Concept Cars That Should've Made it to Production

The Dodge Copperhead, introduced in 1997, was meant to be a smaller, more affordable version of the then-new Dodge Viper. It was powered by a V-6, and had some funky looks. A cheap mini-Viper convertible with a rear-wheel-drive layout? Yes please.

Learn more about the Copperhead here

The Avus concept of 1991 previewed the aluminum construction and W-12 engine Audi would put into production, but sadly, this mid-engine supercar didn't have a future. Blame the 1990s recession for killing this amazing machine inspired by Auto Union's streamliners of the 1930s.

The Audi PB18 e-Tron is an all-electric shooting brake concept revealed during Monterey Car Week in 2018. Meant to show off Audi's plans for future design, it had a wild cockpit that could shift from left-hand-drive to a center-seating position.

Check out all the details here

The Ford Indigo was a wild Formula 1-inspired open-wheeler first shown in the mid-Nineties. It has a crazy aerodynamic setup with an interesting front wing, and a mid-mounted V-12 made from two Duratec V-6s. It would've been nice to see it be built for real, even as a track-only vehicle.

Remember when one popped up for sale?

With momentum from its success in the World Sportscar Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Mercedes presented this stunning mid-engine supercar in 1991. The C112 was the road-going counterpart to the stunning Sauber C11 race car, complete with a 6.0-liter V-12, active aero, and all sorts of other futuristic tech. Unfortunately, the executive who godfathered this concept was gone by the time it was revealed, with no one to shepherd this expensive machine into production.

In the U.S., the Datsun brand was built on the back of the 240Z sports car and the 510 sedan, the first Japanese car to give machines like the BMW 2002 and Alfa Giulia a run for their money. The IDx was a modern, rear-drive reinterpretation of the 510, revealed in 2013, and promised for production, but killed in 2015. It would've been too expensive to develop a new rear-drive platform for a low-volume car for this.

Read our first drive review

This wild machine was an unfortunate product and victim of Japan's bubble economy. A mid-engine, tandem-seat supercar with a 3.5-liter V-12. It was too good for this world.

Listen to how it sounds

In 2016, Buick revealed something stunning. A two-door coupe designed by Ed Welburn, based on the Camaro's Alpha platform with a 400-hp twin-turbo V-6 and looks that hark back to great Buick concepts of the past. We hoped it'd see the light of day, but it was just a design study to generate hype.

Read why Buick decided against production

The 2004 ME Four-Twelve is the coolest thing to come from Chrysler this century, packing a carbon monocoque and a Mercedes V-12 engine. It was a fully running prototype, ready to be driven. Sadly, the financial crisis squashed any hope of it seeing production.

The Mitsubishi Concept-RA was introduced at the New York Auto Show in 2008, featuring recyclable plastic resin body panels and a turbodiesel engine, of all things. Like the ME Four-Twelve, the recession crushed any plans for a production variant.

Watch our video on the Concept-RA

The mid-engine V-12-powered Nazca C2 was a concept car penned by Italdesign, meant to be an official replacement for the original M1. Worried it would flop, BMW canceled the project before it could go into production. Just three were built.

Here are six more BMW concepts that could've been

Despite racing at Le Mans, Dome was never able to get its fantastic wedge-shaped Zero sports car into production, and that's a shame. Just look at it!

Read the Dome Zero's full history

The 2010 Audi Quattro concept was meant to be a modern take on the legendary original, equipped with Audi's all-wheel-drive system and a turbo five-cylinder engine. There were rumors Audi was planning a limited production run, but nothing ever came of it, though its design cues made its way into future Audi products like the current TT.

Read our full first drive review

The Eterne was one of five pie-in-the-sky concepts Lotus infamously unveiled at the 2010 Paris Motor Show. It was a four-door sedan with killer looks and a 5.0-liter supercharged V-8. Sadly, it failed to ever reach production.

See our original video from the show

The Mythos was designed by Pininfarina, and used underpinnings from the Testarossa. Ferrari never made a proper Testarossa convertible, and we think this should've been it. It's too bad it remained a concept.

It wasn't the only Testarossa-based one-off convertible

The M4S was designed from the beginning to be an Indy pace car. It's a fully working prototype. Top speed is said to be nearly 200 mph thanks to a twin-turbo Cosworth engine. The car is most famous for its appearance in the 1980s movie The Wraith.

Saab's wildly cool 2006 Aero-X had a retracting canopy and doors for entry and exit, as well as a 400-horsepower twin-turbo V-6. Its design influenced production cars like the 9-3 and 9-5.

Cadillac has a bad habit of showing off stunning concept cars, then not building them. The four-door convertible Ciel is one of the prettiest of all, with an incredibly long wheelbase and fantastic styling.

Read why we may never see a four-door convertible again

Built as an experiment in the Seventies, the C111 was powered by a range of rotary engines before the project was abandoned. Mercedes built 13 examples in total, and the only example still running currently uses a more traditional V-8.

Here are 12 more supercars that didn't reach production

Built in 2004, the front-engine V-10-equipped Shelby GR-1 concept was meant as a throwback to the Daytona Coupe that dominated race tracks back in the mid-1960s. The only one built was sold at auction in 2011 for $82,500.