Failed cars that shouldn't have

[PRC777]

Would it be a crime to say, "Chrysler Crossfire"?
I mean, I still see potential in this thing.

[roosterjuicer]

Rooster, the thread is "failed cars that shouldn't have", not "failed cars that never should have been".

DUH!!!! My mistake!

Okay, i think the SSR and Prowler definitely should have failed and should have never been made!

I dont know if i would say that the NSX is a "failed car" it had a good run for a long time. However, if it did fail, i would say it should have failed because it just ultimately didn't keep up with its competition. I dont think i would say the s2000 failed either.

I would like to change my selection to the consensus and go with the GTO and the g8. I would like add the el camino to the list too. I dont think it failed but they did stop making them and they shouldn't have.

[pimento]

I would like add the el camino to the list too. I dont think it failed but they did stop making them and they shouldn't have.

And then passed up a spiritual successor with the G8 ST (HSV Maloo, essentially)

[culver]

DUH!!!! My mistake!

Okay, i think the SSR and Prowler definitely should have failed and should have never been made!

I dont know if i would say that the NSX is a "failed car" it had a good run for a long time. However, if it did fail, i would say it should have failed because it just ultimately didn't keep up with its competition. I dont think i would say the s2000 failed either.

I would like to change my selection to the consensus and go with the GTO and the g8. I would like add the el camino to the list too. I dont think it failed but they did stop making them and they shouldn't have.

I see no reason why they shouldn't have been made. I always think more choices, especially off the wall choices, is a good thing, not a bad thing. The SSR wasn't a success. The problem was likely the high cost and initially the week 5.3L motor. The later version with the 6.0 and 6spd manual was better but the interior still dated back to GM's less than great interior days.

The Prowler wasn't a failure. It was never meant to sell in high volumes. It sold for a number of years and was a truly unique vehicle. I do wish it had been around long enough to get a HEMI. Still, it wasn't underpowered even in stock form (though it wasn't fast either). Then again you just said it shouldn't have been made, not that it was a failure.

[Ferrer]

Was the Avantime expensive when compared to other vans it competed with?

The Avantime was a Grand Tourer.

To go on a tangent, brands that have failed and shouldn't have:
Lancia. 'nuff said.

Lancia. Oh Lancia...

I sense another long rant coming...

[henk4]

DUH!!!! My mistake!

Okay, i think the SSR and Prowler definitely should have failed and should have never been made!

I am afraid you still have not fully grasped the intention of the thread. It is looking IMHO for cars that for no objective and may be intrinsic reasons failed, inspite of being a great concept. For instance a car like the Austin Balanza 1800.

If I follow your reasonig above regarding the SSR and the Prowler, my list would be very long, starting with the X5, the Cayenne, Q7 and a few more of those behemoths.

[Timothy (in VA)]

I don't think the SSR is a "Failed car that shouldn't have". It was poorly executed and was thus doomed to failure from the get-go. The idea was good, and if it had been built the way it ought to have been built and even then still failed, then I think it would qualify. I think the Chrysler Crossfire falls into the same category - "Failed cars that might not have failed if they had been executed properly in the first place".

The Pontiac G8, in contrast, was by all accounts an excellent sports sedan and deserved to achieve greater success than it actually did. It was the right car at the wrong time.

[Ferrer]

Did the Charger/300 outsell the G8?

[culver]

Did the Charger/300 outsell the G8?

Almost certainly. However, the Chrysler twins were well established and I believe a fair bit cheaper. Also Chrysler made fleet versions of those cars.

[Cobrafan427]

Going back to Lotus trying to go luxury. A perfect little test they could perform is maybe a semi-luxury sport sedan and name it Carlton. They could do what Porsche did and dabble in it like they did w/ the Cayenne but def. stay away from building an SUV. If it works keep goin w/ it, if it doesn't then cut it off and look back later and chuckle about it.

[wwgkd]

You think the scoops were insulting to the GTO name, the Monaro (which is what it was) was a car that started off so slinky and sexual that adding Pontiac ram-air scoops to it is like drilling Eva Green in the face until she has four nostrils. WTF.

It's an amazing thing to consider but Australians and Americans have a very different understanding of what constitutes a muscle car. the G8 you guys received was essentially a model between our Commodore SS and HSV Clubsport, something pretty nifty.

Not insulting to the GTO name, but insulting that they thought that it would fix complaints over styling. They tried to make it look more menacing and instead it looked like you drew frowny eyebrows on your grandmother.

It was a great car, but all we got was the 4 door version which here made it more of a sports sedan (even though a good one) rather than muscle/pony car. It ended up competing with the Chrysler 300, rather than the Mustang and, notably, the Camaro.

Did the Charger/300 outsell the G8?

By a large margin, even in the short time span the G8 was on sale. Some people bought it because it was "newer" than the 300/charger or because of it's own merits, but most didn't because of all the reasons mentioned by culver.

[iwmakemh]

I was going around and found out that the Ford Sierra Cosworth and Ford Scorpio Cosworth were sold in the US under the Merkur name. Now thinking about what I know about the Sierra, this was a good car and offered exceptional performance at a good price. Same story for the Scorpio, which was a bit more luxury oriented. Their downfall may have been that they were ugly in the USDM form, but some may like the odd styling and it is supposed to be a good car, so I've heard. I haven't been in one since they are rare here.

[Dino Scuderia]

I was going around and found out that the Ford Sierra Cosworth and Ford Scorpio Cosworth were sold in the US under the Merkur name. Now thinking about what I know about the Sierra, this was a good car and offered exceptional performance at a good price. Same story for the Scorpio, which was a bit more luxury oriented. Their downfall may have been that they were ugly in the USDM form, but some may like the odd styling and it is supposed to be a good car, so I've heard. I haven't been in one since they are rare here.

Poor marketing...no one could pronounce 'Merkur'....poor quality.

Interiors fell apart, leather cracked prematurely.

Probably too pricey for acceptance at the time too.

XR4Ti was cool. My nephew bought one used and kept it a couple years.

[Timothy (in VA)]

Did the Charger/300 outsell the G8?

Just from my own experience, I'd say definitely. Chargers and 300s are everywhere, but I almost never see G8s.

The Charger/300 were also introduced a few years before the G8 when muscle cars were peaking in popularity and gas was relatively cheap. If the G8 had been introduced in 2004 instead of 2008, the outcome might have been different.

Suddenly I'm wondering what would have happened if GM had used the money it spent on Hummer to instead speed up the introduction of Holdens to the US...

[Ferrer]

The Mopar vs the General flop may also have got to do with the Mopars being very distinctive and the Pontiac not so much.

I have to say, I like the 300.

I was going around and found out that the Ford Sierra Cosworth and Ford Scorpio Cosworth were sold in the US under the Merkur name.

It wasn't the Cosworth. In fact the Merkur spec wasn't sold as an EDM Sierra. The Merkur basically was a turbocharged XR4i, so it was of course faster than it but not as focused as the full blown RS Cosworth.

As for the Scorpio, I'm not sure, but wasn't it just the regular V6, not the Cosworth?