The best cars from dead car companies

A journey into the highlights of car companies that have bitten the dust

Autocar

28 March 2022

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Times change, markets evolve and sometimes companies who rule the roost get a wheel stuck in a ditch and never recover.

Some of the brands who are no longer with us are gladly forgotten, while others left us wonderful memories of motoring days gone by. Join us as we look at some of the best cars built by automakers no longer around:
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AMC: Eagle (1980)

AMC’s most notable contribution to the automotive edition of Noah’s Arc is the Eagle. It was a family car on stilts which relied on serious four-wheel drive hardware and ample ground clearance to tackle tough trails and knee-deep snow. In many ways, the Eagle was the modern crossover’s predecessor. Have you noticed the rising popularity of SUV-coupes? AMC did it first with the Eagle SX/4, and it had two doors like a proper coupe should.

So what happened to AMC? The company was bought by France’s Renault in 1979, but AMC’s range of mostly smaller cars suffered as fuel became relatively cheaper during the ‘80s. Renault CEO Georges Besse - who championed the firm’s American presence - was murdered in 1986 by terrorists, and his successors lost interest and sold the firm to Chrysler in 1987, when the AMC badge came to an end.
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Austin-Healey: 3000 (1959)

When it made its debut in 1959, the Austin-Healey 3000 stood out with a 3.0-liter engine and front disc brakes. The big Healey was a force to be reckoned with in European rallying events, but convertible-hungry buyers in North American scooped up most of the production run. It was one of the greatest British sports cars of its era, and it was continuously updated throughout the 1960s.

So what happened to Austin-Healey? The deal between Austin and Healey ended in 1972 after 20 years. There have been talks of a revival since, including under BMW’s ownership of Austin successor company Rover, but nothing has appeared. The name itself is now owned by China’s SAIC. PICTURE: Austin-Healey 3000 Mk3
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Autobianchi: A112 Abarth (1971)

When Volkswagen takes credit for pioneering the hot hatch, it overlooks the Autobianchi A112 Abarth. Admittedly, the A112 was easy to miss due to its Matchbox-like dimensions. It was introduced in September of 1971 (before anyone knew what a Golf was) as a hotter version of Autobianchi’s successful Mini-punching model. Early models used a 58hp four-cylinder engine, though power climbed to 70hp later in the production run.

So what happened to Autobianchi? The company was a joint venture between bicycle-maker Bianchi, Pirelli, and Fiat. Fiat took full control in 1968, and then folded the operation into Lancia. The badge disappeared in 1995.
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Daimler: SP250/Dart (1959)

Once a supplier of motor-cars to royalty, Daimler grew out of the German company, but soon built its own models. The SP250’s engine had an interesting configuration; while being only a 2.5-liter, it was a V8. Elegant but interesting to look at, it was a spirited drive, good for 120mph, and determinedly different from its stately predecessors. It was famously used to police speeds on Britain’s first freeway, the M1.

So what happened to Daimler? The company was sold to Jaguar in 1960, its cars eventually becoming badge-engineered Jaguar derivatives. The brand disappeared in 2007, though Jaguar still has the right to use the name in many markets, though given it’s now also the name of the parent company of Mercedes-Benz (it’s complicated…), this seems unlikely.
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De Tomaso: Pantera (1971)

Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916-1993) went through the excruciatingly difficult process of developing an entire car from scratch to take down Ferrari. Alejandro De Tomaso (1928-2003) took a simpler route: he designed a breathtakingly gorgeous car and bought a V8 from Ford to stuff behind the seats. America’s appetite for performance cars ensured a steady cash flow for De Tomaso in spite of the Pantera’s quality issues.

Unreliability caused Elvis Presley to shoot his Pantera on numerous occasions, presumably as a punishment. It’s not known if this helped. Ford stopped importing the car to the United States in 1975, but production carried on for other markets (including Europe) until 1992.

So what happened to De Tomaso? De Tomaso merged with Maserati in 1975 and that brand was always more prolific, but De Tomaso sales carried on in small numbers until 2004 when the firm died. The trademark was sold on, and a De Tomaso concept car appeared at the 2011 Geneva motor show, but nothing’s been heard since.
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Facel Vega: Excellence (1958)

The most luxurious French car you can buy today is about on par with a low-end BMW 5 Series – on a good day. It wasn’t always that way. Facel Vega (a brand favored by the world’s most image-conscious and self-adoring stars) built the Excellence to take the fight directly to Rolls-Royce and the top ends of the German marque ranges. From its stately design with reverse-facing rear doors to its hand-built interior, the Excellence easily lived up to its name. It served as the flagship for the brand, and for France’s entire automotive industry.

