Published: October 22, 2020, 1:05 AM
Updated: October 11, 2021, 10:10 AM
Lost to history
Just two decades into this century, several new car models have not only appeared on the market since the turn of the millennium but disappeared from it, too. Not just reinvented under another name, but totally gone! Here’s a look at 30 examples you may remember.
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Derived from a retro-styled concept car called the Pronto Cruizer, which made its debut at the 1999 Geneva Auto Show, Chrysler's funky PT Cruiser was the flavour of the day, until it wasn’t. Priced for the masses, as the successor to the Dodge/Plymouth Neon, it gained immediate popularity and sold more than 1-million units before being discontinued a decade later.
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Pontiac Aztek (2001-2005)
Few vehicles have become as quickly and universally rejected by both critics and the market for which it was intended as Pontiac’s Aztec. A poster-child for design by committee and market study, its ungainly appearance made it the 21st-century Edsel. GM put it out of our misery after just four years.
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Jaguar X-Type (2001-2009)
The X-Type was Jaguar’s first contemporary entry into the luxury compact market intended to compete with the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. It was conceived during Ford’s tenure in control of the British marque, however, and thus had to share its platform and many mechanicals with the lowly Ford Mondeo. Jaguar devotees didn’t approve and stayed away in droves.
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Ford Thunderbird (2002-2005)
The 11th generation of Ford’s iconic Thunderbird was intended as a modern interpretation of the original two-seater concept and it hit the mark aesthetically. But it didn’t capture the public’s imagination the way the first one did so the resurrection of the iconic marque was short-lived.
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Honda Element (2003-2011)
For something completely different, Honda offered the Element, often jokingly referred to as the box it came in. The rectilinear Element, with opposing side doors that opened to create one large opening on each side, was intended to combine the practical elements of an SUV and a pickup truck. It did establish something of a cult following but the cult wasn’t big enough to keep it in production.
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Mazda RX-8 (2003-2012)
The RX-8 was the last hurrah for the rotary engine, championed by Mazda since the 1960s - or so we thought. As a successor to three generations of RX-7, its two-and-two-half-door configuration broke the conventional sports-car mold, alienating some potential buyers, and ever-tightening emissions regulations spelled the end for the high-revving rotary engine, at least for a time. Rumors suggest that another Mazda rotary is in the works as a range-extender engine for a forthcoming hybrid.
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Pontiac Vibe (2003-2010)
The compact Vibe was both one of the most attractive and most popular Pontiac models over the latter years of that brand, perhaps because it was based on and shared most of its componentry with the Toyota Matrix, which was itself derived from the Corolla. Both were built at NUMMI, the GM-Toyota joint-venture plant in California. The Vibe died with the Pontiac brand but the Matrix continued four more years, built in Canada.
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Saturn Ion (2003-2007)
The Ion was the first model built on GM’s corporate-wide, compact, front-wheel-drive Delta platform, abandoning both Saturn’s claim to distinctiveness within the GM family and the plastic body panels that played a major role in its initial identity. The Ion offered half-rear doors, like the RX-8, and other quirky features but its mediocre styling negated their impact and it was ultimately replaced by an Americanized Opel Astra.
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Volkswagen Phaeton (2003-2006)
At the other end of the price scale, Volkswagen introduced its own premium-luxury model, the Phaeton, built in a showplace factory constructed for the purpose in Dresden. The Phaeton proved to be a fine car, the equal in most respects to its established German competitors, but the S-Class price tag couldn’t overcome the stigma of the VW brand among buyers and it lasted only three years in North America.
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Cadillac XLR (2003-2009)
Having apparently forgotten the fate of its earlier two-seater, the Allante, Cadillac tried again to challenge the Mercedes-Benz SL with the XLR. While it did introduce several innovative technologies, including Magnetic Ride Control, and used Cadillac’s own Northstar V-8 engine, it shared its body-on-frame platform with the Corvette. The XLR never achieved its sales targets and died, along with GM’s financial hopes, in 2009.
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Chevrolet SSR (2003-2006)
Chevrolet climbed aboard the retro-look bandwagon with its SSR pickup truck, which featured a very complicated retractable hard-top. The SSR’s performance failed to deliver on the promise of its looks and the looks failed to endure, so it quickly succumbed to economic reality with fewer than 25,000 built.
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Chrysler Crossfire (2004-2008)
Conceived as a halo car for the Chrysler brand, the Crossfire coupe celebrated the Daimler-Chrysler ‘merger’ by adapting the styling of a Chrysler concept car to the platform and powertrain of the then-outgoing Mercedes-Benz SLK and farming out production to Karmann. While sales were strong for the first year, they collapsed thereafter, dooming the Crossfire to a brief existence.
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Dodge Magnum (2005-2008)
Introduced along with its Chrysler 300 sibling for 2005, the Dodge Magnum was a big, bold rear-wheel-drive station wagon that, in SRT8 guise, was a modern muscle car. But the public was already abandoning wagons for SUVs and when its Charger sedan counterpart arrived it more than doubled the Magnum’s sales. So the big wagon had a short life.
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Jeep Commander (2005-2010)
The Commander was, in essence, a Jeep Grand Cherokee stretched to accommodate third-row seating, with a stepped roof to provide head-room for the back-row passengers. When Fiat-Chrysler ceased production in 2010, in favour of the Dodge Dakota, the company CEO reportedly said: "That vehicle was unfit for human consumption. We sold some. But I don't know why people bought them.”
