Most surprising cars ever created for America

There’s no unwritten rule that states a new car needs to be merely an evolution of its predecessor.

Many are, especially if the outgoing model sold well, but the most interesting cars are often the ones that blaze a new path. Some inaugurate clever features or take a company into a segment it’s never competed in before. Others put an unexpected spin on a familiar concept.

From diesel V8s to the ingenious Midgate, join us for a look at the good and bad oddities created when carmakers dared to think outside of the box in a bid to increase their sales in America.

Nash Metropolitan (1953)

In the 1950s, adopting the “bigger is better” motto was the best way to sell a car in the United States. Nash bucked that trend when it released the 1954 Metropolitan in 1953. It was often purchased as a second car to commute or run errands in and it became America’s first successful subcompact model – a term that didn’t exist yet.

It wasn’t 100% American, though. Fisher and Ludlow manufactured the body and Austin assembled the car in Longbridge, England, before shipping it to the United States.

Chevrolet Corvair (1959)

Rear-engined and air-cooled, the Corvair launched in 1959 for the 1960 model year was unlike any Chevrolet before it. It was also the only American car made during that era to adopt this configuration. Rivals like the Ford Falcon were more conventional front-engined, water-cooled models.

The Corvair quickly found itself on the receiving end of a bitter attack led by safety advocate Ralph Nader (born 1934). He called its rear suspension dangerous and infamously referred to it as a one-car accident. As Chevrolet defended itself in court, the automotive industry gradually moved away from rear-mounted engines and it became clear the configuration had little future. Chevrolet ended Corvair production after the 1969 model year and it has never built another rear-engined car.

Studebaker Lark Wagonaire (1963)

Studebaker knew it needed to stand out from Ford, Chrysler and General Motors in order to stay afloat. Its rivals made pickups and estates but no one had ever combined these two body styles. Sensing an opportunity to strike, designer Brooks Stevens (1911-1995) designed the Lark-based Wagonaire with a roof panel that slid forward to let users easily carry tall items like they would in a pickup.

This was exceptionally clever but leaks tarnished the model’s reputation. The Wagonaire nonetheless remained in production until Studebaker left the automotive industry in 1966. The sliding roof design unexpectedly resurfaced nearly four decades later on an equally short-lived variant of the GMC Envoy.

Chrysler turbine car (1963)

Although Fiat, Rover, General Motors and others experimented with turbine technology on test tracks, Chrysler confidently took it a step further by building about 50 prototypes and putting them in the hands of real-world customers. It hoped to gather valuable information about its fourth-generation drivetrain as it prepared to mass-produce it as an alternative to a V8 engine.

Period documents reveal the hand-selected motorists who received one of the prototypes liked the low-maintenance and vibration-free drivetrain but complained about poor fuel economy and lackadaisical acceleration – 0-60mph took about 12sec, which was excruciatingly slow for motorists used to the torque of a big V8. Chrysler destroyed most of the gorgeous, Ghia-built prototypes after engineers extracted all of the data they could get but work on turbine technology continued into the 1970s.

Sebring-Vanguard CitiCar (1974)

Bob Beaumont (1932-2011), a Chrysler dealer in New York, wisely identified a market for a cheap, electric city car in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis. He founded a company named Sebring-Vanguard in Sebring, Florida, to manufacture and distribute his futuristic vision. The aptly-named CitiCar arrived as a 96in-long two-seater with a wedge-shaped body and a lead-acid battery pack that zapped a 2.5bhp electric motor into motion. Later models received a bigger battery pack and a more powerful motor.

Sebring-Vanguard manufactured about 2300 examples of the CitiCar until it shut down in 1977. The reasons for its demise are murky; some say cheap fuel crushed demand for electric cars while others point to a damning Consumer Reports review that gave the CitiCar a “not acceptable” rating. Commuter Vehicles purchased the rights to the CitiCar, renamed it Comuta-Car, made minor changes to it (including adding 5mph bumper on both ends) and sold it in small numbers until 1982.

Oldsmobile’s diesel engine (1977)

Demand for diesel-powered cars increased significantly during the late 1970s as motorists wanted improved efficiency without downsizing to an economy car. General Motors saw this trend as a golden opportunity to challenge its Japanese and European rivals. It asked its Oldsmobile division to design a naturally-aspirated, 5.7-litre V8 diesel its other divisions could use to power their models. At the time, it stood out as the only eight-cylinder diesel available in a regular-production passenger car.

Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, Oldsmobile (Delta 88 pictured) Pontiac and even Cadillac used the V8 in their cars and trucks starting in the 1978 model year. Diesel-powered cars represented 18% of Oldsmobile’s sales in 1981, according to Hemmings. Reliability issues (including chronic overheating) ruined the engine’s image and it quietly disappeared in 1985. Oldsmobile also briefly offered a 4.3-liter diesel V6.