So what happened to Facel Vega? Competition from larger luxury-car rivals like Mercedes-Benz did the company no favors and it closed down in 1964.
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Hudson: Hornet (1951)

The Hudson Hornet dispels the myth that all American cars looked alike in the 1950s. Granted, it had big round headlights and enough chrome trim to seen from outer space, but the similarities with its peers stopped there. It boasted a long, sloping roof line that flowed into a pontoon-like rear end. Were it built today, it’d be classified as a four-door coupe in the same vein as the Mercedes-Benz CLS. It was fast, too; the Hornet dominated NASCAR racing in the early 1950s.

So what happened to Hudson? It merged with Nash-Kelvinator in 1954, to form American Motors (AMC). The Hudson badge survived until 1957. The remnants of AMC – including, most notably, Jeep – today live in Stellantis.
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Jensen: Interceptor (1966)

The Jensen Interceptor provided buyers with an alternative to the archetypal British sports cars made by the likes of Triumph and MG. It catered to buyers who cared more about silky-smooth low-end torque than razor-sharp handling and low running costs. It died without a successor when Jensen collapsed under the burden of its financial troubles.

So what happened to Jensen? Jensen ceased operating in 1976. It was revived in 2001 with a new car, the S-V8, but promptly died again after just 20 were produced.
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Matra: Rancho (1977)

Matra likened the Rancho to cooking a last-minute meal using only leftovers. Starting with the VF2 van, engineers installed an 80hp 1.4-liter engine from the 1308 GT, brakes from the 1100 TI, and a four-speed manual transmission from the 1307. While the outdoorsy design suggested it could go anywhere, four-wheel drive was never offered for cost and packaging reasons. It was a trailblazer for the crossover class, but arguably a couple of decades too early. In an odd twist of fate, the Rancho’s intended replacement morphed into the original Renault Espace, Europe's first minivan.

So what happened to Matra? Matra in the automotive sphere became a contract manufacturer for Renault, but this work ceased in 2003, and some other assets were acquired by Pininfarina. The defense and aerospace part of Matra is now part of Airbus.
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Mercury: Cougar (1967)

Mercury launched the Cougar to fill the space between the Ford Mustang, which it shared its platform with, and the Ford Thunderbird. It became Mercury’s hero car by combining pony car performance with a larger dose of luxury. Later models attempted to recapture the spirit of the original, though they largely failed due to poor execution and performance best characterized as lackadaisical.

So what happened to Mercury? Following rationalization after the financial crisis, Ford announced the end of the brand in 2010, and its last car, a Grand Marquis, was built in January 2011.
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Morris: Minor (1948)

Morris today is perhaps best known as the ‘M’ in MG, a company that blazed a trail after the second world war for lightweight sports cars in Britain, America and elsewhere. But in terms of Morris-branded cars, it’s hard to beat the Minor. While performance was sedate even by the standards of the time, steering and handling was impressive, and this was a primary way Britain got back on the road after the second world war. It later spawned van, wagon and convertible versions, and more powerful engines that arrived later helped a lot. A cool 1.4 million examples were built until 1971.

So what happened to Morris? Morris merged with arch-rival Austin in 1952 to make the British Motor Corporation. In turn this merged with various other companies to form British Leyland Motor Corporation in 1968. The last Morris-branded car, the Ital, was built in 1984. Part of the old Morris factory in Oxford today produces the Mini for BMW.
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Oldsmobile: 4-4-2 (1964)

The 4-4-2 started life as a performance-oriented option package on the Oldsmobile Cutlass. It proved popular enough to earn a promotion to a full-fledged model line in 1968. Oldsmobile collaborated with American tuner Hurst to build an even faster 4-4-2 with a 390hp engine, upgraded brakes and a model-specific suspension. For a few years, the numbers 4-4-2 were synonymous with no-nonsense performance. The 1972 redesign demoted the nameplate to option package status.

