Concept cars that looked much better than their production counterparts

[GT Pro]

For me, there's nothing worse than being told by an auto-manufacturer that the concept that they've wowed you for months with is heading to production, only to find out that they've destroyed any traces of uniqueness and flare of the original concept design.

Nissan Sports Concept '05

This vehicle looked amazing as a potential successor to the hot Pulsar GTI-R hatch of the early 90's. Pity they destroyed it:

Nissan Tiida

Go ahead and list cars you thought looked much better in concept form than production.

Jaguar C-XF Concept '07

Turns out the headlights cost a little too much (8k for the pair) to produce and so we were left with this:

Jaguar XF '08

Not bad at all, but nowhere near as good as the original.

 

[Turbo Lag]

Evo X Concept to production. Not saying the production looks bad, but that concept is pure awesome.

 

[Jim Prower]

Sexy. Swoopy. Maserati V8

Fat. Unhappy. Alfa V6.

What happened?

 

[Leonidae]

Alfa is part of Fiat. that's what happened. they couldn't have an Alfa competing with Ferrari or Maserati.

MX-5 hardtop coupe.

 

[Boffin]

Jaguar C-XF Concept '07

Turns out the headlights cost a little too much (8k for the pair) to produce and so we were left with this:
Jaguar XF '08

Not bad at all, but nowhere near as good as the original.

Is it me or do those Jags look awefully like a Chevy? hahah

 

[daan]

Everything looks better as a concept.

Concept cars have stuff that could not be produced due to expense or impracticality. As an example, every concept has bigger wheels, more expensive alloys and fancy mirrors that the production car will not have.

 

[boiltheocean]

Everything looks better as a concept.

Concept cars have stuff that could not be produced due to expense or impracticality. As an example, every concept has bigger wheels, more expensive alloys and fancy mirrors that the production car will not have.

Took the words off my Keyboard.

 

[TheCracker]

Alfa is part of Fiat. that's what happened. they couldn't have an Alfa competing with Ferrari or Maserati.

How do you explain the 8C then?

 

[Rotary Junkie]

The insult comes in the things that they changed that they COULD have left alone and sent into production... Like that EvoX concept. Wheels and mirrors aside it appears mostly production-ready.

 

[TheCracker]

The insult comes in the things that they changed that they COULD have left alone and sent into production... Like that EvoX concept. Wheels and mirrors aside it appears mostly production-ready.

That could be down to a whole host of practical reasons. Perhaps it doesn't meet crash regulations, maybe the lights are not effective enough, it's possible that the cabin is too dark also with such a small glass area etc etc.

 

[MarinaDiamandis]

How do you explain the 8C then?

The 8C isn't much of a goer, more of a looker. Most Ferraris and Maseratis seem to be less about looks and more about performance.

 

[Philly]

To this:

 

[TheCracker]

The 8C isn't much of a goer, more of a looker. Most Ferraris and Maseratis seem to be less about looks and more about performance.

Really?

450bhp, 0-60 in 4.2, 0-100 in 9.3 and a top speed of 181mph all sound like serious performance figures to me. Perhaps not quite as much as a goer as a F430 Scud, but certainly equal to, or more than, any proper Maserati.

 

[Philly]

With those numbers, and the looks of the car, it's still more of a looker than a goer.

Those numbers are impressive, but it just looks so good...

 

[Tornado]

I thought the 8C was supposed to be an Aston competitor anyways

MX-5 hardtop coupe.

I thought they did build that. Only just for the JDM. Am I wrong?

I always thought Chrysler was really good at making their concept cars streetable, usually with the rare concessions that were made actually being improvements. The Crossfire completely dropped the ball, though.
I know that Chrysler could not possibly have built such a complex car design for anything related to cheap, but when they had to nix the most notable and well recieved feature of the concept car you have to wonder what the point of the whole excercise was.

 

[Leonidae]

I thought they did build that. Only just for the JDM. Am I wrong?

I haven't found any mentions of it being anything else than concept in some car show.

 

[Tornado]

There was one in Drift 2. Not that that means anything, but I was just wondering.

 

[Beerz]

This is a pretty cool thread. 👍

I'll be sure to contribute with a couple of cars as soon as I get home from work.


And I have to agree with the Evo X comment, looked absolutely fantastic as a concept, and is only very good looking as a production model.

 

[MarinaDiamandis]

Really?

450bhp, 0-60 in 4.2, 0-100 in 9.3 and a top speed of 181mph all sound like serious performance figures to me. Perhaps not quite as much as a goer as a F430 Scud, but certainly equal to, or more than, any proper Maserati.

The cornering isn't the best, which is what I was hinting at. The straight-line figures aren't THAT impressive compared to other cars in the same price range.

 

[Duke]

To this:

The final product actually looks better.

 

[YSSMAN]

I guess I've got one that's both a success and a failure:

I like the looks of the GXP Targa (silver), but the overall looks of the coupe concept (orange) looked much better.

 

[Tornado]

I disagree. I think the changes that were made actually makes the final car look better.

 

[YSSMAN]

Thats why I said it was a bit of both. Having seen the production "coupe" (actually, a targa) in person, it looks great. I just wish they could have kept the really curvy lines that the concept had. Otherwise, the GXP nose fits the overall shape much better.

*sigh*

I still wish they would have built the Cherolet Nomad.

 

[mPWRD]

This is just my opinion...

I personally would have loved the le mans quattro concept... not to mention this:

 

[homeforsummer]

I thought they did build that. Only just for the JDM. Am I wrong?

As far as I'm aware, you're correct. EVO tested one in 2004, and you'll see in that test they have photos of a few different ones. If you google the car, you'll find even more versions of it, including the absolutely gorgeous TS concept:

Why Mazda chose not to export them is completely beyond me. An NA/NB MX-5 without the faff of a soft-top? Just about the perfect car.

 

[eiriksmil]

To..

And that's a hot model..

 

[Beerz]

Wow, quite the change!

 

[homeforsummer]

Srsly guys stop using netcarshow pictures. They really don't seem to like hotlinking mmkay?

 

[Beerz]

So... The Vette looking thing wasn't actually the concept-car car that ended up being the Altea?

 

[Tornado]

This is just my opinion...

I know you mentioned it to be your opinion, but: What exactly did they change?