AMC Eagle (1979)

Subaru arguably pioneered the four-wheel drive passenger car but AMC deserves credit for making it mainstream when it launched the Eagle in 1979 as a 1980 model. On the brink of collapse, it asked England-based FF Developments to create a four-wheel drive system it could install in the Concord. The range initially included two- and four-door saloons and an estate, which quickly became the most popular variant. In hindsight, the Eagle didn’t save AMC but it was far ahead of its time.

Pontiac Fiero (1983)

Pontiac developed the first mass-produced mid-engined car ever made by an American company. Called Fiero, it was envisioned as a smaller, cheaper and more efficient alternative to the Chevrolet Corvette and launched in 1983 as a 1984 model. Early examples weren’t as quick or as fun as they looked, and various problems made them prone to overheating and catching fire, but Pontiac fixed most of the Fiero’s issues for the 1988 model year.

Sales unfortunately ended after 1988 and General Motors didn’t dare venture into mid-engined territory until Chevrolet unveiled the eighth-generation Corvette in 2019.

Dodge Dakota Sport (1989)

Dodge redefined the term “niche” when it joined forces with the American Sunroof Corporation (ASC) to turn the Dakota, its smallest truck, into a cabriolet. ASC chopped off the roof, added a thick roll hoop and topped it with a retractable soft top. Buyers tempted by this unique creation could select a five-speed manual gearbox or a four-speed automatic, and order either two- or four-wheel drive. Dodge sold 2842 units during the 1989 model year, 909 in 1990 and about eight in 1991.

Ford asked ASC to turn the Ranger into a cabriolet, too, but about 20 units were made before the project got axed. This uniquely American niche remained empty until Chevrolet introduced the SSR in 2003. In 2020, it’s occupied by the Wrangler-based Gladiator Jeep launched in 2018.

General Motors EV1 (1996)

General Motors deserves credit for developing the first modern electric car. Introduced in 1996, the EV1 was developed with batteries in mind from the get-go so it wasn’t as compromised as earlier electric models made by the firm and its rivals. It looked like it could have easily slotted into the Saturn range but it stood out as the first and only General Motors car not assigned to a brand.

This small, highly-aerodynamic coupe offered up to 160 miles of driving range in its most capable configuration. General Motors put 1117 cars in the hands of American customers to gather data about electric technology and it clearly warned participants they’d be asked to return the cars sooner or later. Citing economic unviability, the company recalled the entire production run in 2003 and crushed most of them. The battery-powered Chevrolet S-10 released in 1997 used some EV1 parts but General Motors didn’t return to the electric car segment until it began manufacturing the Bolt in 2016.

Plymouth Prowler (1997)

Plymouth’s line-up during the second half of the 1990s consisted of three uninspiring models shared with sister company Dodge: The Neon, the Breeze and the Voyager. As the brand’s tattered image eroded, executives commissioned the Prowler to give motorists a good reason to step into a Plymouth showroom. This life-sized Hot Wheels looked completely out of place next to a range of value-first economy cars and there was nothing else like it on the American market.

In hindsight, the Prowler was too little (or, depending on who you ask, too much), too late. Chrysler closed Plymouth in 2001 and it put its name on the Prowler until production ended in 2002.

Chevrolet Avalanche (2001)

The first-generation Chevrolet Avalanche introduced in 2001 as a 2002 model blurred the line between the Silverado and the Suburban. Whether it needed to be blurred was a topic of debate in the weeks following its introduction. Its party trick was the Midgate, a panel that separated the passenger compartment from the cargo box. Users could remove the partition window, fold down the rear seats and push the panel down to create a cavernous loading compartment unmatched by other trucks.

Sister company GMC surprisingly didn’t receive its version of the Avalanche but Cadillac got it and called it Escalade EXT. Both trucks spawned second-generation models that retired after the 2013 model year.

Lincoln Blackwood (2001)

Lincoln’s entry into the pickup segment wasn’t entirely unexpected; Cadillac had already blazed the path. What took more than a few observers by surprise was how it elbowed its way into the truck market. Naturally starting with a Ford F-150, it copied and pasted the Navigator’s front end before tacking wood-like panels to the sides of the carpet-lined cargo compartment and topping it with a tonneau cover.

In other words, it was largely useless as a truck and offering it exclusively with rear-wheel drive showed a stunning display of foresight. 2002 was its first, last and only model year in the United States, though the Mexican market welcomed it back for the 2003 model year.

GMC Envoy XUV (2004)

GMC didn’t receive a version of the Chevrolet Avalanche because product planners assigned it the Envoy XUV. It was based on the long-wheelbase Envoy but it gained a power-retractable panel over the cargo compartment that transformed it into a pickup at the push of a button. This setup brought the Studebaker Wagonaire’s roof layout into the 21st century. The same Midgate system found in the Avalanche and Cadillac’s Escalade EXT let users knock down the wall between the cargo and the passenger compartments to load bulky items. It was innovative; it was also relatively complex.

