It’s a lesson we learn all too soon as car people: the best-looking, most interesting car designs often go unproduced. This is most understandable when it’s a moonshot concept car that is clearly meant only to inform some car-of-the-future ideas, not represent an entire vehicle to be built anytime soon. Trult heartbreaking are the designs that look like they could go into production with the automaker doing little more than saying “OK, do it.” Case in point, the topshot selection (and Matt’s choice for Best Car We Never Got), the Pontiac G8 ST. It’s bummer enough that we only got the G8 sedan for two model years. But this amazing ute version? What a shoulda-been.
Torch still longs for the Volkswagen EA66. From his earlier story on the VW we never got:
If you want a quick summary, EA266 was a Beetle-replacement project developed with assistance from a Porsche team led by Ferdinand Piëch, and was really quite a revolutionary design, or would have been, had it made production.
The core of what made this car so fascinating I think has to do with its incredible packaging design, one that got the absolute maximum amount of usable interior volume possible via some really bold approaches to packaging design. The engine, a liquid-cooled 1588cc inline-four design, was transverse and laid flat under the rear seat, driving the rear wheels via a transaxle; the fuel tank was in front of the dashboard, the spare wheel under the driver’s seat, and there were two good-sized cargo areas, front and rear. It’s an absolute packaging masterpiece
The Bishop shouted out Ford’s supercar on a shoestring that never came to be, the Ford GN34. Just imagine how much fun this would have been:
Ford never really had that Corvette beater that Blue Oval fans wanted, but they seemingly came *this close* to making it happen in the early eighties. A mid-engine design with Italdesign styling and the Yamaha V6 that was used in the Taurus SHO? Yes, please.
Sadly, that Taurus ate up much of the development budget that Ford could ill-afford to spend on a low-selling budget supercar, or even a Fiero competitor.
Your turn:
All the great Euro Fords from the ’80s and ’90s: RS200, Sierra RS Cosworth, Escorts XR3i, RS Turbo, RS Cosworth, Fiesta RS Turbo and RS1800i.
Current gen Audi A6 EV wagon
The Yaris Verso is really really cool
And of course, cool cars Canada got that we didn’t, like the T30 X-Trail (basically the Forester Done Right since it has a regular engine, and the big sunroof actually tilts)
Also the W245 B-Class
I’ll add the Renault Kangoo too, since a small van is really awesome, and they are especially popular with the wheelchair community, as newer ones are even set up from the factory to accommodate a wheelchair ramp.
The Skoda Superb station wagon, of course. It’s superb!
Triumph TR5.
I think a few have been imported to the US and a few TR250s have been converted.
Cadillac Sixteen and the original Suzuki Kizashi concept.
Xiaomi SU7 Ultra. Taycan Turbo GT performance (and somewhat similar appearance too) for 1/4 the price.
Every. Single. Wagon.
Ford Focus ST wagon.
VW GTI Variant
The Pontiac G8 wagon.
Mazda6 wagon
And one of these with a stick would have made me quite cheerful.
Subaru Levorg
US Market VW GTD. Killed by Dieselgate, but a diesel Golf w/ GTI suspension would’ve been a 40 mpg hoot.
Make it the longroof version and as Archer says “I can only get so erect”.
The Dodge Copperhead and Ford GT90 come to mind. One a potentially halfway decent re-use of Prowler engineering to make a roadster positioned above the Miata. The other a bedroom wall adorning supercar that deserved more than being a barely usable styling exercise.
The Toyota S-FR also gets a mention because smol.
I liked the Toyota TJ Cruiser concept that was said to be close to production, and I saw at an auto show. A small-to-medium sized two box thing made to be adaptable from three row to all cargo, and cleanable with tiedown points and I think accessory rails. And some actual car styling, not just commercial van design. TJ stood for “Toolbox Joy”.
80s Panda 4wd, Mk1 Escort, and all the utes!
Lotus M250. Smaller than an Evora/Emira, but with a mid-mounted V6 and utterly gorgeous. A proper Cayman rival.
I got to see the show car a few times, and it was lovely.
Also the Lotus Type 119D. Not because it would have been good (the body was designed by styling so had double the drag of the carefully engineered 119C) but because it would have been a great trip to the US to race it. Rest in peace Project Soapbar.
LAND CRUISER FJ….FOR NOW
Best car that never came to America? For me it’s the Alfa Brera Coupe. Best here is clearly pretty subjective, since I’m sure it’s a nightmare to actually keep running, but I think I could happily live with that nightmare for a year or two, and then unhappily for another couple of years before I angrily sold it for a loss.
Best one that was never sold it proabably the Tatra JK 2500. It’s just always looked incredible to me. There was article about it on the old site:
https://www.jalopnik.com/the-most-beautiful-car-youve-never-heard-of-the-tatra-1792315705/
It’s just captivatingly beautiful
The Air Cooled Syncro Vanagon.
Prototypes for the Syncro were Bay Windows with air cooled engines.
Wasserboxers suck, there’s a reason why basically everyone who plans on driving a Syncro regularly shitcans the engine for a Subaru Flat 4 or a diesel.
As an El Camino afficionado, your lead photo says it all.
G8-ST.
Mk7 Golf 400R comes to mind. To this day we haven’t seen a readily available 400hp hot hatch from the factory, and Mk7 was peak Golf, so we really missed out on an incredibly special package.
I thought the 2005 Holden Effigy concept was one of the most beautiful cars ever built when it debuted. I still think it would have owned the retro/boomer market if they had built it for Australia and rebadged it under one of GM’s numerous brands for North America.
I think the Volvo Tundra concept is one of the coolest looking cars. I think people would really love them now had it been produced.
The 15 iterations of the VW bus that had gas engines.
Nissan MID4; not a Nissan fan by any means but this was always very interesting
I’m surprised the G8 ute was just…canceled after all the expensive development work was done, rather than releasing it as a Chevy, GMC or both.
My thoughts on the EA266 are still the same; make mine a 5-door, please, for the least contortionist engine access possible.
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.