Before & after: concept cars that went wrong in production

Concept cars sometimes predict the future in a distorted way.

By definition, a concept car explores the paths auto-makers can take as they forge their next design identity. Some are created merely to turn heads on the auto show circuit while others preview what’s next. Key styling cues and dramatic lines often get watered down or completely lost, however.

Join us as we look at how striking design studies changed as they navigated towards mass production:

Concept car: Ford Mustang Mach III (1992)

Ford nearly re-invented the Mustang on a front-wheel drive platform borrowed from Mazda. When enthusiasts protested, the firm started working on a proper, rear-wheel drive replacement for the third-generation car. It previewed the first all-new Mustang since 1978 with a concept car called Mach III shown in January 1993 at the Detroit and Los Angeles auto shows.

Ford allegedly chose the venue to steal GM’s thunder; the then-new Pontiac Firebird and Chevrolet Camaro were among the shows’ stars.

Production car: Ford Mustang (fourth-generation, 1993)

The fourth-generation Ford Mustang finally made its debut in late 1993. Its softer, more rounded design subtly borrowed styling cues like the scoops behind the doors and the distinctive shape of the rear lights from the Mach III concept but it looked considerably less futuristic – and, thankfully, much lower to the ground.

It marked a significant step forward from the third-generation car in terms of style, substance and power, however.

Concept car: Pontiac Sunfire (1994)

The Sunfire concept explored what was possible when Pontiac let a sports car like the Firebird influence an entry-level model. The head-turning sheet metal hid a four-cylinder engine supercharged to place 241 HP under the driver’s right foot, an impressive figure during the mid-1990s.

It looked a little Hot Wheels-esque, and few realistically expected it would reach production untouched, but it promised good things for Pontiac’s next generation of entry-level models. Was the brand's search for relevance over?

Production car: Pontiac Sunfire (1995)

The excitement surrounding the Pontiac Sunfire concept faded as soon as the production model arrived in 1995. It was merely a Chevrolet Cavalier with Pontiac-specific front and rear fascias and different plastic cladding on the sides. To its credit, the brand added a convertible model to the line-up.

It’s a shame that it held little appeal beyond giving motorists the possibility to drive with the top down without spending a lot of money.

Concept car: Micro Compact (1996)

No one knew quite what to make of the Micro Compact concept shown in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia. Was it an actual car that dealerships would one day be able to sell or was it a preview of the Toys R Us Christmas catalog? While many would have placed money on the second option, Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler soon made plans to bring the model to production.

Three more concepts followed the Micro Compact. The Modular Concept Car unveiled at the 1996 Paris auto show looked a lot like the Micro Compact but it gained doors and a two-tone paint job that highlighted the safety cell, a feature that continues to characterize the ForTwo in 2018. The City Fashion Victim from 1997 and the Torino ’98 concept were more accurate previews of the production car.

Production car: Smart City-Coupe (1998)

Smart made slight tweaks to the shape of the Micro Compact Car concept as it created the City-Coupe but the basic mono-box silhouette stayed roughly the same. The front end got a less robot-like design that incorporated almond-shaped headlights. Designers dusted off the Micro Compact Car’s trapezoidal lights when they gave the car a facelift in 2001.

Concept car: Plymouth Pronto concept (1997)

Plymouth presented the Pronto concept in 1997 as a new kind of economy car. The designers drew it for a younger generation of buyers by giving it styling that stood out from anything else on the market at the time with the notable exception of Plymouth’s own Prowler. They lowered its price by cutting down on equipment – the concept came with wind-up windows – and by making it simple to assemble. All told, the Pronto was poised to rejuvenate Plymouth’s image.

Production car: Chrysler PT Cruiser (2000)

Chrysler shut down Plymouth and alchemized the Pronto concept into the PT Cruiser during the late 1990s. The basic premise stayed the same, it was a four-door economy car developed not to look or feel like one, but nearly everything else changed. Stylists took the design in a retro direction previewed by the Pronto Cruizer concept and product planners added more features to better integrate the model into the more upmarket Chrysler line-up.

