From the right idea at the wrong time to the
ridiculous and unsightly, these well-intended cars were good for little other
than being a lesson learnt for their creators
1 - Ford Edsel
Ford developed the Edsel in the late 1950s in a bid to claw
back market share from GM and Chrysler. It seemed a sound idea, but the timing
and execution made it the ideal case study for every mistake a manufacturer
could make with a model line.
Not only was the newcomer named after a person with whom few
were familiar - Henry Ford’s grandson, Edsel B Ford - but the car was a
Frankensteinian amalgam of bits from other Fords with clumsy styling elements
that confused some (the indicators were arrow-shaped and illuminated in the opposite
direction to the turn) and offended others (the narrow, upright grille looked
particularly inappropriate).
Other maladies included quality issues, the fact that the
Edsel was launched on the eve of a major economic recession and the car’s
steering-wheel-boss-mounted transmission buttons that often saw drivers
shifting gears when trying to sound the horn. Most devastatingly, the Edsel was
priced uncomfortably close to more recognizable rivals, and it came as little
surprise when the car was canned in 1960. The venture cost Ford an eye-watering
$350 million - $3 billion in current terms.
Ford Edsel
2 - Alfa Romeo Arna
An Italian motoring firm renowned for its flair and passion
teaming up with a Japanese paragon of clinical reliability - it sounded like a
match made in heaven, but alas, it wasn’t. In 1980, the joint venture agreement
that formed Alfa Romeo Nissan Autoveicoli S.p.A. (Arna) came to fruition and
work commenced on a potential landmark compact hatchback. Based on the dowdy
Nissan Cherry, the Arna was fitted with the engine and transmission from the
notoriously unreliable Alfasud and assembled, in a rather lackadaisical
fashion, near Naples. The result of the ill- conceived enterprise was probably
Alfa’s dourest creation and it was plagued with reliability issues. Only 53,000
were built before both parties decided to call it quits.
Alfa Romeo Arna
3 - Pontiac Aztek
Production costs dictate that showroom versions of concept
cars are watered down in terms of aesthetic execution, but the Aztek’s departure
from its striking design study resulted in possibly the ugliest car ever
penned. GM designer Tom Peters, who went on to design the C7 Corvette, said:
“We wanted to do a bold vehicle that wasn’t for everybody.”
If anything, the Aztek was hardly for anybody; it looked as
though it had driven into a tornado full of machetes. Although reliable and
fundamentally not a bad car, the styling and humdrum minivan underpinnings
meant just 91,000 were sold in seven years when projections called for annual
sales of 75,000.
Pontiac Aztek
4 - Renault Avantime
Daringly styled, the Avantime attempted to meld the virtues
of an MPV with the appeal of a sports-car.
It didn’t perform or handle anything like a sports-car,
while its coupe design meant that the rear was suited for only two passengers.
The fact that the Avantime’s arrival coincided with that of its similarly
oddball sibling, the Vel Satis, further eroded its market share and when
technical partner Matra pulled the plug in 2003, Renault followed suit.
Renault Avantime
5 - Jaguar XJ220
With its top speed of 343 km/h, the XJ220 was once regarded
the fastest production car in the world, but in many respects the
knee-tremblingly gorgeous supercar was a huge let-down. When a V12-engined, AWD
prototype was exhibited at the 1988 Birmingham Motor Show, would-be buyers
placed huge deposits to order what they thought would be production facsimiles.
However, emissions legislation saw the V12 replaced with a
twin-turbo V6 that drove the rear wheels only.
Although more powerful than the V12, the V6 dented the
XJ220’s appeal because it suffered from monumental turbo lag and the Superjag’s
sticker price rose to $604,500. The many who’d placed deposits were
contractually obliged to complete their purchase. Some were so desperate that
they opted to buy themselves out of their contracts.
Jaguar XJ220
