Morecarsthatnevermadeit

prototypes and concepts that never made it in to the showrooms, my old blog got terminated by Tumblr

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To mark its 80th birthday, Daihatsu unveiled the TA-X80 at the 27th Tokyo Motor Show in 1987. This futuristic two-seater mid-engined sports car boasted a 1.0-litre twin-cam 24-valve turbo V6 engine. The TA-X80’s name itself stood for Technology Advanced eXperimental. Its aerodynamic design, rearward sliding doors, and incredibly light 880 kg weight were key features.

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The Daihatsu Hijet Dumbo was a radical, cube-shaped concept van presented at the 28th Tokyo Motor Show in October 1989. Built on the platform of the standard production Daihatsu Hijet microvan, this "brick-like" kei van concept prioritised spatial efficiency and practicality. The concept van was designed to serve as a mobile Japanese tea ceremony vehicle, with integrated traditional tatami floor mats and privacy curtains to set the mood for a tea ceremony on the go.

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The relationship between Daihatsu and De Tomaso was forged when the Italian car maker wanted to use Daihatsu’s 3-cylinder engine in the Innocenti Mini they had inherited when British Leyland sold its Italian subsidiary. Presented at the 26th Tokyo Motor Show in 1985, the Daihatsu Charade De Tomaso 926R was an Italian/Japanese collaboration to create a Group B rally car designed to dominate the sub-1300cc category. It was powered by a mid-mounted 118hp 926cc, DOHC 12-valve 3 cylinder engine. The FIA applied a 1.4× multiplication factor for forced induction, thus 926cc resulted in an adjusted size of 1,296cc. Daihatsu built a separate limited run of 200 front-wheel-drive Charade 926 Turbo cars in 1984 to fulfil baseline homologation criteria. However, the Daihatsu Charade De Tomaso 926R was cancelled and never entered production after the FIA banned Group B rallying.

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Under Citroën’s ownership, Maserati’s range was completely updated in the early 70s with the mid-engined Merak and Bora designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Italdesign and the front-engined Khamsin designed by Marcello Gandini at Bertone. This left a gap for a front-engined four-seat GT. Italdesign’s Maserati Coupé 2+2 was presented at the 1974 Turin Motor Show based on the chassis and mechanics of the Maserati Indy. But the oil crisis of 1973 was adversely affecting Maserati’s sales, and Citroën was facing its own financial crisis, so Italdesign’s coupé remained a one-off.

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The Maserati Boomerang was first displayed as an epowood model at the 1971 Turin Motor Show. The completed prototype, based on the chassis of the Maserati Bora, was ready for the 42nd Geneva Motor Show in March 1972. The styling was by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Italdesign, and though it had no influence on future Maseratis, the design was developed for the Lotus Esprit and the DeLorean.

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The Aston Martin Lagonda Virage Coupé was a one-off created in 1988 as a test mule for the first generation Aston Martin Virage, which was in development at the time. The Virage mechanicals were concealed beneath the William Towns-designed Lagonda bodywork, which was shortened, changing the car from the standard four-door to a sharply edged two-door coupé. It received the Aston Martin internal ID of DP2034 (DP = Development Project) and received many revisions and improvements. Once its work as a development mule was done, it was purchased by a collector who had the car rebuilt to resemble the final series 4 Lagonda that was made between 1987 and 1990.

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There is a long tradition of Aston Martin Shooting Brakes dating back to the 1960s when David Brown (owner of AML at the time) ordered a custom-built DB5 Shooting Brake to support his outdoor pursuits. For the 74th Geneva Motor Show in 2004, Bertone presented the Aston Martin Jet2 concept based on a V12 Vanquish with an extended wheelbase, designed by Giuliano Biasio. It remained a one-off. 

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In 1980, the Aston Martin Bulldog prototype was an ambitious attempt by the British sports car maker to create a supercar for the 1980s. The striking wedge design was styled by William Towns, with the vehicle being just 43 inches (1,100 mm) high. It was powered by a twin-turbocharged 5.3-litre Aston Martin V8 engine and was projected to be capable of 237 mph, though it never achieved this. The Bulldog was planned for a production run of 15-25 units, but mounting costs meant the project was cancelled, and the prototype remained a one-off. It passed through multiple owners but more recently was acquired by collector Phillip Sarofim, who commissioned a rigorous 18-month restoration, taking the car back to its original silver-and-grey colour scheme and upgrading the Bulldog mechanically.