Concept car: Citroën C-3 (1998)

Citroën explained the C-3 concept illustrated what city cars could look like in the 21st century. Unveiled at the 1998 Paris auto show, the last edition of the event before the turn of the millennium, the concept stood out with a shapely design characterized by a rounded front end and a 2CV-like arched roof line.

Suicide doors provided unobstructed access to an interior that could be configured in a wide variety of different ways. Parked next to a humble Saxo, the car it was intended to replace, the C-3 made the future look utterly attractive.

Production car: Citroën C3 (first-generation, 2002)

Citroën retained the C-3 concept’s basic silhouette but erased the finer details and filled them in differently. Though it didn’t have suicide doors or a trick two-part tailgate, the first-generation C3 unveiled in 2002 managed to stand out in a segment where few entrants put any kind of emphasis on design.

The arched roof line was such a hit that it returned on the second-generation model introduced over a decade after the C-3 concept.

Concept car: Toyota FTX (2004)

The public and the press lambasted Toyota for making the original Tundra too small. The company responded with the FTX concept introduced at the 2004 Detroit auto show. The Japanese firm described the design study as “a statement that promises the brute power to match its bold styling and ample proportions,” a not-so-subtle hint that it had clearly received the message about the Tundra’s size.

Elephantine dimensions and flared wheel arches emphasized the Tonka truck-like design. It wasn’t what you expected to see in a Toyota showroom next to a Prius. And yet, it went relatively easy on the environment thanks to a V8-electric hybrid powertrain. “It’s a statement we mean to back up,” the company added.

Production car: Toyota Tundra (second-generation, 2006)

In some ways, the FTX concept accurately previewed the second-generation Toyota Tundra revealed at the 2006 Chicago auto show. The truck was bigger than its predecessor, though Toyota still didn’t offer a dually option, and it wore a brawnier design.

It wasn’t quite as big or quite as futuristic as the FTX concept, for better or worse, and the hybrid powertrain remained at the prototype stage. Though it’s the world’s hybrid leader, as of 2019 Toyota has yet to release a series-produced hybrid pickup, though rumors are we'll get one in 2021 when a new-generation Tundra arrives.

Concept car: Chevrolet Beat (2007)

The Beat was part of Chevrolet’s three-concept offensive at the 2007 New York auto show. With eye-catching green paint, a muscular stance and a high-tech interior, the two-door design study demonstrated that a small city car didn’t needed to look or feel cheap.

Production car: Chevrolet Spark (2009)

The Beat concept lost its pizzazz on its way to production. Introduced as the Chevrolet Spark in 2009, it looked markedly less athletic than the design study that previewed it, it grew a set of rear doors and it came with a decidedly more downmarket interior. Buyers could order it in metallic green, though.

Concept car: Chevrolet Volt (2007)

At first glance, the 2007 Chevrolet Volt concept stood out with muscular styling that almost made it look like a four-door Camaro. The sheet metal hid an innovative hybrid drivetrain made up of a lithium-ion battery pack and a 1.0-liter combustion engine used to generate electricity when needed. Chevrolet suggested the Volt could also receive a hydrogen-powered drivetrain.

When it made its debut, the Volt stood out as one of the most forward-thinking cars in Chevrolet’s history. Many speculated General Motors executives would never dare give the concept the proverbial green light for production.

Production car: Chevrolet Volt (2008)

The naysayers were mostly correct. The production version of the Chevrolet Volt unveiled in 2008 looked nothing like the concept car. Prius genes masked nearly every ounce of the concept's boldness. Chevrolet acknowledged the differences and said adopting a softer shape was necessary to make the Volt more efficient by greatly reducing its drag coefficient.

