Classic Cars With Surprisingly Short Production Runs
Even great cars can sometimes fail to catch on with the public. Here are some of the most famous (and infamous) cars with short production runs.
Flashes in the Pan
Not all great cars get their day in the sun. Automotive history is littered with promising models that failed to catch on with the public; or met with insurmountable production challenges; or vanished when their company imploded. This list could have been solely comprised of unpopular models with truncated production runs, like the Kia Borrego, but as you’ll see below, some very memorable and famous cars never made it to a second generation, like the DeLorean DMC-12.
Studebaker Avanti
In a desperate bid to save an ailing Studebaker from collapse, CEO Sherwood Egbert devised an audacious plan: build the absolute best car possible, have it ready for the 1962 New York Auto Show, and hope the resulting buzz could change the narrative. Designer Raymond Loewy and his team worked feverishly to get the car done on time. The result was a major step forward for the brand, a boldly styled coupe with a supercharged V8 under the hood. As part of the promotion for the vehicle, Studebaker took an Avanti out to the Bonneville Salt Flats and set a world record for top speed for a production car in 1963 at 168 mph. The Avanti was also the first production car to come standard with four-wheel disc brakes.
Sadly, the Avanti wasn’t enough to save Studebaker, which folded in 1963. The Avanit, however, got a second act with production in Canada continuing through 1966 and continuation cars produced thereafter 2006. The Avanti’s unusual run was short as a production car but long as an automotive oddity.
Mercury Cyclone
The muscle car era was a short one, roughly spanning from 1964 through 1972. Therefore, many muscle and pony cars saw limited runs, with long-lived models like the Ford Mustang and Chevy Camaro the exception not the rule. The Mercury Cyclone was that brand’s pony car entrant, debuting as a variant of the Mercury Comet for 1964. The Comet was Mercury’s version of the Ford Falcon and shared the same underpinnings just like the Mustang, which itself was based on the Falcon platform. Therefore, when the Cyclone was spun off to its own nameplate, it got Mustang powertrains, including the 428 Cobra Jet V8. As a solo nameplate, the Mercury Cyclone saw a scant six years of production, winking out of existence as new fuel economy and smog regulations conspired with rising insurance premiums to spell the end of the muscle car era.
DeLorean DMC-12
The DeLorean DMC-12 is of course best known for its starring turn as Doc Brown’s time machine in Back to the Future. You’re probably vaguely aware that the actual car, the DMC-12, was not a commercial success. In fact, the saga of John DeLorean and the epic boondoggle that was DeLorean Motor Company. After spearheading Pontiac in the early 1960s, including the birth of the GTO, DeLorean set out on his own, founding his eponymous company and recruiting the likes of Giorgetto Giugiaro to design his first car. Production delays and an inexperienced workforce in Norther Ireland hampered quality while DeLorean’s attempt to shore up his finances led him to being entrapped in a cocaine dealing scheme cooked up by his neighbor and the FBI. Though DeLorean eventually cleared his name, his car company was doomed. The DMC-12, as iconic as it now is, was only in production for two years and numbered fewer than 9,000 cars.
Aston Martin Cygnet
The Toyota eQ/Scion iQ is a small all-electric urban runabout. It’s efficiency and modest dimensions feel like a perfect wedding of Japanese aesthetics and practicality. In possibly one of the oddest cases of badge engineering, Toyota licensed the iQ to British performance carmaker Aston Martin. Aston Martin swapped in a 1.3L four-cylinder motor good for 58.9 mpg. Indeed, meeting fuel economy regulations was the entire point of the exercise, but the Cygnet was a sales flop, selling roughly 150 units in its target market of the UK and fewer than 600 elsewhere in Europe. After two rough years, Aston Martin canceled the Cygnet.
Volkswagen Phaeton
Some cars are just too good, too radically over-engineered to be fully appreciated when they were in production. Volkswagen’s chairman Ferdinand Piech was never one to rest on his laurels and in the early 2000s he conceived of a new project, a Volkswagen to not just rival but surpass Mercedes and BMW. The Phaeton, with its W12 and V10 diesel motors, four-wheel drive, and sumptuous interior, was every bit the epitome of German luxury. Too bad the American VW buyer felt its hefty price tag was very un-Volkswagen. After three disappointing model years in North American, Volkswagen canceled the Phaeton for the US market (though it would continue to struggle on other markets through 2016).
