Cars that could have been... or wouldn't have been

So what car do you think just missed the mark? Ones that come to mind are:

1. The Delorean only getting a 130hp V6.
2. Fiero never getting the Quad4
3. The Mustang II sharing the Pinto's chassis
4. The Merkur XR4Ti's name (as mentioned in the Vintage Views article)

Or along the same lines, what car only made the mark because of inclusion on some 'special' feature?

This one is a bit harder so maybe the SHO engine with a 1989 Taurus wrapped around it.

Either way the 'mark' is a moving target and is up for discussion.

The Plymouth Prowler was a futuristic hot-rod saddled with a 214 hp V6 and an econo-car automatic transmission. The Delorean of the 90's?

7th-gen Maxima: They looked amazing, had a great chassis that was pretty fun to throw around and the VQ35 under the hood was pretty potent. But they are saddled with that godawful CVT

The B-body lineup was lacking without an El Camino

nderwater wrote: The Plymouth Prowler was a futuristic hot-rod saddled with a 214 hp V6 and an econo-car automatic transmission. The Delorean of the 90's?

Came here to say Prowler. 15 years later and they still look amazing. I don't think it should have been a sports car, it would always be a cruiser, but I think some more torque and a mean rumble would have taken it from "quaint curiosity" to "all time great"

I know there were engineering and corporate reasons that made it what it was but gee... A truly muscley Prowler would have been sweet.

How about a v8 ford ranger? It was done in explorers so it was obviously easy for them to do but they never did.

Prowler times a billion too

Pontiac solstice gxp coupe, killed before it had a chance to have enough volume for aftermarket to develop for it.

There are a few cars that seem like they ought to be a slam dunk but just were never that popular. The Hyundai Genesis V8 coupe and the Chevy SSR come to mind. Rear drive, big power, generally well reviewed, but....what happened?

Everything cool Pontiac was doing when it died

(G8 GXP)

ultraclyde wrote: There are a few cars that seem like they ought to be a slam dunk but just were never that popular. The Hyundai Genesis V8 coupe and the Chevy SSR come to mind. Rear drive, big power, generally well reviewed, but....what happened?

The SSR was expensive, did nothing well and was pretty slow. Seriously, even the later higher-powered ones won't squeal the tires on a hard acceleration.

I'd like to add the Chevy Silverado SS. When GM first showed it in concept form it was a stripped-down, standard cab, short-bed 2WD with the LS6 and a 6-speed manual, crank windows and rubber floor mats for cheap. When it hit the market, it was a crew cab, short-bed AWD with every luxury option, a regular 6.0L and a 4-speed automatic and a massive price tage.

83-88 Ford Thunderbird / Mercury Cougar never coming with the 5.0 HO from the factory. The fox Mustang was an all-time great, the Lincoln Mark VII LSC was a superb luxo-cruiser, and a 5.0 HO TBird would have been a fantastic between-them GT car. Slap on the Turbo Coupe front bumper and interior, plus the suspension and 8.8 LSD rear, and you'd have a killer car. They didn't even need to make a stick version (though that would have been a beef on this had they not).

82-92 Camaro/Firebird with a 350 and 5-Speed. I mean come on. Slap a T-5 behind a 305 but only an auto behind the 350?!? Could you imagine how different the world would be today if the 350/5Spd F-Body was the king of the 80's instead of the 5.0 Mustang?!? The Probe would have actually been the new FWD Mustang, the retro-renaissance would have never happened, no Cobra/Shelby/etc, and the Crammit and Firechicken would have probably kept going past 02, so no current hideous Crammit and Pontiac would still be around. That one dumbass decision really changed a LOT about how performance cars went in the 30 years since.

AMC Pacer not coming out ad the innovative FWD/Rotary contraption is was supposed to be. I mean could you imagine? It would have been like a modern Citroen 2CV or Mini Cooper! Unibody, flat floor, asymmetrical doors, FWD with super-cheap and flexible manufacturing, with a berkeleying wankel!

Javelin wrote: 83-88 Ford Thunderbird / Mercury Cougar never coming with the 5.0 HO from the factory. The fox Mustang was an all-time great, the Lincoln Mark VII LSC was a superb luxo-cruiser, and a 5.0 HO TBird would have been a fantastic between-them GT car. Slap on the Turbo Coupe front bumper and interior, plus the suspension and 8.8 LSD rear, and you'd have a killer car. They didn't even need to make a stick version (though that would have been a beef on this had they not).

