#3. Pontiac Sunfire – Harness The Power Of The Sun And Use It To Light a Candle!
Source: Flickr
One of the biggest misses of all time from concept to production. All credit goes to the creators of this concept car. They saw the opportunity to create a futuristic fun vehicle and they actually made it! The Sunfire was supposed to make cars like the Celica go back to Japan and take the American market by storm. Woops.
What Pontiac Was Thinking
As we just mentioned, Pontiac created an incredible concept car. The concept Sunfire looked like the kind of thing that should be speeding through the streets in an illegal street race. At the time there was a lot of pressure coming from Japan. They were producing fun front wheel drive coupés that were selling really well. North America needed to respond. Pontiac continued with innovative features. The Steering wheel showed off how they felt the future would work. The middle of the wheel was full of buttons that look reminiscent of almost any modern vehicle. The rear seat abandoned the opinion that three people should try to sit in the back of a coupe and said “Let’s take a new direction on the seating concept. The car was filled with comfort and technology for the time. The CD player even had a remote so that people in the rear of the vehicle could control it and DJ for the driver.
Source: Shutterstock
What the Public Thought After Release
Once the actual Sunfire was released, it actually sold really well. Was this because they were excited for the concept to come to life? The answer is an emphatic no. This was not due to the fact it was a good car. It was a Cavalier with a different nameplate. It was an absolute garbage dud of a vehicle. In the end, Pontiac executives chose to completely abandon their incredible vehicle to instead try to make a profit on yet more entry-level vehicles. In hindsight, we can look back and that incredibly innovative concept car and only wonder “What if?”
