The Forgotten Cars Thread

[TexRex]

I want to love W-body Cutty convertibles but the tops look blown out. They look great with the top down but not enough to compensate. Still love the coupes.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

I want to love W-body Cutty convertibles but the tops look blown out. They look great with the top down but not enough to compensate. Still love the coupes.

Honestly, I prefer the coupes myself. Though I tend the prefer the coupe variant on cars like this in general, I never been much of a convertible guy. Well, unless was made a convertible at the start like a Mazda MX-5 Miata or Honda S2000 as examples.

 

[TexRex]

Honestly, I prefer the coupes myself. Though I tend the prefer the coupe variant on cars like this in general, I never been much of a convertible guy. Well, unless was made a convertible at the start like a Mazda MX-5 Miata or Honda S2000 as examples.

I'm a sucker for the rollover bar. Plus I just think the lines are very well resolved with the top down. The rear glass section on the coupe is a little awkward (not enough for me to dislike it!) but the convertible top is so awkward when it's up.

Give me a '91 coupe with the LQ1 DOHC 3.4 and Getrag 284. The only year that powertrain combination was available before the facelift. That motor is finicky though so the seller had to have cared for it.

 

[JC_Dude]

A fairly recent vehicle that I forgot about until I saw one on the road yesterday night is the W177 Mercedes-Benz A-Class sedan. At least in North America, it had a rather short run from 2019 to 2022. Mercedes decided to let several of their vehicles overlap each other in the lineup for some reason.

Same goes for the last/third generation CLS-Class (C257). The first and second generations were rather popular when they came out, but the third generation fizzled out without much fanfare. 2019-2023

I always vastly prefered the look of the A Class sedan over the CLA, which the sedan was killed in favour of. The CLS meanwhile lost its identity. It used to be a very distinct model in the lineup, but the 3rd gen looked very generic. It didn't help the AMG GT 4 door was occupying the same segment.

 

[MedigoFlame]

Was talking to a friend about modern Minis and remembered the Mini Paceman existed for a rather brief 4-year stint. 2013-2016 model years only. The 3-door Mini Countryman that no one really asked for.

 

[MisterWaffles]

Was talking to a friend about modern Minis and remembered the Mini Paceman existed for a rather brief 4-year stint. 2013-2016 model years only. The 3-door Mini Countryman that no one really asked for.

I actually really like the sloping rear end of that, with a JCW variant it would have looked really sporty.

 

[TheCracker]

Was talking to a friend about modern Minis and remembered the Mini Paceman existed for a rather brief 4-year stint. 2013-2016 model years only. The 3-door Mini Countryman that no one really asked for.

Back when BMW were throwing out every conceivable variation of Mini they could imagine and seeing what variants sticked. Mini, the ADHD era.

 

[05XR8]

I haven’t seen one of those. However, I still see these. There’s one that I see from time to time at a winery next door to me.

 

[-Fred-]

I haven't seen one of those in a while, they weren't very popular over here.

 

[TexRex]

I haven’t seen one of those. However, I still see these. There’s one that I see from time to time at a winery next door to me.

 

[VinylRichie]

Lesser known South Korean car company Daewoo Motors sold their cars in the US. Unfortunately not only did they face its native competitors Hyundai & Kia, but the untouchable Japanese car companies that were dominating the compact & midsize car segments at that time. Only 3 models were sold.

Lanos

Nubira

Leganza

To no one's surprise they were a commercial & critical failure due to their cheap build quality and questionable reliability which explains how Daewoo never held a candle to its competition and they sorta felt more like the successor to their LeMans/Racer as their sales sunk and withdrew from the US in 2002.

Aside from their build quality, I actually liked their design

 

[GranTurNismo]

Alfa Romeo Arna (1983-1987): only ~50,000 units. Some speculate that this car--a joint venture between Alfa Romeo and Nissan to create a budget car for the brand--is completely extinct today, with none still on the roads anywhere in Europe.

3rd-gen (2002-2004) Oldsmobile Bravada: 24,689 units.

Dodge Monaco (1990-1992): ~20,000 units for this placeholder model, and its sibling the Eagle Premier outsold it 4:1.

Saturn Astra (2008-2009): 18,256 units, with almost half (~9000) being sold in Illinois and Wisconsin, where Saturn dealer networks were strongest. The 3-door models were much rarer than the 5-door ones, though I cannot find sales figures.

Lancia Thesis (2001-2009): only ~16,000 units made in its 9-year production run.

Jaguar X-Type Sportwagon (2004-2009): only ~11,000 units, 1,587 of which were sold in the United States.

US-spec Alfa Romeo 164 (1989-1995): only ~3,500 units.

Cadillac ELR (2014-2016): only 2,956 units.

Pontiac Sunbird 2-door wagon (1978-1979): only 2,902 units.

Mazda Protege MazdaSpeed (only made in 2003): ~2,500 units.

Facelifted (made in 2004 only) Mitsubishi Diamante: only ~1,800 units.

Pontiac Solstice Coupe (2009-2010): 1,266 units.

Hybrid (made in 2008 only) Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen: only ~800 units, combined.

2nd-gen Kia K900 (2019-2020): only 790 units.

Citroen ZX 2.0 16V (1996-1998): only 558 units for the only exciting trim of the ZX.

Chevrolet Cobalt SS Turbocharged Sedan (made in 2009 only): 429 units.

Volvo V70 R-Design (made in 2010 only, US spec): only 388 units.

Rover 75 V8 (2005-2006): only 166 units for these Mustang-engined, rear-wheel drive (despite being based on a FWD platform) luxury saloons.

Coda EV (made in 2012 only): 117 units, all of which were sold in California.

Mitsubishi Dignity (2000-2001): only 59 units. The funny part was, Mitsubishi expected to sell 300 of them... per month, because its main rival, the Toyota Century, sold roughly 300 units per month and the Dignity was slightly less expensive.

Mitsubishi Pistachio (made in 1999 only): only 50 units; this was more or less a non-Kei version of the Minica, and only sold in Japan. All were sold to "environmentally conscious authorities and public corporations" and only had a 3-liter fuel tank.

2nd-gen Saab 9-5 SportKombi (made in 2011 only): a whopping 32 units.

 

[ScottPuss20]

Volvo V70 R-Design (made in 2010 only, US spec): only 388 units.

View attachment 1494566

This is one of the best looking wagons I've ever seen

 

[TheCracker]

Alfa Romeo Arna (1983-1987): only ~50,000 units. Some speculate that this car--a joint venture between Alfa Romeo and Nissan to create a budget car for the brand--is completely extinct today, with none still on the roads anywhere in Europe.

View attachment 1494550

Pretty sure i've already said this on GTP at some point, but this was the worst. concept. ever. 80's Japanese styling with 80's Italian build quality.

 

[Wiegert]

There's at least one functional Arna left in the UK and more than half a dozen for sale in Europe that appear to be roadworthy. Somehow.

 

[05XR8]

Yeah, not a fan of the vertical wedges.