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A milestone in supercar design, the Alfa Romeo Carabo was created at Bertone by Marcello Gandini and built in 1968 on the chassis of an Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale powered by that car’s centrally mounted 1,995cc V8 engine. The pioneering wedge shape was an experimental design to minimise drag, with the car’s proportions designed for maximum stability at high speed. The bodywork introduced new construction techniques combining fibreglass and aluminium components, with innovative scissor doors hinged at the front. Many of these features were used later by Gandini on the Lamborghini Countach.  

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Alfa Romeo commissioned Bertone to create a concept car for the Expo 67, a world’s trade fair to be held in Montreal. Bertone created two identical cars, designed by Marcello Gandini. The prototypes were based on an Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT, using that car’s 1.6-litre DOHC engine. One car remained in Italy, whilst the other was presented in Quebec. It quickly earned the nickname Montreal and was so well received that Alfa Romeo immediately began work on a series production version.

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The Alfa Romeo 155 was one of the first completely new Alfas designed and developed after the company had been taken over by Fiat. The image of the car was enhanced by Touring Car racing, where it was very successful in every major championship it entered. Abarth worked with Alfa Romeo to create the 155 GTA Stradale, a road-going version of the successful GTA Touring Car. It shared its 2.0-litre turbocharged engine and permanent all-wheel-drive system with the Lancia Delta Integrale Evoluzione. The prototype was presented at the Bologna Auto Show in 1993 and was also used at the 1994 Monza Gran Premio d'Italia as a medical car. Plans for a limited production run were cancelled by Fiat, who calculated the project would cost more than the cars could be realistically sold for.

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To celebrate their 80th birthday in 1998, Zagato built the Zuma concept based on a first-generation Audi A3 1.9 turbo diesel. Designed by Marco Pedracini, it was first presented at the Brussels Auto Show. As Audi was working on the TT, they had no interest in pursuing Zagato’s proposal, and the Zuma remained a one-off.

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Presented at the 29th Tokyo Motor Show in 1991, Audi’s Avus Quattro Concept was designed by J Mays, referencing the Auto Union race cars of the 1930s, which featured unpainted aluminium bodywork. The concept previewed the aluminium space frame technology that Audi introduced in 1994 with the D2 A8. It was supposed to be powered by a 6.0-litre 60-valve W12 engine, but the motor wasn’t ready, so for the show the car was fitted with a precision-painted dummy, crafted from wood and plastic.

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German coachbuilder Karmann commissioned Italdesign to create a coupé based on the B1 series Audi 80 (also styled at Italdesign) to be produced by them as a small series. The result was the Audi Karmann Asso di Picche Concept presented at the 45th Frankfurt auto show in 1973. Audi’s overlords at Volkswagen AG were more interested in their own small coupé, the Scirocco (another Giugiaro design), so the Audi remained a one-off. Italdesign adapted the graphic wedge styling for the Lancia Delta. Meanwhile, Karmann did OK; the first-generation Scirocco was built by them. 

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The 1989 Nissan 300XM (NTC IF) Concept, also known simply as the Nissan IF, was an experimental, mid-engined, lightweight sports car prototype created internally by Nissan employees from the Department of Body Design at the Nissan Technical Centre (NTC) in Atsugi, Japan. Designed by Satoshi Wada with aluminium bodywork, it was powered by a mid-mounted, 930cc turbocharged 4-cylinder engine. 

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Nissan used the 17th Tokyo Motor Show in 1970 to present the 126X Concept. The radically futuristic wedge-shaped four-seater was powered by a rear-mounted, transverse Nissan L-series straight-six engine. Its stand-out feature was a strip of lights along the hood that lit up with either three red, two yellow, or five green lights depending on whether the vehicle was braking, at constant speed, or accelerating. A die-cast model badged as the "Datsun 126X” was produced by Matchbox from 1973 to 1985.

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The Dome Zero was presented at the 48th Geneva Auto Show in 1978. Designed by Minoru Hayashi, the Zero was planned as a supercar using technology from racing, the sales of which would fund an entry into the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It was powered by Nissan’s L28E OHC straight six, shared with the 280Z, mounted in a mid/rear configuration. The project was well received, and despite attracting investment, the prototype failed to get type approval for sales in Japan. A second prototype (the Zero P2) was built with an emphasis on US sales, but it also failed homologation in Japan and internationally.