The Ford Motor Company is one of the biggest industrial giants the world has ever know. From humble beginnings, Ford has grown to become one of the largest automakers in the world. They became so large that their factories grew to be the size of most cities. They were also responsible for helping the allies achieve history in the world's greatest conflict by helping build Jeeps, trucks, and even airplanes.

According to History Net, by the end of that period, Ford had built over 80,000 airplanes alone. They also helped bring the world into the age of the Muscle Car by building cars like the Mustang. When the time rolls around for auto shows, Ford is always willing to show off their new and upcoming products and technologies. Not only that, but their concept cars show what their designers are capable of. With all this industrial might and concept car gold, you would think that they would build nothing but the best cars. But as we saw with many of their cars, when it comes to the actual finished product, Ford has plenty of room for improvement.

Between hastily engineered cars like the Ford Pinto and the Ford Maverick, to just plain junk like the Ford Tempo and Ford Bronco II we have seen that for every great car Ford gives us it seems like there is a terrible one waiting right behind it. Here are a list of concepts that we wish they had build rather than some of the other junk they didn’t end up building.

20 Want: Ford Bronco Concept

via cardesignnews.com

Like the original Jeep CJs, the first generation Ford Bronco was beautiful in its simplicity. Also like the old Jeep CJs, it has become a cult classic for automotive collectors. In 2004, Ford bounced the idea of another Ford Bronco at the Detroit Auto Show.

Unlike the last generation of the Bronco, the 2004 Concept was a smaller, more agile looking design.

Meant to be more of a competitor once again for the Jeep Wrangler. Borrowing design inspiration from the first generation Bronco, it looked like it was designed with nothing but a ruler and a pencil. But it somehow managed to still be very handsome.

19 Wish They Never Produced: Ford Maverick

via topspeed.com

The Ford Maverick was one of Ford’s first attempts of building a car that was specifically designed to take on imports like Volkswagen and Toyota. Unfortunately for Ford the Maverick was nowhere near as efficient, well made, or reliable. The one thing that the Ford Maverick did have going for it was that it was cheap, really cheap. The Maverick is a starting price below $2000. The transmission in the Maverick was flawed to the point that it was downright dangerous. Over time the transmission would wear out to the point that it would slip out of park and into reverse. Ford never recalled the Maverick, but instead placed a sticker on the dash instructing driver to make sure their park brake is being used when the car is in park. Shame on you, Ford.

18 Want: Mercury Messenger Concept

via 4wheelnews.com

The Mercury Messenger Concept was meant the be the practical, everyday sports car that the world was craving. The distinctive sleek design of the Messenger Concept represented the futuristic design direction that Mercury wanted to head. According to Hemmings, the Mercury Messenger Concept was designed by Ford designer Gerry McGovern and the Italian design firm Stola Group.

Mercury gave the Messenger a 4.6 litre V8 engine, a six speed automatic transmission, and rear wheel drive.

At the time it wouldn’t have been difficult for Ford to develop the Messenger, as they were developing a new generation of Mustangs at the same time.

17 Wish They Never Produced: Ford EXP

Via ProjectST.com

According to The Truth About Cars, the Ford EXP was the first two seat coupe Ford had produced since the original Ford Thunderbird. The EXP was an Escort based two seater that Ford expected to take on the ever popular import sports cars. Ford also anticipated that the future of the American household would only be one or two person households, these would be their main sales target. Of course, being an Escort based car being sold in the United States, it wasn’t great. The EXP was given a woefully slow 1.6 litre four cylinder engine with produced an shameful 69 horsepower.

16 Want: Ford Shelby GR-1 Concept

via automobilereviews.com

In 2005 the Big Three automakers were riding the high of cheap fuel and abundant flows of cash. All three built their own variants of a supercar. Chevrolet was building the Corvette Z06, dodge was building the Viper, and Ford was building the Ford GT. But Ford was getting ready to kill off the GT. Since It head never meant to be an ongoing model, Ford didn’t have any plans for a replacement. The Shelby GR-1 was one of several prototypes that Ford designers pitched for the GT replacement. According to Road and Track, the GR-1 was going to be powered by a 605 horsepower 6.4 litre V10 and a six speed manual transmission. Obviously Ford never built the GR-1, but the world would be a better place if they had.

15 Wish They Never Produced: Ford Pinto

Via Mecum.com

What’s a list of terrible Fords without the Pinto? To put it simply, the Pinto was put into production too quickly in order to meet a short deadline and it resulted in one of the worst engineering flaws the automotive world has ever known.

