What car would you have like to been built ?

[Justo Miranda]

Post-2

 

[Justo Miranda]

Post-3

 

[ArmchairSamurai]

I own 2 Jeep Cherokee XJs myself, but something about this abandoned open top, convertiable varient speaks to me...

 

[Sineva]

The AMX III was a very nice looker,quite a bit like the pantera but I think the amx has slightly better lines.
A missed opportunity for AMC...?

 

[Apophenia]

I like the look of the AMX-3 but, by most accounts, it was weakly constructed and performed poorly compared to the Ford-distrubuted Pantera it was meant to rival. So, not so much a missed opportunity as not building it prolonged the agony.

Personally, I think that de Tomaso did the superior styling job too ... but to each their own.

Were I Dick Teague, I would have dropped the AMX/3 after the first prototype revealed its weaknesses on the BMW track ( I suspect that Giotto Bizzarrini had peaked with the Iso Grifo anyway). So, instead, try one of the other carrozzerie with a less 'alien' drivetrain arrangement. I'm thinking that an Intermeccanica Italia with a Gen-2 AMX 390 (followed by a Gen-3 401) would suit the US market. It could be built at Kenosha although the aluminum bodywork might need to be farmed out). Still, it would allow AMC to cut BMW and Karmann out of the loop.

Such a car would have been more a Corvette rival ... but, perhaps, that was more realistic than an over-stretched AMC trying to out-perform the de Tomaso Pantera?

 

[Avimimus]

A refined Schlörwagen with an all-electric drive, and a power-egg for an axillary fixed-speed motor for battery charging (range extension or working in remote areas) which could be swapped out in the field for more batteries or more storage. Also, probably all wheel steering.

If I allow myself to lack judgment - then a Morgan Trike.

 

[drwells42]

I always had a soft spot in my heart (head?) for the 1968 Dodge Charger III.

DRW

 

[Rhinocrates]

SAAB was coming up with a lot of great concepts in its final years. Anyone can do wildly innovative concepts, some can do beautiful ones, and only a few can do ones that are both. There were rumours that SAAB had intentions to take the Aero-X to limited production.

 

[Rhinocrates]

A last gasp in 2011, meant to introduce the design language in the new generation that never eventuated, the PhoeniX. A bit overcomplicated for my taste, but nonetheless, I'd've loved to have seen something like this on the road.

 

[Rhinocrates]

Konigsegg and Polestar might seem to be inheriting SAAB's spirit. Konigsegg is admittedly in a far higher (astronomically higher) price bracket, but there are hints...

Konigsegg is independent but knows its market well and is succeeding on its own terms and although Polestar's shares have dropped lately, its current products are regarded well, potentially profitable models are upcoming soon, and its owner, Geely, has deep pockets and a firm commitment.

 

[Rhinocrates]

Way back when for SAAB, the Ursaab and the production version, the 92. There's a pretty clear lineage to the end of the marque and the present day successors I mentioned above, even though the car brand* was murdered (curse you, GM!).

*Like Rolls Royce, the aircraft and road car branches split, with the aircraft company retaining the rights to the brand and giving permission for the road car manufacturer to use the badge. RR allows the current BMW subsidiary to keep using the badge for the road cars but the aircraft manufacturer SAAB has understandably not given permission to the various pretenders to SAAB Automobile's successors/vultures.

 

[Rhinocrates]

I have my fingers crossed, but the odds don't look good. By a long an circuitous route, the bones and bits of SAAB Automobile were renamed NEVS under Chinese ownership, and engineering continued under that brand until rights were acquired by a fly-by-night investor, EV Electra. The car they got their hands on, 'Emily' looks very promising and has some very innovative engineering, but God knows what its chances are. Probably zero. Good design is a starting point, but engineering for production, financing, distribution, and consumer acceptance (which is dependent on brand awareness and depreciation) are very tall hurdles.

Saab's Revival: The 600-Mile NEVS Emily GT May Become a Reality

The spirit of Saab might prevail thanks to a recent investment. An investor purchased the NEVS Emily GT project, giving hope for a spiritual revival of Saab.

insideevs.com

 

[Rhinocrates]

Another might-have-been. Former CEO of Aston Martin, Tony Palmer, tried to revive the Lagonda brand for the umpteenth time. The electric Vision concept made it to motor shows but AM has always had to fight financial headwinds and it never made it any further.