So what happened to Oldsmobile? Oldsmobile increasingly found its cars lost among those of GM’s other brands, let alone those from other carmakers. GM shuttered the marque in 2004.
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Panhard: 24 BT/CT (1964)

Ordinary motorists knew Panhard for big, six-seater sedans; racers knew Panhard for ultra-light sports cars. The 24-series cars were an attempt at blending the company’s two identities. Offered with a short or a long wheelbase, the 24 brought Panhard’s unique breed of sportiness to motorists unwilling to commute in a stripped-down race car. The 24 BT was longer than the 24 CT to offer more space for occupants riding in the back. Both variants received an air-cooled flat-twin engine which, thanks to an impressively aerodynamic design, propelled the 24 to highway speeds in a relative hurry.

So what happened to Panhard? The car side of Panhard was sold to Citroën in 1967, and the marque as a carmaker died. The name lives on as a maker of military vehicles, ultimately owned by Volvo Group, the Swedish truckmaker.
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Pontiac: Firebird (1967)

General Motors didn’t allow Pontiac to build a two-seater sports car out of fear it would compete directly against Chevrolet’s Corvette. Instead, Pontiac received permission to launch a sports car based on the same platform as the then-new Camaro. Affectionately called “Screaming Chicken,” the Firebird carried on alongside the Camaro for four generations until it was sent to the automotive slaughter house in 2002.

So what happened to Pontiac? The Pontiac brand was discontinued in 2010 as GM rationalized its brands after its near-death experience in the 2008-09 global financial crisis.
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Plymouth: Road Runner (1968)

Muscle cars progressively grew out of mainstream buyers’ reach as they became more powerful and more expensive. The Road Runner was a return to the basic, enthusiast-approved formula of stuffing an immensely powerful engine in the unsuspecting body of a run-of-the-mill car. The Road Runner exceeded Plymouth’s wildest expectations during its first year on the market. Clearly, the time was right for a more affordable muscle car.
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Plymouth: Prowler (1997)

If there was ever an overgrown Hot Wheels car, it’s the Plymouth Prowler. A last-ditch effort to inject stamina into the brand, the Prowler was a modern take on the classic hot rods that roamed American roads in the 1950s. It looked like nothing else on the market at the time, though Volvo later toyed with the idea of building its own modern hot rod. It wasn’t a smash hit, and it certainly didn’t reanimate Plymouth, but it inspired a series of retro-styled American cars in the early 2000s.

So what happened to Plymouth? Chrysler’s Plymouth brand died in 2001, and its cars were either discontinued or rebranded as Chryslers.
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Rover: SD1 (1976)

One could argue Rover isn’t entirely dead; it reincarnated in China and adopted the name Roewe. The SD1 was the brand’s last attempt at building a true flagship model on its own, before it teamed up with Honda to share technology and costs. An avant-garde design and available V8 power positioned it firmly at the top of the Rover range, placing it in the same ring as executive sedans from BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

So what happened to Rover? Rover became part of the Austin Rover group, and it marketed the Honda Legend-based Sterling make-and-model in the US between 1987 and 1991. Rover was sold to BMW in 1994. Having sold off Land Rover to Ford in 2000, it sold what was now MG Rover to a management consortium for £10 (US$16). However, MG Rover went out of business in 2005. The Rover brand-name was sold by BMW to Ford for around £10 million (US$18 million) in 2006, which sold the marque along with Land Rover and Jaguar to India’s Tata Motors in 2008.
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Saab: 99 (1968)

The 99 marked the beginning of a new chapter in Saab’s history. The Swedish brand ditched the 92-inspired design of earlier cars in favor of a more contemporary look characterized by a wrap-around windshield, while a Triumph-sourced four-cylinder engine relegated the 96’s DKW-derived two-stroke engine to the history book once and for all. The 1978 Turbo remains the best-known evolution of the 99. It paved the way for every high-performance Saab from then on.

So what happened to Saab? Saab was wholly acquired by GM in 2000. Saab was sold to Spyker in 2010, but ceased making cars in 2011. A Chinese firm called NEVS then bought Saab’s automotive assets, but it seems that the brand won’t be used on any vehicles; this is a complex and contentious area since the Saab name is still used by the military aircraft maker that bears the name; cars and planes were under the same ownership until 1990.
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Saab: 900 Aero/SPG (1984)

With the 900 Aero (called SPG in North America), Saab wanted to prove its ability to run alongside its German competitors – and even beat them at their own game. Early examples built on the existing 900 Turbo with a 160hp turbo four, though power went up over the course of the 1980s.

