Morecarsthatnevermadeit

Chrysler’s Dart Concept of 1955 was designed by Virgil Exner and built by Ghia in Italy to become the most aerodynamic car of its time. It featured a sliding roof panel that could be removed entirely and stowed in a compartment behind the rear seat. 

Chrysler returned to turbine power in 1977 for a special one-off "M-body" LeBaron that was funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE). It was powered by a Gen-7 turbine engine that produced 125hp, successfully met strict 1975 federal emissions standards, and achieved a competitive 22-25 mpg in DoE testing. However, by the late 1970s, Chrysler faced financial collapse. The government bailout committee, led by the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, decreed that the turbine programme was too risky and expensive to productionise. 

Chrysler had a long history of experimenting with turbine power, beginning in the late 1930s with the world’s first turbine-powered car, a Plymouth Belvedere, beginning testing in 1954. By 1963, they were entering customer trials. Fifty-five cars were built by Ghia in Italy, designed by Elwood Engel. They were powered by the 130hp A-831 turbine engine that could run on virtually any combustible liquid. The engine operated with roughly 80% fewer moving parts than a standard V8, providing a vibration-free, smooth gliding ride. Chrysler launched a massive public relations and engineering user programme, lending 50 of the cars to 203 everyday families across 133 U.S. cities for three months at a time. The programme officially wrapped up in January 1966 after some glaring drawbacks were highlighted, including a complex, multi-step startup procedure and inconsistent power delivery. Of the original 55 test vehicles, 46 were scrapped, leaving 9 still in existence. 

At the 1970 Turin Motor Show, Zagato presented a project for Luigi Chinetti and his North American Racing Team. The plan was to take the longitudinal V8 front-wheel-drive powertrain from the eighth-generation Cadillac Eldorado and mount it behind the rear seats to create a mid-engined layout. The Cadillac N.A.R.T. would be offered as a limited edition model to wealthy clients, combining the prestige of the three brands. Luigi Chinetti Jr. worked with General Motors in the initial planning and employed an Art Centre graduate to convert his concept drawings into full-size elevations. Following GM’s practice, a full-size clay model was then created at their Detroit studio. Zagato was chosen to build the prototype from the drawings and clay model; however, the project did not progress beyond the initial prototype. 

Zagato used Honda’s highly successful kei-car, the N360, as a basis for the Hondina Youngstar concept of 1970. Presented at the Turin Motor Show, it was designed by Giuseppe Mittino as a roofless "beach car" with no doors and bug-eye headlights. Honda had no interest in pursuing Zagato’s proposal, so it remained a one-off.

Honda presented its Spocket concept at the 33rd Tokyo Motor Show in 1999. A versatile pickup design study, it featured butterfly doors, a sliding roof, and a retractable rear seat. There was a hybrid drivetrain with twin electric motors in the rear wheels to provide all-wheel drive. Steering was via a U-shaped yoke. Though the concept remained a one-off, it found wider fame as a Hot Wheels die-cast model.

By the mid-1960s, Volkswagen was getting desperate to replace the Beetle. In 1966, Porsche was awarded the contract to come up with the new volume seller, and the EA266 was their proposal. It would have a range (1.0-1.6 litre) of in-line engines mounted longitudinally ahead of the rear axle, below the rear passenger’s seat. The project progressed to the point where 50 prototypes were built; in 1969, it was signed off for production, and the mid-engined configuration was to be the basis for a whole new range of VWs. There were many issues, however: the cars overheated, wet road handling was tricky, and access for maintenance was difficult. When Rudolf Leiding took over as CEO of Volkswagen in 1971, he moved quickly to cancel the project despite over €300 being spent and destroy all bar a few of the prototypes. 

The second Vario concept was presented at the 1991 Frankfurt Motor Show and was also based on the four-wheel-drive platform on the Mk 2 Gold Syncro. The Vario II was a two-plus-two concept pickup with a modular roofing system proposed by the Swiss student Alexander Guye of the Art Centre College. 