Edsel
Ford’s short-lived mid-market brand Edsel has become a cautionary tale of corporate hubris, excessive market hype, and management by committee. In the late 1950s, Ford’s Henry Ford II wanted a new brand to take on semi-luxury rivals like GM’s Buick division. The last thing he wanted was to name it after his father, Henry Ford’s son Edsel. But round after round in the marketing department failed to deliver a suitable alternative and eventually Henry II acceded to the Edsel moniker. Unfortunately, the brand flopped. The Edsel, like many cars of the time, erred too far into garishness, incorporating not just the standard fins and chrome but all manner of experimental elements, the most infamous of the Edsel’s being the horse collar grille (some critics likening it to a toilet seat). The overbaked styling and middling quality saw the Edsel line come in well below expectations and the brand was eliminated after just two years of production.
Pontiac G8
Pontiac in the early 2000s was a confused brand. Did it still stand for performance? As seen in the badge engineered rebirth of the GTO. Or was it a family friendly adventure brand evidenced by the way-ahead-of-its-time Aztek? Even as the walls were closing in, Pontiac was still doing interesting things. Not only did they bring over the Holden Morano (from GM’s Australian division) as an LS-equipped GTO, but they also shipped over the Holden Commodore sporting its own 6.2L LS3 V8. Sadly, one of our favorite sleeper cars of all time was only able to get two production years before GM folded the Pontiac brand as part of their restructuring in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
Dodge Charger Daytona & Plymouth Superbird
Some cars on this list were short-lived due to a lack of success, but the Dodge Daytona Charger and Plymouth Superbird are the exception in that they became victims of their success. Collectively, the Daytona Charger and Superbird were Chrysler’s “aero cars.” Their nose cones and giant rear wings allowed them to dominate NASCAR’s 1969 and 1970 seasons. In fact, they were so dominant NASCAR changed the displacement rules, effectively rendering the aero twins obsolete. Because they were built for homologation purposes, when the racing versions of the Daytona Charger and Superbird were canceled, so were their production car versions.
Lincoln Blackwood
One of the shortest-lived models of all time is the Lincoln Blackwood. The last two decades have seen the once humble ½-ton pickup transition from workhorse to semi-luxury daily driver. The Lincoln Blackwood presaged this pivot as Lincoln’s luxury-level pickup truck. The Blackwood seems like it should have worked. Cadillac’s Escalade EXT pickup debuted the same year and saw two generations and over ten years of production. Meanwhile, Lincoln’s Blackwood failed to make it past its debut year. A carpet-line cargo bed, RWD-only powertrain, and a permanent, powered tonneau cover severely curtailed any actual utility the Blackwood might have had.
Jaguar XKSS
Most of the time, “racecars for the road” are homologation cars built to meet racing regulations that set a minimum of production car equivalents. The Jaguar XKSS had an opposite trajectory; it started as a racecar and when the racing was done Jaguar took those remaining D-Types and converted them into road cars. Just 16 Jaguar XKSSs were completed in their only year of “production,” 1957. Another nine continuation cars were built by Jaguar in 2016 to honor the original.
Tucker 48
The story of Preston Tucker is literally the stuff of automotive legend. Was he a misunderstood genius done in by sabotage by Detroit’s Big Three or was he a charismatic huckster selling the 1940s version of vaporware? However, you answer that central question, it’s indisputable that the Tucker 48 was far ahead of its time. Tucker pitched the 48 as the “first new design in 50 years,” implementing revolutionary designs like a pivoting center headlight, aiming for a flat-six motor with hydraulic lifters, and numerous safety advances like a padded dash and pop-out windshield. Not all those innovations made it through rocky production (the flat-six was replaced by a helicopter engine built by Air-Cooled Motors). Just around 50 cars were completed (reports vary) as Tucker’s company was swamped by charges of fraud by the SEC. Though Tucker eventually won in court, his car company didn’t survive.