When engineering a car you would think that “Not Exploding” would be pretty high on the list of things that you don’t want you car to do.

The punctured Ford fuel tanks were the result of penny pinching, cheap engineering that plagues not just Ford, but many automakers. The Pinto is simply the most well known automotive consequences of cheap engineering.

14 Want: Ford Mach Two Concept

via motor1.com

When the Mustang was first introduced, Ford knew they had a hit on their hands. But it didn’t always carry the muscle car persona that we’ve come to know today. During the 1960s Ford experimented with different versions of what the Mustang could possibly become. One of these experiments was the Mustang Mach Two. Based on the European styling and engineering of the time, Ford built the Mustang Mach Two with a mid-engine, rear wheel drive layout. Looking much like the Lamborghini Miura, the Mach Two was a hit at the auto shows. But unfortunately it never made it beyond that.

13 Wish They Never Produced: Ford Fairmont

via zonderpump.com

The Ford Fairmont was another one of Ford’s attempts to built an economy class car. But the moment that it rolled off the line it was woefully outdated. The Fairmont was still using a front engine, rear wheel drive layout. Which as we now know is not the ideal layout for an economy class car.

Most of the Fairmonts were built with Ford’s 88 horsepower 2.3 litre four cylinder engine that was hooked to a three speed automatic.

That’s a painfully slow powered car no matter how you look at it. Ford did eventually put a V8 in the Fairmont, but it only produced 119 horsepower.

12 Want: Ford Interceptor Concept

via motorauthority.com

In 2007 Chrysler and Dodge owned the large sedan market with the Charger and the 300. Not wanting to be outdone, Ford introduced the Interceptor Concept at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show. They wanted to prove that they too could produce a bold and stylish large sedan. According to Car and Driver, Ford said that the Interceptor was going to be built on the same platform as the Mustang. Ford said many other Mustang parts would carry over as well. The Interceptor would have a front engine, rear wheel drive powertrain. Specifically a 400 horsepower V8 and a six speed manual transmission. Unfortunately, the 2008 killed any chance that we had to get a Mustang inspired sedan.

11 Wish They Never Produced: Ford Probe

via caranddriver.com

Believe it or not, the Ford Probe was originally intended to be the Mustang of the 1990s. Thankfully Ford decided that the Mustang was best left as a front engine, rear wheel drive layout. The Probe shares its platform with the Mazda MX-6. Unlike the Mazda, which was a pretty great little car, the Ford Probe will go down as another mediocre attempt by Ford to take on cars like the Toyota Celica and Mitsubishi Eclipse. The Probe was slow, uninspiring, and just plain boring to drive.

10 Want: Ford Maya Concept

via motor1.com

According to Top Gear, the Ford Maya followed the perfect concept for car building. Step One: Make the Italians design the exterior of the car. Nothing else. The Italians have a way of designing vehicle that cannot be replicated by nearly any other nationality. Step two: Don’t let the Italians design anything remotely technical! We all know Italian cars are beautiful, but they definitely aren't the most reliable.

The Ford Maya was designed as a mid-engine, rear wheel drive layout.

Though the 115 horsepower Ford V6 wasn’t going to win a lot of races, the design of the car left plenty of room for Ford to use a V8 if they ever decided to put it into production.

9 Wish They Never Produced: Ford Bronco II

via hagerty.com

Jalopnik has pointed out that like Hollywood, Ford loves a good sequel. Like the Mustang II and the LTD II, the Bronco II was another car that borrowed its name from its more successful, and simply better big brother. With small SUVs like the Toyota 4Runner becoming more and more popular, Ford needed something to compete. They were already building the smaller Ranger pick-up, so they took inspiration from Toyota and just turned it into an SUV. But unlike the Toyota, the Bronco II felt very cheaply made, they were prone to rusting and it’s plastic interior parts were prone to cracking. Not only that, but with its tall ride and short wheelbase it was prone to rollover accidents.

8 Want: Lincoln Continental Concept (2002)

via thetruthaboutcars.com

When the Lincoln Continental Concept debuted at the Los Angele Auto Show, it was an instant hit. The bold, edgy designed not only harkened back to the 1960s John F Kennedy, era Lincoln Continentals, but it showed the futuristic dire toon that Lincoln wanted to head. Autoweek is quick to point out that when this car debuted, the retro styling trend had yet to take off. The Mustang was still carrying its smooth, 1990s design and cars like the Mustang and Challenger hadn’t even been conceived yet. The Continental Concept was supposed to be powered by a twelve cylinder engine and was supposed to represent the pinnacle of luxury automobiles.