Presented at the 61st Geneva Motor Show in 1991, the Volkswagen Vario 1 concept was a beach-buggy-type design study based on the platform of the 4 wheel drive Mk 2 Golf Syncro. It was inspired by the classic 1960s VW Safari and traditional dune buggies. It remained a one-off and now resides in the Volkswagen Museum in Wolfsburg.

So impressed was Ford’s director of styling, Gene Bordinat, with Vignale’s Cougar II that he wanted one of his own, and thus the XP Cobra was born in 1965. It used the first coil-sprung chassis Cobra and was powered by a 289ci High-Performance V8. The Bordinat Cobra was never intended to be anything other than a personal project and was used regularly by Gene Bordinat for at least a year.

The Ford Aurora Concept was a futuristic station wagon design study created by Ford’s director of styling, Gene Bordinat, and presented at the 1964 New York auto show. The asymmetric configuration had a single driver’s door on the left, with two doors on the right, and a clam-shell rear tailgate. Inside, the rear seat was curved, the front passenger could swivel to face the rear, the driver used a curved yoke to steer the car, and had an intercom to communicate with the children in the rear “romper-room.” The windshield could be dimmed at the touch of a button, and there was a rudimentary navigation system. 

For the 1974 Geneva Motor Show, Bertone created a modular utility vehicle based on Fiat’s 127. The 127 Village’s tubular design meant Bertone envisioned that it could be transformed into a spider, van, or other versions in addition to a pick-up. However the concept went no further.

Preceding the current taste for “compact crossovers” by about four decades, the Fiat 127 Every 4R City was the product of a collaboration between Michelotti’s studio and Quattroroute magazine. It turned the Fiat 127 into a modular vehicle for use in the city, countryside, or beach. Removable doors and other panels meant it could adapt to country use with a roll-back roof and fabric doors or take it to the beach with no doors or roof. Unveiled at the 1978 Turin Auto Salon, the Every concept went no further.

The 126 was Fiat’s last mass-produced rear-engined car. It was manufactured in Italy until 1980, but production continued in Poland for another two decades, with the last cars rolling off the Tychy production line on September 22, 2000. In Poland, the car was produced under licence by Fabryka Samochodów Małolitrażowych - FSM (Small-Displacement Car Factory), who experimented with a commercial derivative in the mid-1970s. The Fiat 126P Bombel had a rounded fibreglass cargo enclosure fitted to the rear of the vehicle. A number of prototypes (16), including a glazed version, were built. Because the 126 was rear-engined, the cargo space was directly on top of the engine compartment, which severely limited the cargo floor depth and total load height. Thus, FSM did not go ahead with production of the Bombel (literally translated as "Bubble“), and most of the prototypes were destroyed. Subsequently, a number of replicas have been made, including one on display at the Automotive Museum in Olawa, Poland (pictured).

What a difference 54 years makes: Dutch coachbuilder Neils Van Roij has created a Daytona Shooting Brake Homage inspired by the 1972 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona Shooting Break by Panther Westwinds. The original Daytona wagon was commissioned by Luigi “Coco” Chinetti Jr (racing driver, automotive designer, and son of the US Ferrari importer). The one-off Homage uses a Ferrari 599 as a base and celebrates the original car's proportions and character rather than becoming a replica. Like the 1972 model, it has gullwing-style glazed hatches with exposed hinges, to provide access to the rear compartment, and a fixed rear window.

Soon after Chrysler took ownership of Lamborghini, they presented the Portofino concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1987. It was designed by Tom Gale at Chrysler Pacifica in Carlsbad, California, and built in Italy by Coggiola. The Chrysler Lamborghini Portofino used an extended Lamborghini Jalpa platform along with that car’s mid-rear-mounted V8 engine. A four-door sports saloon wasn’t in Chrysler’s product plan for Lamborghini, but Tom Gale adapted the styling for the successful Chrysler Intrepid/Concord series of the 1990s (minus the scissor doors).