Three-spoke alloy wheels and plastic cladding on the bottom part of the body informed on-lookers they weren’t getting passed by a garden-variety 900. In hindsight, the plastic bits on the side could have inspired Mercedes-Benz as it updated the W201 and W124.
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Simca: 1000 Rallye (1970)

Abarth applied its magic to the Simca 1000, but it’s the three factory-built Rallye models that replaced Renaults and NSUs in the heart of enthusiasts seeking rear-biased driving thrills. Although it was aerodynamically-challenged, the 1000 was the ideal base for a high-performance sedan aimed at buyers on a budget. The first two editions of the Rallye were hot-rodded production cars, but the Rallye 3 was a full-blown street-legal race car released for homologation purposes. All three models are still widely used in hill climb events today.

So what happened to Simca? Simca was bought by Chrysler in 1970, and then PSA Peugeot-Citroën in 1979, and the badge died thereafter in favor of Talbot.
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Studebaker: Avanti (1962)

The Avanti was Studebaker’s last gasp before it vanished to the great junkyard in the sky. Developed in response to the Chevrolet Corvette, its Raymond Loewy-designed body was made out of fiberglass and dropped on a modified Lark chassis. Studebaker manufactured about 5800 examples of the Avanti before it shut down for good, but five different entrepreneurs took turns building the car until 2006.

So what happened to Studebaker? Production at its main South Bend factory ceased in 1963, though operations continued at the company’s Canadian plant until 1966. The name is today owned by Federal-Mogul, an auto parts firm.
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Sunbeam: Tiger (1964)

Originally formed in 1901, Sunbeam disappeared after 1935, but was revived in some style in 1953 with the pretty and successful Alpine – which was perfectly times to surf the 1950’s American open-top sports car wave. Wanting more power, Sunbeam enlisted Carroll Shelby to help fit a 164bhp 4.3-liter Ford V8 into the car. Twice as powerful as the Alpine but only marginally heavier, the car was a scintillating hit, shifting over 7000 examples in just three years.

So what happened to Sunbeam? Already part of the Rootes Group, Rootes was absorbed by Chrysler and then Peugeot. The Sunbeam name disappeared in 1981.
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Tatra: 613 (1974)

Like Porsche’s 911, the Tatra 613 retained its rear-engined configuration well after the layout went out of vogue. It shared this configuration with its predecessor, the 603, but its styling came to life on a blank sheet of paper. In an unlikely tie-up, Czechoslovakia-based Tatra enlisted the help of Italy’s Vignale to forge a new design identity more in-tune with the times. It’s remembered as one of the most prestigious cars to come out of USSR-era Eastern Europe. You didn’t want to see it parked up in front of your house at two in the morning as it was a favorite of the KGB and its Warsaw Pact counterpart organizations.

So what happened to Tatra? It stopped making cars in 1999, but carries on as small-scale truck maker, and as such is the second-oldest vehicle producer in Europe after Peugeot, the Tatra company having been formed all the way back in 1850, when it produced horse-drawn carriages.
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Talbot: Samba Cabriolet (1982)

The Talbot Samba Cabriolet made Volkswagen’s Golf Cabriolet look like a Rolls-Royce. Based on one of the cheapest cars in Europe, it gave young, cash-strapped motorists a way to go topless without breaking the bank. It also attempted to provide the Talbot brand its own image by separating the Samba from the Peugeot 104 and the Citroën LNA it shared DNA with. Peugeot’s 205 CJ took the torch from the Samba Cabriolet after Talbot went six feet under.

So what happened to Talbot? When PSA Peugeot-Citroën bought Chrysler Europe in 1979, it used the Talbot badge on former Chrysler and Simca models. Use on cars continued until 1987, and on vans until 1994.
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Triumph: Stag (1970)

While some would choose Triumph’s successful and pretty line of TR sports roadsters from the ‘50s and ‘60s, we reckon the Stag deserves more credit as the British V8-powered would-be answer to the Mercedes SL. Moodily handsome though blighted by reliability issues, it was a nice drive when it worked.

So what happened to Triumph? Triumph was run down by owners British Leyland, and the oddball TR7 was the last car developed in-house. That was followed by the 1981 Honda-based travesty that was the Triumph Acclaim, and the name ended in 1984. However, someone in Munich has a long memory: somewhat intriguingly, the Triumph Cars name today belongs to BMW, a relic of the firm’s Rover ownership but retained when it sold that firm. Triumph and BMW went head-to-head in the small sports sedan market in the 1970s in Europe.
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Vespa: 400 (1957)

As an auto manufacturer, Vespa is dead. Known internationally for scooters, the Italian brand dipped its toes in the automotive pond when it introduced one of the smallest cars on the European market at a high-profile event in Monaco. The 400 competed in the same handkerchief-sized arena as the Goggomobil and the Fiat 500, which hit the market just a few months before its Vespa-badged rival. The 400 – an allusion to its 393cc engine – was manufactured in France. One and done, Vespa never built another car.