Concept car: Pininfarina B0 (2008)

Pininfarina and French firm Bolloré teamed up to create the B0 concept unveiled at the 2008 Paris auto show. It was a four-door electric city car capable of delivering brisk performance – it did 0-60mph in 6.3secs – and characterized by a light-up front end drawn with an eye on the future. If series-produced, the B0 would have been several years ahead of its time.

Production car: Bolloré BlueCar (2011)

Pininfarina and Bolloré took their collaboration a step further when they announced plans to mass-produce an electric car. They looked at what made the B0 alluring and went in the exact opposite direction. The end result was the BlueCar, a memorably shoddy and truly odd-looking car whose only saving grace was the rising popularity of car-sharing programs around the world.

In Paris, the Autolib’ program followed the same path as the B0’s design as the BlueCars gradually morphed into shelters for the homeless, mobile toilets for partiers walking home late from the bar and big, gray garbage bins on wheels.

Concept car: Suzuki Kizashi 3 (2008)

In 2007, Suzuki introduced a series of Kizashi-badged concept cars that illustrated how it could make the models in its portfolio sporty and appealing. These words had rarely been used in the same sentence as the name Suzuki, a brand known more for affordability than desirability. The Kizashi 3 unveiled at the 2008 New York auto show completed the concept car trifecta with a 300 HP V6 and unusually muscular proportions.

Production car: Suzuki Kizashi (2009)

Presented as Suzuki’s flagship, the regular-production Kizashi shared little more than a name with the concept car that previewed it. To be fair, few people expected the Kizashi 3 concept to reach production untouched and the Kizashi nonetheless earned praise as one of Suzuki’s best cars ever. It completely missed its target, however, and it accelerated Suzuki’s decision to withdraw from the American market in 2012.

Concept car: Toyota C-HR (2014)

Toyota previewed its entry into the booming city SUV segment with the C-HR concept. Rugged and athletic, the C-HR (a name which stood for compact high-rider) looked like the unlikely offspring of a GT86 and a Baja 1000 truck and, somehow, it worked. It signaled Toyota was about to bring charisma to a segment that had mostly lacked it since its inception.

Production car: Toyota C-HR (2016)

Take one look at the series-produced Toyota C-HR and you’ll wonder where the design team went and why it never came back. It’s vaguely reminiscent of the concept but it sits much lower (a high-rider, this is not) and it grew a front overhang you could fit Monaco on. Embedding the rear door handles right below the roof line doesn’t do much to hide the fact that the C-HR has four doors.

However, it means kids will need to ask their parents to open the rear doors until they are tall enough to reach them.

Concept car: Citroën Cactus M (2015)

For a brand with such a vast and illustrious heritage, Citroën keeps surprising us by not releasing a full-on retro-inspired model. It hinted at one with the Cactus M concept shown at the 2015 Frankfurt auto show. The beach-friendly design study was a heritage-laced tribute to the Mehari that was based on the likeable C4 Cactus SUV.

Production car: Citroën e-Mehari (2015)

The Citroën e-Mehari looks like the kiddie car version of the Cactus M concept. It’s built like one, too. That’s because, unlike the concept that previewed it, it’s not based on the C4 Cactus at all. It’s a Bolloré BlueSummer onto which someone grafted a Citroën front end that’s a size too big. Mechanically, it's related to the BlueCar.

Concept car: Subaru Impreza Sedan (2015)

With the 2015 Impreza Sedan concept, Subaru inaugurated a design language called Dynamic x Solid that it promised would influence the rest of the line-up in the following years. Applied to the Impreza, the stylistic code created a four-door with a fluid design that leaned more towards performance than utility. Was Subaru on the cusp of a styling revolution?

Production car: Subaru Impreza (fifth generation, 2016)

The Subaru Impreza Sedan concept was too good to be true. Stylists took the fifth-generation Impreza in a far less daring direction. One of the few styling cues that made the transition from the concept to the production model is the C-shaped insert in each headlight. Subaru told Autocar the shape echoes the engine’s flat-four configuration.