7 Wish They Never Produced: Ford Thunderbird (1982)

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The eighth generation of the Ford Thunderbird is one of the greatest examples of how a US automaker took a great car and overtime made it a bloated whale of an automobile. Originally, the Thunderbird was the surprisingly well selling competitor for the Chevrolet Corvette. But over time it got slower, fatter, and all around worse.

The 1982 model was the embodiment of why the US automakers were starting to lose out to Japanese and German competitors.

It’s boxy, land boat styling was outdated the second it rolled off the line. Thankfully, Ford got the message and the Thunderbird was greatly improved after this.

6 Want: Lincoln Navicross Concept

via motor1.com

The Lincoln Navicross was introduced at the 2006 Detroit Auto Show. For those who remembered the days of AMC, it almost seemed like Lincoln had ripped off the design for the AMC Eagle. Both the AMC Eagle and the Lincoln Navicross were ahead of their times. They were Genesis for the now insanely popular crossover segment. According to Autoweek, the Lincoln Navicross was powered by a 4.2 litre V8 and a five speed automatic, that would power a conventional All-Wheel drive system. Unfortunately for Lincoln, the large trucks and SUVs ruled the roads at that time and the crossover craze was still a decade away.

5 Wish They Never Produced: Ford Tempo

via autodata1.com

The Ford Tempo is the greatest example of how terrible US automakers are at building economy class cars. Though the first generation of the Tempo was properly designed by Ford’s German design team, the second generation Tempo was simply terrible. By far, the worst aspect of these cars was the powertrain. Though there was an available V6 nearly all of the Tempos Ford built had an awful 2.3 litre four cylinder engine and a three speed automatic transmission. The Tempo is one of many 1980s and 1990s US designed cars that are destined for the scrapyard.

4 Want: Lincoln Mark X Concept

via youtube.com

The Lincoln Mark X was part of a series of retro styled concepts that Ford released in the first half of the 2000s. The Mark X was meant to be the luxurious cousin of the Ford Thunderbird, which was also heavily based on a retro design. At the time, the Mark X was possibly one of the best looking large coupe concepts. It also looked nearly production ready.

It’s almost as though Ford was testing the water, seeing if the world was open to the idea of a Lincoln luxury coupe.

According to Autoweek, the Lincoln Mark X Concept was powered by a 280 horsepower 3.9 litre V8 and a five speed automatic transmission.

3 Wish They Never Produced: Ford Five Hundred

via bestcarmag.com

When the Ford Five Hundred was introduced it had big shoes to fill. Ford was banking on the Five Hundred to replace the insanely well selling Taurus. Surprisingly, Ford used the chassis from the Volvo S60 and XC90 for the Five Hundred. But unfortunately, they used an outdated engine that was being used in the old Contour to power the Five Hundred. The worst thing by far about the Five Hundred was the CVT transmission. There’s a reason Ford doesn’t use CVTs anymore, their one big attempt at them was so bad, they it probably sacred them away from ever using them again. The reliability of a Ford Five Hundred CVT was nearly zero. Many, many owners complained about transmission issues resulting many times in complete replacement of the transmission.

2 Want: Ford Reflex Concept

via stmed.net

The Ford Reflex was the concept that would show the world that Ford was ready to take on the future. Supercars.net said, “Reflex is a technological showcase with its advanced diesel-electric hybrid engine – delivering up to 65 miles per gallon – solar panels, flexible interior made from synthetic and regenerated materials, and such advanced safety features as inflatable safety belts in the rear.” Had it been put into production, the Reflex Concept would have been an incredible engineering achievement. The Reflex showed that pre-recession Ford was ready to embrace alternative energy powering their cars. Though the big SUVs and trucks ruled the road, they wanted to prove that they were ready for some change.

1 Wish They Never Produced: Ford Escort

Via Flickr.com

The Ford Escort was one of the cars that helped Ford become a major automaker in Europe. In the United States, Ford really struggled to build an economy class car that sold well in the United States. They decided that they could bring the European Escort across the Atlantic and sell it to US consumers. Somehow the aspects that made the Escort great in Europe never made it to the shores of the United States. The US version of the Escort was slow, cheaply made, and miserable in nearly every way. Needless to say, US car buyer didn’t appreciate the Escort like the Europeans did.

Sources: New York Daily News, Car and Driver, Top Gear, Autoweek, Jalopnik