So what happened to Vespa? Nothing, in a word. It continues to make motor scooters; its parent company Piaggio sold 400,000 two-wheeled machines in 2019 using a variety of brands which include Aprilia and Moto Guzzi.
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DeSoto: Model K (1928)

Created by Chrysler in 1928, DeSoto put its rivals on notice when it released its first car, the Model K, for the 1929 model year. It sold 81,065 units of the model during its first 12 months on the market, a record that remained unbroken for several decades. The Model K was cheaper than a comparable Chrysler, fitted with a six-cylinder engine, and offered in a number of body styles, including a roadster. It was the right car at the right time, and the future looked bright for Chrysler’s mainstream brand.

So what happened to DeSoto? DeSoto’s early success quickly faded. Chrysler also purchased Dodge in 1928 and the two new additions often overlapped; both were positioned below Chrysler as mass-market brands. Its evolution followed the rest of the Chrysler portfolio’s, so it received the Firedome V8 with hemispherical combustion chambers in 1952 and the Forward Look design language in 1955. Sales collapsed in 1958, partly due to the same recession that helped end Edsel, and Chrysler announced plans to close DeSoto in 1960.
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Duesenberg: Model J (1928)

Duesenberg developed the Model J as one of the most luxurious cars in the world. Whether it was a coupe, a convertible, or a saloon depended largely on the buyer’s wallet; the Model J was a blank slate that could be fitted with a diverse selection of bodies from various American and foreign coachbuilders. It initially used a naturally-aspirated straight-eight engine, but a supercharged model capable of cruising at over 100mph arrived in 1932. Around 481 units of the Model J were built until 1937.

So what happened to Duesenberg? Duesenberg unexpectedly shut down in 1937 after Errett Lobban Cord’s car-building empire collapsed. Auburn and Cord closed, too. Several entrepreneurs have unsuccessfully tried to revive Duesenberg since. A 1935 Duesenberg SSJ roadster, formerly owned by actor Gary Cooper, sold at auction in 2018 for $22 million, making it the most valuable American car ever sold at auction.
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Nash: Metropolitan (1953)

Nash envisioned the Metropolitan as a downsized American car with European flair. It commissioned a design from Pininfarina and asked Austin for the A40’s engine and spare production capacity. It all came together shockingly well; one of America’s smallest and most stylish car was born. Sales started during the 1954 model year. Often bought as a second car, the Metropolitan went through several evolutions (and was sold under several names, including Hudson and Rambler) until production ended in 1961.

So what happened to Nash? In 1954, Nash and Hudson became American Motors Corporation (AMC) through what was at the time the largest corporate merger in American history. They formed the fourth-largest carmaker in the United States. AMC was taken over by Chrysler in 1987. The Nash name stopped being used in 1957.
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Auto-Union: 1000 SP (1957)

Visually, few styling cues suggested the Auto-Union 1000 SP was related to the standard 1000; it looked more like a first-generation Ford Thunderbird that shrunk in the wash. And yet, the SP shared its basic two-stroke, three-cylinder engine with its family-friendly sibling, though there were some model-specific differences. Stuttgart-based coachbuilder Baur made about 5000 units of the 1000 SP between 1958 and 1965. It also built around 1640 examples of a 1000 SP-based convertible starting in 1961.

So what happened to Auto-Union? Auto-Union merged with NSU in 1969, and both were absorbed by Volkswagen shortly after. Audi was born from the merger. While both brands are dormant in 2021, Audi still builds cars in Neckarsulm (including the R8 supercar), where NSU was based, and Volkswagen manufactures cars in Zwickau, where Auto-Union traces some of its roots to (and where the Trabant was made).
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Checker Motors: Taxi (1960)

Launched for 1961, the Checker Taxi (A9/A11) was — and still is — one of America’s most emblematic taxi cabs. It reached superstar status because it remained in production without major visual changes for decades. Checker enjoyed a near-monopoly on the taxi market for many years so it didn’t need to worry about luring buyers into showrooms with a fresh, trend-following design and new features.

