The Audi Quattro Spyder Is Among the Concept Cars That Never Made It to Production

Do you remember the Audi Quattro Spyder? Most don’t. This car hit the 1991 Frankfurt Motor Show as one of the concept cars that never made it.

This incredible Audi was meant to go against the likes of Mercedes-Benz and BMW, but instead, it never hit the production line. The company went with the Audi TT, and the Quattro Spyder was forgotten. This car is only one of the many concepts that never made it to the production line. Let’s look at this one and some others, along with the reasons they never made it.

Audi Quattro Spyder

This impressive Audi didn’t show up as a convertible, so many thought it wasn’t really a Spyder car at all. Audi did give it a removable glass roof that could be put over the rear deck to open the cabin to the wind. This impressive car used a 2.8-liter V6 engine that put out 172 horsepower and 180 lb-ft of torque. The top speed was 155 mph, and it uses a five-speed manual transmission while offering Quattro AWD. This car would have been great, but the TT came along, and it became nothing more than a memory.

Tucker 48

The Tucker 48 made it to production on a small scale. Only 50 of these cars were ever made before the project ended. This car was easily ahead of its time. Developed by Preston Tucker and offered for the 1948 model year, this car had a directional center headlight, specialized build items to keep it safer, and shatterproof windshield glass. The legal and financial problems of the company caused this car to only be built in very small numbers.

Nissan IDx Nismo Concept

This impressive sports car showed up at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show. Nissan brought two of these concept cars to the show to give the world a look at a retro-inspired car with lines that came directly from the Datsun 510. This car was pretty cool, but Nissan would need a new rear-wheel-drive platform to make it a reality, which is why it never made it to production. The change to this platform killed it because it wouldn’t have been a profitable venture, at least not in the eyes of the Nissan bean counters.

Maybach Exelero

Extravagant design is a cornerstone of the Maybach name. This new car was shown off in 2005 ad a high-performance car to be the test car for the new Carat Exelero tires. This car was big and heavy, but it was fast. It could hit 60 mph in 4.4 seconds, and it had a top speed of 218 mph. This incredible two-door coupe used a massive V12 engine that produced 690 horsepower and 752 lb-ft of torque. The price of production caused this car to remain nothing but a concept.

Mini Superleggera Vision Concept

If you want to see what comes from British quality and Italian design, this was that car. Mini worked with Touring Superleggera to build this amazing concept model. It has the size of a BMW roadster, but the British feel desired from Mini. This car was tossed about as an idea for production, but Mini finally chose not to build it, which is a shame. We could have used another cool roadster.

Spyker D12 Peking-to-Paris

This was an SUV that came from this boutique supercar automaker. As one of the coolest concept cars ever made, it had a bit of a strange name and was the first SUV from the brand. The incredible styling allows this SUV to use a VW-built V12 engine with more than 500 horsepower to hit 60 mph in five seconds. The Spyker D12 Peking-to-Paris received 100 orders when it was unveiled in 2006, but a bankruptcy declaration caused the company to discontinue this machine.

Infiniti Essence Concept

There’s no reason the Infiniti Essence Concept couldn’t have been built and offered. It was a bit ahead of its time as a gas/hybrid car that was ready to give us a great car with lots of power and performance. This car was modern, futuristic, and packed with technology to be an amazing model. Unfortunately, this Infiniti was a little ahead of its time, which caused it to be a car that wouldn’t make it to the production line. Now that the market calls for mostly SUVs, it is hard to think that it ever will.

Mazda Furai

Has Mazda ever made a track-based car? Yes, but it never made it to production. The Mazda Furai showed what this company could produce beyond the rotary-powered RX models that are deemed some of the coolest sports cars in the market. This amazing Mazda was based on a Le Mans prototype chassis, and it could have been a great track car. Unfortunately, this was one of the few concept cars to have a detrimental end. During a photo session, the car was destroyed by fire while on a road test, which ended the Furai for good.

Lamborghini Asterion

The 2014 Paris Motor Show was the location of the unveiling of the Lamborghini Asterion. This amazing car showed what the company would do going forward, even if the Asterion was never put into production. This amazing car was a hybrid model that could hit 60 mph in 3.0 seconds. The powertrain included a 5.2-liter V10 gas engine and three electric motors to produce 910 horsepower. Instead of building the Asterion as another supercar, the company began work on the Urus SUV.

Cadillac Sixteen

The Cadillac Sixteen is another one of the concept cars that hit the auto show circuit at the wrong time. With more of a focus on emissions and fuel mileage, adding more horsepower, more cylinders, and higher price tags wasn’t the answer to anything in the automotive world. While these are the reasons the Sixteen was never produced, this car had 16 cylinders and 1,000 horsepower to offer more than enough juice to make it a great car. This was an ultra-luxurious car that would have been great if it had been made, but it might not have sold at all.

These are only ten of the concept cars that never quite made it to the production line. You can see why most of them didn’t make it, but it sure would have been fun to see a few of them roll off the line.