The end result was a practical, top-heavy and somewhat awkward-looking SUV that answered a question few buyers asked. GMC sold about 27,000 units of the XUV over two model years.

Honda Ridgeline (2005)

Toyota, Nissan, and Mazda spent decades selling small pickup trucks on the American market while Honda focused on cars and motorbikes. It surprised its rivals by introducing the original Ridgeline at the 2005 edition of the Detroit motor show. It wasn’t a conventional, body-on-frame truck. It arrived as a more lifestyle-oriented model with a unibody architecture and a fittingly unusual design.

In 2020, the Ridgeline is in its second generation and it’s still the only unibody pickup on the American market. Volkswagen experimented with the idea with the Atlas Tanoak concept introduced in 2018 but chose to cancel the project and Hyundai will join the segment when it launches the Santa Cruz in 2021.

Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon (2008)

In the 2000s, Cadillac tried shedding its old-world image to appeal to former owners who had left it for BMW or Mercedes-Benz. It accelerated its Europeanisation program when it introduced the CTS Sport Wagon during the 2008 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Its message couldn’t have been clearer: “Hey, BMW, we can do this, too!” Sales started for the 2010 model year.

The 2010 calendar year brought a CTS-V Sport Wagon (pictured) with a 542bhp, 6.2-litre V8 closely related to the Chevrolet Corvette’s engine. Cadillac had proven its point. Unsurprisingly, the Sport Wagon made up a small sliver of CTS sales so the third-generation model launched in 2013 was sold only as a saloon.

Pontiac G8 Sport Truck (2008)

Pontiac’s renaissance was rooted in performance. Executives wanted to rebuild it as an all-American alternative to BMW by borrowing high-horsepower, rear-wheel drive models from Australia’s Holden. The G8 introduced for the 2008 model year was a Commodore with a Pontiac nose; the fifth-generation GTO was a rebadged Monaro. The G8 Sport Truck should have been an Americanised variant of the Ute with a 356bhp V8 as its only engine option. It would have been the first truck of its kind to turn a wheel in the United States since Chevrolet ended production of the El Camino in 1987.

Pontiac introduced the G8 Sport Truck – a temporary name not destined for production – in 2008 and planned to launch it in the fall of 2009 as a 2010 model. It canceled the truck in 2009, a few short months before parent company General Motors filed for bankruptcy, and it closed its doors in 2010.

Acura ZDX (2009)

Honda-owned Acura arguably created the SUV-coupe segment when it released the ZDX in 2009 as a 2010 model. Developed with the American market in mind, it arrived as a swoopier version of the MDX whose angular front end and rakish roof line left no opinion unsplit. Acura boasted the ZDX was the first car designed entirely but the styling studio it operates in southern California.

Was it too ugly or too far ahead of its time? The jury is still out. What’s certain is annual sales in the United States, its main market by a wide margin, peaked at 3259 units during the 2010 calendar year before embarking on a free fall. Production ended after the 2013 model year but unsold examples lingered on dealer lots until the 2015 model year. And yet, over a decade after its introduction, the SUV-coupe body style is gradually gaining ground around the world.

Lexus LFA (2009)

Lexus, the purveyor of some of the world’s most softly-suspended luxury cars, showed another side of its engineering department when it unveiled the LFA at the 2009 Tokyo motor show. It was developed to run alongside the world’s greatest supercars so nearly every part of it was new, including a 4.8-litre V10 engine designed jointly with Yamaha. It was tuned to send 552bhp to the rear wheels.

500 units of the LFA were made largely by hand between 2010 and 2012 and 178 of those reached the United States, according to most sources. Three new, never-registered examples were sold in America in 2019 by dealers who ordered them and held on to them for various reasons. Lexus has made plenty of performance cars since but it still hasn’t built anything nearly as wild as the LFA.

Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet (2010)

Nissan introduced the Murano CrossCabriolet as “the world’s first all-wheel drive crossover convertible,” an oddly specific term that conveniently circumvented thousands of off-roaders made by Jeep, Land Rover, Toyota and others. While these were all hardcore off-roaders, the Murano had no desire to explore the great outdoors because it was developed as more of a boulevard cruiser.

In the United States, its target market, sales started for the 2011 model year with a base price in the vicinity of $40,000, a sum that represents about £38,000 in 2020 money. If Nissan hoped its competitors would fire back, it was sorely disappointed; they never did. CrossCabriolet production ended after the 2014 model year and the third-generation Murano kept its roof throughout its entire career. Land Rover filled the gap left by the CrossCabriolet when it introduced the Evoque Convertible in 2015.