 

[Rhinocrates]

There was an SUV version too. No luck with that either, alas.

 

[Rhinocrates]

Back in 2009, there was a Lagonda aimed at the dubious market of Russian oligarchs in the heyday of 'Londongrad'. Thankfully, nobody took this monstrosity seriously.

 

[Rhinocrates]

Aston Martin also proposed some mid-engined sports cars. The mid-engined Vanquish* concept was seriously mooted as a Ferrari challenger but was ultimately cancelled and the name has gone to a front-engined GT that will be unveiled soon.

*Ignore the 'Valkyrie' file names for the images - the Valkyrie is a different model that is actually headed for limited production.

 

[Nicknick]

 

[Nicknick]

I would have loved to see th Opel GTW become a real car

 

[Rhinocrates]

By the way, this is what I hate with a passion about modern car design and I can't for the life of me understand why anyone thinks that it's desirable. Seriously, do any cars run on plankton?

 

[Nik]

A follow-on to the cute but hyper-functional Suzuki 'Wagon-R+' ??

Yes, it was a compact 'city car', derived from their near-ubiquitous forward-control mini-vans. But, remarkably, it had ample head-room, leg-room, tail-gate gape, was even homologated to take a modest tow-hitch...
And, despite modest engine capacity, it was nimble.

I remember spending weary weeks going from one big-brand dealership to the next, trying to get my beloved wife's folding wheel-chair into their hatch-backs, 'estates' and MPVs.
Without success.
With or without wheel-chair's main wheels, arms, castor-wheels or what-have-you...

The two generic problems were those big cars had a lowered / slanted rear roof-line for streamlining, and a raised rear sill and/or flat-bed for the fender. Having to lift wheel-chair chest-high was unwelcome. Having to play 'Tetris' with it was worse. Several times, I got it wedged, had to scuff a show-room tail-gate frame or sill to extricate, inch-wise with swearing, haplessly 'assisted' by hand-wringing sales-men...

And the MPVs ? Their cargo ergonomics were ghastly. Barely harder to snatch-lift wheel-chair onto hypothetical roof-rack as put in the back. I'd reached stage of pricing a retro-fit 'disability-conversion' king-post crane. IIRC, such are known in US as 'deer hoists'...

And then I happened upon the 'tiny' Wagon-R+.

The folded wheel-chair went straight into the opened tail-gate with inches (!!) to spare all around (!!), stood up-right against the back seats' head-rests, allowing tie-up.
There was even room for a row of laden shopping bags between it and the refreshingly low sill...
Oh, and it had a full-sized spare wheel...
And, being half-sib to their mini-van, was homologated for a tow-hitch, so I could put my wife's electric buggy ('Herbie') on a quad-bike trailer. Cruising motorways at 70mph up-hill, with that warning-triangle festooned trailer and well-covered buggy, we got grins and salutes from many, many truckers....

Sadly, the body-shell was a co-production with GM. Who put a pi$$-poor mix of features into their take, including a notoriously failure-prone engine, did not bother to homologate for tow-hitch, and generally made an utter Edsel of it...

So, the partnership was not renewed, no equivalent Suzuki model ensued...
Game Over.

When the 'Wee Beastie' finally wore out, we replaced it with a big Skoda Estate via Motability leasing scheme...

 

[kqcke for you]

Connaught Type-D
2L V10 for a 950kg Car.
Its kinda like a super Mazda miata. Funny thing the engine will be used in a mazda miata from one of Drivetribe

 

[mjinnj]

The V8 has a lot more torque, which is more useful for throwing a Miata around.



Electric assist requires significant weight in batteries, a couple hundred lbs. And the electric motor isn't light either.




I've watched a guy stick a Mopar slant-6 into one. A v8 isn't all that hard.

Just wondering,was that uncle Tony's garage on YouTube?

 

[Sineva]

I was introduced to a British car I'd love to have been built in numbers: TVR 440R

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqBS19coeBc

Speaking of TVRs the speed 12 was sold at auction just over a year ago for a cool £601,500

https://www.iconicauctioneers.com/2000-tvr-cerbera-speed-12-rec12277-1-sywell-0523?ss=true