Umm, they did put the 5.0L in the '83-'88 Cougars and Thunderbirds.

In reply to NickD:

I think he is emphasizing the 'High Output' part of the 5 liter.

NickD wrote:

Javelin wrote: 83-88 Ford Thunderbird / Mercury Cougar never coming with the 5.0 HO from the factory. The fox Mustang was an all-time great, the Lincoln Mark VII LSC was a superb luxo-cruiser, and a 5.0 HO TBird would have been a fantastic between-them GT car. Slap on the Turbo Coupe front bumper and interior, plus the suspension and 8.8 LSD rear, and you'd have a killer car. They didn't even need to make a stick version (though that would have been a beef on this had they not).

Umm, they did put the 5.0L in the '83-'88 Cougars and Thunderbirds.

Yes, but it was a 180hp regular 5.0, not the 210-225hp HO. Of course, had they put in an HO, they would've had to turn up the wick on the Turbo Coupe.

the boxster not getting the more powerful 911 engines

A mod engine vette.

An murican car with a wankel....

snailmont5oh wrote:

NickD wrote:

Javelin wrote: 83-88 Ford Thunderbird / Mercury Cougar never coming with the 5.0 HO from the factory. The fox Mustang was an all-time great, the Lincoln Mark VII LSC was a superb luxo-cruiser, and a 5.0 HO TBird would have been a fantastic between-them GT car. Slap on the Turbo Coupe front bumper and interior, plus the suspension and 8.8 LSD rear, and you'd have a killer car. They didn't even need to make a stick version (though that would have been a beef on this had they not).

Umm, they did put the 5.0L in the '83-'88 Cougars and Thunderbirds.

Yes, but it was a 180hp regular 5.0, not the 210-225hp HO. Of course, had they put in an HO, they would've had to turn up the wick on the Turbo Coupe.

Correct, it was only the 150-175HP S.O. version, further saddled by the same suspension as the V6 model and a 7.5" peg-leg rear axle. The best they did was the EFI 5.0 SO in the 87-88 "Sport" with a console, buckets, and the 8.8 optional (still no LSD). It was a floaty, gutless dog of a car.

Lancia Montecarlo/Scorpion. Here was a car that was designed to have a V6.. and instead got saddled with the 1.8 4 banger from the Fiat Spider/Lancia beta.

Other cars that came so close.. the 914. they should have -never- made the 914-4 and instead developed the 6 to the stillborn 916

In reply to Javelin:

My dad's '88 T-bird Sport had a 7.5 with traction-loc rear. Also, all the other stuff you said. And 14" wheels. :/

NickD wrote:

ultraclyde wrote: There are a few cars that seem like they ought to be a slam dunk but just were never that popular. The Hyundai Genesis V8 coupe and the Chevy SSR come to mind. Rear drive, big power, generally well reviewed, but....what happened?

The SSR was expensive, did nothing well and was pretty slow. Seriously, even the later higher-powered ones won't squeal the tires on a hard acceleration.

Bull, I could do it easily in my SSR.

Also the prowler was amazing for the time it came out, all aluminium chassis and motor, the tranaxle was great. Love them.

How about the SVO Mustangs?

wearymicrobe wrote:

NickD wrote:

ultraclyde wrote: There are a few cars that seem like they ought to be a slam dunk but just were never that popular. The Hyundai Genesis V8 coupe and the Chevy SSR come to mind. Rear drive, big power, generally well reviewed, but....what happened?

The SSR was expensive, did nothing well and was pretty slow. Seriously, even the later higher-powered ones won't squeal the tires on a hard acceleration.

Bull, I could do it easily in my SSR. Also the prowler was amazing for the time it came out, all aluminium chassis and motor, the tranaxle was great. Love them.

I will say this, I was under ten years old when the Prowler showed up at the Detroit auto show. About a year later it was a production car, looking almost exactly the same. I remember saying it was my favorite car at the time because it was a basically a concept car you could buy and drive on the street. That was awesome. My inner child still gets excited when I see one.

Sorta the same deal with the SSR. It was like a real life Hot Wheels car. Plus the first one I ever saw was bright yellow and sounded real mean. Makes a good impression on a 12 year old.

Also, how have we not mentioned the Ford Thunderbird reboot of the year 2002

As much as I like Pontiac Firebird, this would have been way cooler.