Looser taxi regulations in major American cities, including New York City, threatened the Taxi’s business case during the 1970s. While Checker sold a handful of cars to private buyers and hotel chains, taxi drivers represented the vast majority of its clientele, and giving them access to alternatives that were newer, faster, and more efficient dangerously eroded its market share.

So what happened to Checker Motors? Former General Motors president Ed Cole invested in Checker after he retired, but his plans to rejuvenate the company fell through after his death in 1977. Faced with an ageing range and mounting financial worries, Checker shut down in 1982; it made 2000 cars that year.
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Amphicar: Model 770 (1961)

Launched in 1961, the Amphicar Model 770 was a boat-car hybrid with no direct rivals. Its rear-mounted, Triumph-sourced four-cylinder engine spun either the back wheels or a pair of plastic propellers visible beneath the rear bumper, while the front wheels steered it regardless of whether it was traveling on land or on water. It was surprisingly versatile and, thankfully, completely watertight.

The niche the Model 770 landed in was too small to keep Amphicar financially afloat. Production ended in 1967 after about 4000 units were built in West Germany. Most were sold in the United States, including one to President Lyndon Johnson, who used to delight in pranking unsuspecting visitors by pretending his brakes had failed as he drove into a lake.

So what happened to Amphicar? Amphicar chose not to stay in the car industry after it axed the Model 770. To date, no other company has offered a series-produced amphibious passenger car.
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NSU: Ro80 (1967)

Presented at the 1967 Frankfurt motor show, the NSU Ro80 stood proud as one of the most innovative production cars released in the 1960s. It arrived as a big, upmarket model with unusual proportions, a highly aerodynamic design, and a twin-rotor Wankel engine. Many celebrated it as the family car of the future. Early problems with the rotary engine gave the Ro80 a bad reputation that it didn’t fully recover from, and the first oil embargo sealed its fate. While NSU took steps to make the rotary engine more reliable, it couldn’t keep its fuel economy in check. The Ro80 retired without a direct successor in 1977.

So what happened to NSU? Volkswagen took over NSU, but it was more interested in the firm’s factory than in its line-up. It merged NSU and Auto-Union in 1969 and reluctantly absorbed the K70, which became the first water-cooled Volkswagen. NSU built its last car, an Ro80, in 1977, but the firm’s legacy endured. The Audi 50 (1974) was developed by NSU to replace the Prinz; it spawned the original Polo.
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Innocenti: Mini (1974)

Innocenti stepped out of the scooter market when it formed its car-building division through a collaboration with England’s Austin. It began building the Mini under license during the 1960s, and it released an updated model styled by Bertone’s Marcello Gandini in 1974. Bertone gave the Mini a more modern-looking design and a practical hatch to take on the Autobianchi A112, one of Italy’s rising stars.

Several evolutions of the Innocenti Mini were built, including a sportier De Tomaso-branded model. 1982 brought a Daihatsu-sourced three-cylinder engine, a turbocharged variant of the De Tomaso model arrived in 1983, and an entry-level two-cylinder engine joined the range in 1985. Outdated in spite of several visual updates inside and out, the Innocenti Mini retired in 1993, seven years before the Mini it was based on went out of production, and seven years after Autobianchi built the final A112.

So what happened to Innocenti? Fiat gradually took over Innocenti and Maserati from De Tomaso in the 1990s. It closed the company’s factory and assigned the brand a series of badge-engineered cars like the Mille, which was a second-generation Uno made in Brazil and sold for less than the Italian-built model. Fiat consigned Innocenti to the automotive attic in 1997, and Stellantis owns the name in 2021.
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DeLorean: DMC-12 (1981)

Former General Motors executive John Z. DeLorean enlisted the help of Lotus founder Colin Chapman and designer Giorgetto Giugiaro to make his vision of an ethical sports car a reality. Built in Northern Ireland during The Troubles, the DMC-12 turned every head on American roads with its futuristic-looking silhouette, its stainless-steel body, and its gullwing doors. It was powered by a V6 engine.

Build quality-related problems took a significant toll on the DMC-12’s reputation. DeLorean fixed most of them for the 1982 model year but it was too little, too late. Sales collapsed during the 1981 recession in the United States and a new British government refused to funnel more money into the project. Production of the DMC-12 ended in 1982 after precisely 8,975 cars were built.