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Saab 9-2x (2005-2006)
Colloquially called a Saabaru, the 9-2x was a badge-engineered Subaru Impreza Hatchback, with some Saab design elements on the front and rear and in the interior. Saab was a fully-owned subsidiary of General Motors at the time and GM also held a 20% stake in Subaru’s parent company. Being a Subaru, it wasn’t a bad car. It just wasn’t a Saab and nobody believed otherwise.
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Chevrolet HHR (2006-2011)
Another attempt by Chevrolet to cash in on the retro craze, the HHR – said to stand for Heritage High Roof – was designed by Brian Nesbitt, who was also responsible for the Chrysler PT Cruiser before being lured away by GM. More than half-a-million HHRs, including panel-van versions and turbocharged SS models, were built and sold before production ceased.
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Hummer H3 (2006-2010)
Symbolic of excess, to many, the Hummer H3 was solely a GM project, unlike the military-based H1 and the GM HD-truck-derived H2, which were both built by AM General. The H3 was based on the Chevrolet Colorado/GMC Canyon platform, albeit significantly strengthened. More than 150,000 were built before the H3 died along with the Hummer brand in 2010.
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Pontiac Solstice (2006-2010)
Based on a concept car first shown in 2004, the Solstice was a huge success for Pontiac in terms of image, if not total sales, which were only about 60,000 over five years. A turbocharged GXP model provided performance commensurate with the car’s looks and a coupe variant was introduced in 2009. The Saturn Sky was also based on the Solstice, which was terminated along with the brand in 2010.
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Subaru Tribeca (2006-2013)
Subaru’s first attempt at an upmarket SUV, the seven-passenger Tribeca (originally called B9 Tribeca) was one of that company’s few failures. It arrived just as Subaru introduced an unfortunate new front-end design that few of the faithful found pleasing and the vehicle, although based on the popular Legacy platform, just didn't register with buyers, with sales never reaching 20,000 a year. It was discontinued in 2013.
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Dodge Nitro (2007-2012)
The Nitro was Dodge’s first domestically-built compact SUV, sharing its assembly line and its rear-wheel-drive/part-time-4WD platform with the Jeep Liberty. Aggressively styled and V-6 powered, it sold well initially but was undercut in price with the arrival of its own Journey sibling, a larger, car-based crossover that proved to have broader appeal. In its final year of production, the Nitro was sold only to fleets.
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Saturn Aura (2007-2010)
Tasked with rejuvenating the image of the brand, the Aura mid-size sedan was probably the best Saturn ever. Based on GM’s Epsilon platform, developed by Opel, it was named North American Car of the Year for 2007 and won several other awards as well. Initial sales were good, if not great, but it died along with the lesser lights of the brand in 2010.
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Volkswagen Eos (2007-2016)
The Eos was Volkswagen's first coupe model since the demise of the Corrado in 1995 and it featured a retractable hardtop making it a convertible as well. While it shared a platform and components with the Golf Mk5, the Eos was a standalone model with all-new body panels. Offered with both four-cylinder and V-6 and gasoline and diesel engines it was phased out of production rather than retooled for a successor.
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Volvo C70 (2007-2013)
The Volvo C70 retractable hardtop coupe/convertible, which went on sale as a 2007 model, was the second generation replacement for the coupe of the same name that was discontinued in 2003. Based on Volvo’s S40 platform, it was built in Sweden by Pininfarina but production ceased, along with that joint venture in 2013 as Volvo refocused its attention on sedans, wagons and especially crossovers.
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Toyota Venza (2009-2015)
Toyota doesn’t make many mistakes in terms of product and the Venza probably wasn’t a mistake. But neither was its identity, which fell somewhere between a station wagon, minivan and SUV, perfectly clear. Based on a Camry platform it probably fell too close to a station wagon in buyers’ eyes, when sport utes were their real vehicles of choice. Too bad, for it was a capable and attractive car. Toyota must have thought so, too, for the name has now been revised on a new model very similar in concept.
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Honda Crosstour (2010-2015)
Not to be outdone by the Toyota Venza, Honda had its own take on an Accord-based crossover it called the Crosstour. More an elevated hatchback sedan than a wagon or sport ute, much like BMW X6, it was neither an aesthetic nor a sales success and it lasted no longer than the Venza.
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Acura ZDX (2010-2013)
Labeled as a "4-door luxury sports coupe (that) blurs the distinction between coupe, sedan and sport utility vehicle," the Acura ZDX was the first vehicle to be completely designed at Acura's California design studio. Although it is similar in profile to the Honda Crosstour the two were unrelated as the ZDX is based on the Honda Pilot/Acura MDX platform. Unfortunately, the slope-roofed ZDX came up short on practicality, as well as sales.
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Honda CR-Z (2011-2016)
The CR-Z combined aesthetics that evoked memories of Honda’s highly-popular CR-X coupe with a hybrid powertrain derived from the original Insight. As such, it should have been a smash hit but it never really caught on, in North America at least, with either the tuner set or the greenies.
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Mini Coupe and Roadster (2012-2015)
Sometimes a successful concept can be stretched too far and cute just isn't enough to compensate. Such was the case with the two-seat Mini Coupe and Roadster, which were neither critical nor commercial successes. The fact that they were priced BMW-high probably didn’t help.
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Cadillac ELR (2014-2016)
Cadillac’s svelte ELR coupe was an undeniable beauty and its serial-hybrid Voltec powertrain, derived from that of the Chevrolet Volt, seemed a logical step towards electrification without compromise. But the market just didn’t recognize the merits of the combination and the ELR became a brief footnote to history. Pity!
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