the only V8 that would fit as the 5.2 and 5.9 engines were too wide. A manual transmission (vs. auto transaxle) would’ve certainly helped the non-existent trunk space and fun factor. I got to drive one years and years ago and the thing was decently quick, but the ride was incredibly hard.
Still amazing it was built at all.
*Ahem* *adjusts non-existant glasses*
The pentastar was nearly a decade away from the last prowler leaving the production line. The 6 in the prowler is the Mitsubishi 6G derived one that had been in the cab forward full size cars since the early 90s. Hence why it was pared exclusively with those cars’ 4 speed auto.
For sure packaging and certification costs trumped “appeal to enthusiasts” in every planning meeting for a low/no profit halo product
*Ahem*
The 3.5L EGE SOHC V6 that powered the Prowler was a development of the 3.3L EGA V6. This was a Chrysler-designed engine that replaced the Mitsubishi 6G across the Chrysler lineup. It was actually Chrysler’s first homegrown FWD V6. Both the 3.3 and 3.5 variants could be found in the LH cars depending on trim.
This kind of wisdom is why I pay my membership dues.
What really drives me crazy is how the car was a brand-new chassis, they could have packaged it around any drivetrain they chose, and they decided to shrink-wrap it around that.
The 2nd generation Scion XB is one of the most memorable misses opportunities that I have witnessed.
They created a car with a cult following for it’s boxy van styling with diminutive proportions. Then someone decided “Hey you know what our customers really want? A regular ass van.
Reinventing the XB was classic case of trying to fix what’s not broken.
See also Mini as a brand
Suzuki, a company with a famous reputation for building small cars, decided that instead of launching the global new Swift that was making waves overseas, they needed to move upmarket and sell a bigger car.
The Kizashi was memorable, unique, and from what I’ve heard genuinely good.
The problem was that nobody was going to Suzuki looking for that.
To add insult to injury, GM filled out the lineup with dated platforms left over from their Daewoo failure.
Bringing the new Swift would have saved the brand in North America, but the sales failures of the Kizashi and the GM era gave new owners VW cold feet.
VW was showing bus concepts so long that the first retro concept from 2001 is now retro itself.
Oh how I wish they existed so I could find a beater example on the used market…
What GM did to Saturn at the end. No plastic panels. Just shared platform or badge thrown on and GM nonsense. The vue was destroyed big time. The last vue I have seen in years but every once in a while you see the first two.
Scion came in big strong too but Toyota really took the fight out of them. If they had stayed with the xb and other small cars like that along with just color and transmission factory options. But always chasing some demo that has no money and won’t be buying your cars new at least.
Ford has been doing some massive disappointments lately with the mach e and the lighting they really are just wrong. Then had lighting in the bottle with maverick but handled it so poorly to the point of disappointment.
GM did at least that bad with Saab.
And I totally agree about the 2nd gen xB. A friend owned a 1st gen and it was a fun car to bomb around town in.
Agreed, but at the same time the late-stage Saturn lineup of rebadged Opels were still some of the more intriguing offerings from GM at the time.
The Astra was ok but not sure it really had the same appeal as the ion. That was very Saturn with its rubber floors and plastic door skins. Plus all the saturn colors went away like the greens and blues and oranges. It probably would have fit better in with Buick especially being a Opel or perhaps Pontiac with all the holdens they were bringing in.
Probably going to be unpopular…but the RX8. Amazing chassis, truly innovative design — while still being practical with its clamshell 4 doors. I had one, loved to drive it. The wankel engine is novel and fun in a lot of ways, but the chassis just begged for more grunt IMO. Poor reliability and economy are well documented, so won’t go there but it’s the known sacrifices of the rotary engine.
Anyways, consider what Mazda had at the time…the 2.0 NC miata motor getting close to renesis numbers….but they also had the 2.3 turbo unit from the mazdaspeed cars and a couple Ford Duratecs. The Wankel kept weight and CG low but I can’t help but wonder how much better the RX8 would have been with the 2.3 DISI engine
They could have even just changed the name to “MX-8” for the non-Wankel version and sold both for a while.
That response from SWG might be the on-brandest answer I’ve ever seen.
Show of hands – be honest!- who remembered the Aspen until *right now*?
I never forget it because of its cock-eyed Donkey Kong looking front end. How did 300 styling get transferred so poorly to an SUV?
3rd gen CR-V, lost the spare tire, the table, and all of it’s charm
See also: 2nd gen RAV4.
The cargo area gained a supremely useful floor panel that can also be mounted as a load bearing package shelf. It did not lose ALL of its charm.
Honda Fit! I was a big fan- awesome car all around. Loved everything about it except they did not make an Si version.If they had- it would have dominated the hot hatch scene!
Personally, recently, the Lexus GX. My mom was stoked about getting one, which had me stoked as well. Not only was she planning on replacing her crew cab Denali with something slightly more suitable for a 75-year-old with raging osteoporosis and a disabled parking placard to match, but it’s effectively a Land Cruiser, which I heartily endorsed. Then I learned a bit more about those turbo V6s. Then people started reporting that the exterior plastic trim was warping in hot climates like ours. She considered a used 200 series for a while but ended up in a new Sierra again.
How about GM’s revival of the Blazer nameplate? Instead of taking advantage of the off-road craze and creating a competitor to the Wrangler and upcoming Bronco, GM decides to take their infamous Blazer nameplate and put it on another yet crossover that they probably didn’t need but somehow sells. All they had to do was make an off-road/SUV styled body and put it on an off-road capable chassis(the Colorado platform would have worked well) and I bet it would have sold pretty well and gotten GM some interest from off road enthusiasts-something GM hasn’t really tried in, despite it being the “thing” right now. Instead, GM revived the Blazer nameplate for a crossover exclusively driven by old people and young women, I bet none of whom bought the Blazer because of its name. GM could have gotten in on the off-road and nostalgia craze (or just not used the Blazer name), but instead decided to use the Blazer nameplate for a crossover people only buy because it’s there and they need some mode of transportation
see also: GMT360 TrailBlazer to…the not much bigger or better than a Trax but available with AWD Trailblazer on sale today
The V-6 Fiero . Should have been a first year option .
Or even better, can you imagine how much of a riot a Quad4-powered Fieri would be? Pontiac missed a massive opportunity by failing to rob the Oldsmobile parts bin.
Like the entire UK auto industry starting in the mid-1960s. If their smaller cars were actually well made, they could have absolutely saved themselves with US exports in the fuel crisis. Could have captured some of the market the Japanese companies did. I know why that would have required some basically impossible things to have happened, but the opportunity was actually there.
I don’t care how good it is, the Alpine A110 should have had a stick.
Mitsubishi Starion the obscure sports car from The Obscure automaker. Nicely styled with period decent performance. Deserved to evolve, yet overshadowed by the Evo.
Would love to see some platform sharing with “alliance” friend Renault. Specifically Alpine. Mitsu could certainly benefit from being noticed for something other than a 3 cylinder Mirage.