Cars With Star Potential That Fizzled Fast

The Cadillac Cimarron was GM's first attempt at selling a compact car bearing the name of its most prestigious brand. Launched in 1982 to counter the rise of smaller European luxury cars, it was little more than a misguided, ill-designed, rushed and remarkably botched effort that seriously hurt the Cadillac brand.

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Built on GM's unremarkable and inexpensive front-wheel-drive J-car platform, the Cimarron was initially powered by a puny and rough 1.8-liter 85-horsepower 4-cylinder engine with an iron block. Chrome moldings and an array of typical Cadillac accessories lured too few buyers. Subsequent upgrades to a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine and a proper 2.8-liter V6 could not spare the Cimarron its demise in 1988.

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Still reeling from the Corvair debacle, which stemmed from that car's air-cooled rear engine and quirky handling, GM took a more conservative route for its next foray into the subcompact segment. But its engineers could not help using unproven new techniques such as full-body rust-proofing and an aluminum engine block. The Vega looked mighty good when it launched as a 1971 model, and initially it sold well. Soon, however, front fenders started rusting through and its lethargic engine was plagued with serious oil-guzzling problems. After a hasty redesign in 1974, the formerly elegant Vega was euthanized in 1977.

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Few cars have been so far ahead of their time as the Chrysler Airflow, and none has better illustrated the perils of untimely pioneering. Introduced in 1934, the Airflow was the first car built with aerodynamic efficiency as a prime inspiration. Its smooth "waterfall" grille, integrated fenders and contoured tail were radical departures indeed. But the car's design proved too radical for American car buyers, and the Airflow was shunned. It would take several decades and two oil crises for aerodynamic design to become desirable.

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There certainly was no lack of ambition on Chrysler's part when then-CEO Dieter Zetsche somewhat imprudently introduced the Pacifica as a future "segment buster" at the 2002 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. After spending a short 30 months and a reputed $1 billion developing this "sports tourer," Chrysler launched the Pacifica in 2004. This supposed blend of wagon, van and SUV attributes was neither spacious nor very practical, and a weight of more than 2 tons blunted the performance and fuel economy of its 3.5-liter 250-horsepower V6 engine. Quality and reliability issues were no help, and a grittier 4.0-liter V6 added in 2007 could not save it from extinction a year later.

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It's unfortunate that the name Edsel has become synonymous with utter failure, because Henry Ford's son, after whom the car was named, had been such a positive and progressive force within the company and auto industry. Four Edsel models were introduced in 1958 as the first of a new division within Ford. Their immediate failure is invariably blamed on their curiously pouting front grille and technical attributes more conventional than what the advance billing had promised, in spite of innovations such as steering-mounted transmission controls and optional seat belts. The Edsel brand was killed in a mere three years.

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The hardest thing with success is to sustain or repeat it. The first 1955-57 Thunderbird is a true classic. It subsequently gained a rear seat and rear-hinged rear doors, but mostly it just grew in size and weight. Ford looked back to the original when it chose to let the bird rise from the ashes once again in 2002.

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Built on a solid platform, the new T-Bird 2-seater looked the part and drove nicely. But the powerboat tail, dual exhaust tips and that rumble from its 3.9-liter V8 engine were not enough, and sales virtually flat-lined after a year. The world had changed and the new 'Bird was dropped in 2005.

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Honda ventured into the vast, nebulous and quickly expanding world of crossovers with the Crosstour in 2010. First sold as a variant of the Accord model, and built on the same platform, it is wider, longer and taller by several inches and yet manages to be less spacious. It's also heavier and thirstier, and the cargo bay under its rear hatch is nothing exceptional. The sloping rear roofline and high seatbacks hamper rear visibility. Having shed its Accord middle name for 2012, the Crosstour still provides an answer to the proverbial question that no one has asked.

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Infiniti's confidence in its original 1990 Q45 flagship was such that it did not even use photos of it in its advertising. The Q really was impressive, with a lusty-sounding 4.5-liter 278-horsepower V8 engine. It handled and performed better than the original Lexus LS and matched the top German iron.

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It eschewed traditional luxury cues such as wood trim and a large grille in favor of black lacquer and a sculpted crest. But its makers underestimated the conservative tastes of luxury car buyers, and it sold poorly. Plusher versions introduced in 1994 and 2002 never made a dent in the sales of the Lexus LS or leading European rivals. The Q45 was retired in 2006.

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The full-size pickup segment was the last remaining stronghold of domestic automakers — that is, until the Toyota Tundra hit the market. It was bold, large and powerful version of its small Tacoma pickup. But it was introduced in 2007, and a gigantic financial meltdown was brewing. Toyota was also plagued at the time by numerous recalls and quality concerns. Because of these travails and in spite of attractive features such as a 5.7-liter 381-horsepower V8 engine, the Tundra has yet to demonstrate the grit to even slightly indispose its American rivals.

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What Volkswagen Chairman Ferdinand Piëch wants, he usually gets. This includes a full-size luxury sedan that was briefly accessible to American buyers. The Phaeton was launched as a 2004 model with the choice of either a 4.2-liter 335-horsepower V8 or a 6.0-liter 420-horsepower W12 engine. It was built on the same platform as the Bentley Continental GT and Flying Spur models, no less. Sales were dismal in the United States, and the Phaeton was discontinued in the U.S after 2006. At that time, the top model was a 4-seater powered by a 444-horsepower version of the W12 engine that sold for a mere $101,300. The Phaeton is still sold in Europe.

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A professional auto journalist for more than 25 years and the founding editor of Sympatico / MSN Autos, Marc Lachapelle is a two-time winner of the Canadian Journalist of the Year award from the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada, an accomplished photographer and licensed racer.

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