So what happened to DeLorean? DeLorean never planned on becoming one of the car industry’s best-known one-hit wonders, or merely making what’s best remembered as a time-traveling Hollywood prop. It tested a twin-turbocharged evolution of the DMC-12, and it had started developing a four-door model called DMC-24, which was later recycled into the Lamborghini Marco Polo concept. Mounting financial losses and its founder’s widely-publicized arrest drove the company into the grave, however.

Stephen Wynne bought the company’s stock of spare parts and formed the DeLorean Motor Company in Humble, Texas, in 1995. It originally sold parts, but it quickly started offering fully refurbished cars.
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Eagle: Talon (1989)

Chrysler founded Eagle in 1988 to take the torch from AMC, which exited the scene that same year. Its range consisted largely of average, unexciting cars that suffered from a complete lack of image. The only exception was the Talon, which was closely related to the Mitsubishi Eclipse. Released in 1989 as a 1990 model, it was available with all-wheel-drive and a turbocharged four-cylinder engine rated at 192 hp.

So what happened to Eagle? In hindsight, there was no space in the Chrysler portfolio for an obscure brand like Eagle, and not enough interest or money to give it a fighting chance. Models left the range one by one during the 1990s, and the Eagle name disappeared in 1998. Stellantis owns the name in 2021. The odds of it returning are low, but the factory in Normal, Illinois, that manufactured the Talon (along with its Plymouth- and Mitsubishi-badged siblings) now belongs to electric truck maker Rivian.
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Eunos: Roadster (1989)

The convertible that most of the world knows as the Mazda MX-5 Miata was initially called Eunos Roadster in its home market. It was the first of several models assigned to the Eunos brand, and it was nearly identical to its Mazda-branded sibling with the exception of emblems inside and out. Executives hoped giving Eunos a light, rear-wheel-drive roadster would help buyers discover the brand.

Eunos faded away in the 1990s and the original Miata’s replacement (called NB internally) was sold as a Mazda. In an unexpected twist of fate, Eunos had also secured the rights to distribute Citroën models in Japan, so the Roadster shared showroom space with the BX and the Xantia, among other cars.

So what happened to Eunos? Mazda created Eunos in 1989 as part of its five-channel strategy, which was implemented to mirror what rivals Toyota and Nissan were doing in their home market. Eunos was positioned near the top of the sub-brand hierarchy. Like Autozam, it disappeared during the 1990s as Mazda consolidated its range.

Interestingly, Mazda executives also planned to launch a range-topping brand called Amati that would have been positioned above Eunos to compete against Lexus, among other luxury firms. Its range should have included a V12-powered flagship model tentatively called 1000. The project was cancelled in 1992 as Japan’s economy hit some major rocks.
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Saturn: SL (1990)

Saturn illustrated how it planned to operate as a different kind of car company when it launched the SL in 1990 as a 1991 model. The model looked like nothing else in the General Motors portfolio thanks in part to a grille-less front end, it was built on a brand-specific platform, and it was manufactured in a new assembly plant located in Spring Hill, Tennessee. Even odder were the SL’s plastic body panels, which were chosen because they were lighter, more durable, and cheaper than steel parts.

Saturn’s unique approach to taking on Japanese carmakers initially paid off. It built its 500,000th car in September 1993 and it sold 229,356 cars that year.

So what happened to Saturn? Saturn lost its identity in the General Motors quagmire during the 2000s and it fell victim to a strategy of rampant badge-engineering. It was closed in early 2010 after Penske’s last-minute attempt to save it with help from Renault failed.
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Autozam: AZ-1 (1992)

Built with Japan’s kei car regulations in mind, the Autozam AZ-1 was created by some of the same people who developed the original Mazda MX-5. It featured gullwing doors and a mid-mounted engine, like some of the quickest supercars of the 1990s, but it was sized for Japan’s crowded cities. Power came from a Suzuki-sourced turbocharged three-cylinder engine rated at 63bhp, which was enough to move such a small car. Remembered as one of the wildest kei sports cars, the AZ-1 retired in 1995.

So what happened to Autozam? Created by Mazda in 1989 as part of a new five-channel sales strategy, the Autozam brand had its own range and its own network of stores, a practice that was common in Japan at the time. It sold Autozam-branded cars and, somewhat oddly, it also distributed Lancia models on the Japanese market. Mazda gradually axed its sub-brands during the 1990s in the name of simplicity and Autozam became the name of a dealership network before disappearing.

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