In the automotive industry's history, some cars come and tease fans with lovely, promising designs and performance specs but never really go too far in achieving what they aim to. Some of them stick around for long enough and leave a few remnants that can still be traced, while others vanish, never to be heard of.
Several reasons lead to car discontinuations. Regulatory principles, financial ineptness, unsustainable concepts, poor sales, bad publicity, and generally poor reception by the market are just some of them. Some come to simply give us a taste of the future and leave everything else hanging. What's most interesting is that most of them leave gearheads yearning to interact more with them.
Some of the cars that truly captured our imagination was built in very limited numbers. Over time, they've become highly valuable collectibles and those that are lucky to own a unit or two preserve and protect them with mightiness. Regardless of how a car gains the status of a truly beloved treasure, the lessons the industry picks from the concepts remain highly valued.
Our list of cars that were discontinued before fans got enough of them has some classic cars, supercars, sports cars, and a few ordinary rides that couldn't just leave without making their presence felt.
9 Vector M12
American automaker Vector Motors Corporation set out on an ambitious journey to build a vehicle modeled after the incredible Lamborghini Diablo. They named it the Vector M12, a car that marked American's initial efforts to compete with the likes of Lamborgini and Ferrari.
The Vector M12 carried the 5.7-liter V12 engine donated by the Lamborghini Diablo. However, in reality, and spirit, it never got to the levels of the Diablo. Although the company had started on the wrong footing back in the 1970s, the Vector M12 was built between 1995 and 1999. Only 14 examples were ever built before production ceased. Laying hands on a Vector M12 today is quite an expensive affair.
8 Lincoln Continental
October 30, 2020, marked the last day that a Lincoln Continental rolled off the company's production plant in plant in Flat Rock, North Carolina. The Lincoln Continental has been in production for more than 55 years. Delivering a death sentence was a strategic business move to go with the changing times. The company said in a statement, "as the full-size premium sedan segment continues to decline in the U.S., we plan to end production of the Lincoln Continental."
As a luxury sedan, the Lincoln has reigned across the globe as the car of choice for celebrities and presidents. We can only hope it might come back someday, but its contribution to the auto world is no doubt worth pen and ink.
7 Manual Jaguar F-Type
Jaguar's manual F-Type was introduced in 2016 and lasted just four short years, too short for most fans to have a good ride. The dreams of many Jaguar admirers to ever ride a manual F-Type gets flimsy.
The manual version was offered exclusively as rear-wheel-drive V6 couples and convertibles that could tune shift 340hp and 380-hp, respectively. It mated to an eight-speed transmission that did quite a clean job in a sporty way.
6 Plymouth Prowler
There is some truth in the statement that "the Prowler is unlike any car before it or since" as one reviewer described it. The witty looks of the Prowler can only be attributed to the good days that its parent company Chrysler was having in the 1990s.
Engineers at the company sought the ingenuity of hot rods from the 1930s and gave us an amazingly striking retro-styled car that lasted too short for us to devour fully. Nonetheless, the Prowler was considered too impractical and more of an engineer's play tool. Thus, it failed to record impressive numbers, and production ended in 2002.
5 Gumpert Apollo
The Gumpert Apollo aimed to hot two birds with a single stone. It was meant to be a street-legal car that could race in tracks as well. It was the brainchild of Roland Gumpert, a man with a relatively rich knowledge base having worked extensively at Audi.
Although it was considered one of the most ambitious and influential sports car ideas of the early 2000s, the company filed for bankruptcy in 2013, thereby burying with it some of the most outstanding, eye-catching sports car ideas in recent history.
4 Bugatti EB110
In celebration of the 110th birthday of Bugatti's founder and patriarch, Ettore Bugatti, the idea to build the EB110 GT was floated. Unfortunately, the product that came out of the lavish and modern factory in Campogalliano, Modena, Italy proved too expensive and unsustainable for the market.
Although the Bugatti EB110 had started to gain traction and publicity, the decision to purchase Lotus Cars is partially blamed on the eventual poor performance, and the company filed for bankruptcy in 1995. By this time,129 EB110 examples had rolled off to the market.
3 Tucker 48
Preston Thomas Tucker was an ambitious man who went to great lengths to achieve his dreams. He built the famous Tucker 48 sedan, a car that was way ahead of its time in several ways. Several reports point accusing fingers to the three big giants of the American automotive industry as having a role in the fall of the Tucker 48. General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler contributed in unorthodox ways to negative publicity and financial and legal troubles of the Tucker 48, from which only 51 examples saw the light of day.
The incredible interior design allowed Tucker to place dashboard instruments within the driver's reach from the steering wheel. The dashboard was also padded for increased safety, while the windscreen was carved from shatterproof glass. Overall, the Tucker 48 was a sight to behold.
2 Saab 9-3
The story of Saab dates back to a Swedish company founded in 1945 officially known as Saab Automobile AB. The car in question, the Saab 9-3 one of the two well-known brands created under the stewardship of General Motors after its partial acquisition of Saab.
The first generation of the 9-3 was produced between 1998-2003. It was a compact executive car that was praised for comfort and reliability.
After several restructurings and ownership changes, Saab ended production in May May 2014. There were reports of relaunching an electric version, but not much about it has been heard of since 2019.
1 Pontiac Fiero
The Pontiac Fiero is yet another creation of General Motors built a two-seat sports car carrying a V-6 engine. The selling point of the Fiero was pegged on fuel efficiency, which was very enticing to corporate heads during the oil crisis.
One of the early problems that dogged the Fiero was safety issues. In 1984, the Fieros were recording fires to the rate of 20 blazes a month, holding an infamous record like no other car before them.
With bad publicity dogging the brand, a 1990 prototype became the last Fiero model, although it never made it to production. Fieros are still cool cars in popular culture that attract a cult following mainly because of several customizable options.