10 Of The Worst 1990s Concept Cars

The 1990s were undeniably a golden age for the concept car, as manufacturers threw around all sorts of bold and occasionally zany ideas in an attempt to anticipate the bold new millennium that was just around the corner.

Some of the show cars of the era remain icons to this day – the Ford GT90, Jaguar XK180 and BMW Nazca M12 all spring to mind – and there are plenty that we’re very sad never made production. Equally, though, there were dozens that we’re fairly happy to see never saw the light of day beyond their five minutes of motor show fame. We’ve picked out 10 of the biggest concept car misses of the 1990s, as a helpful reminder that not all these ideas were good.

Chrysler Phaeton Chrysler Phaeton

Be honest: you only like this thing because it was rather inexplicably in Gran Turismo 2, right? Otherwise, let’s call it what it is – a misguided attempt to cash in on the retro trend that was all the rage in 1997, and a haphazard mashup of 1950s extravagance and Y2K futurism.

Not even the fact that the Phaeton had a V12 under the bonnet could save it from itself, and it remains one of many Chrysler concepts of the era, emblematic of a brand that wasn’t really sure of its purpose (and still isn’t nearly 30 years later).

Bugatti EB 112 Bugatti EB 112

During its brief pre-VW revival that gave us the EB 110, Bugatti had designs beyond the world of the supercar. Owner Roman Artioli envisioned it as a leading name in both performance and luxury, just as the original iteration of the company had been, and thus a concept for a high-end saloon was commissioned in 1993.

Unfortunately, what we ended up with was the bulbous EB 112. Yes, it had tantalising features like a carbon chassis and an all-new 6.0-litre V12, but it also looked like the designer’s mood board included things like a jelly mould and various insects. That designer, by the way, was Giorgetto Giugiaro – a rare miss from one of the GOATs, in our opinion.

Aston Martin Lagonda Vignale Aston Martin Lagonda Vignale

Aston Martins are always pretty, right? Well, not always. The DBX says hi. But this, the Lagonda Vignale, said hi in 1993. Built to gauge potential interest in both a revival of the Lagonda brand and a four-door Aston, the Vignale was a slice of ill-proportioned weirdness that, in a parallel universe, would have served as a neat rival to that Bugatti.

The concept’s odd looks weren’t entirely its fault – it had to make do with the body-on-frame chassis (and indeed the V8 engine) from a contemporary Lincoln Town Car. The mooted production car would have used a bespoke aluminium monocoque and a V12 – so in a way, this was a very early preview of what would become the rare-groove Lagonda Taraf over 20 years later. Thankfully, the Taraf was a lot less challenging to look at.

Nissan Stylish 6 Nissan Stylish 6

The ‘6’ part of the Nissan Stylish 6’s name came from the number of people it seated. We’re struggling with the ‘Stylish’ bit, though, unless your idea of style is a barrel-sided estate car with enormous overhangs, a toothy grin and some extremely inboard three-spoke wheels.

It’s not ours, though, and as much as we love a good estate car, we’re not particularly despondent that the Stylish 6 never went further than the 1997 Tokyo Show, where it made its debut. We’ll take a Stagea instead, please and thank you.

Honda Fuya-Jo Honda Fuya-Jo

The 1999 Honda Fuya-Jo may have looked like someone slapped some wheels on a kitchen appliance, but it was actually envisioned as a car that the yoof of 1999 could use for cruising from one nightclub to another. That’s why it had seats inspired by barstools and a dashboard made to resemble a DJ’s mixing desk.

This weirdly specific design brief ignored two key things. One, somebody would need to stay very sober all night for this to work; and two, didn’t all those noughties music videos teach us that the car you roll up to the club in is supposed to make you look cool, and not like you’re on the way to Heathrow Terminal 5 in one of those automated pods?

Ford Powerstroke Ford Powerstroke

Ever looked at a big, beefy American pickup truck and thought to yourself, ‘Great, but I wish it looked more like it had slightly melted’? Apparently, Ford did in 1994 when it came up with the Powerstroke, effectively fusing a contemporary F-150 with bodywork that looked like someone had left a block of cheddar in a hot oven for a few minutes. 

It did preview the curvier direction trucks – particularly Ford’s – would head in later in the decade, but thankfully, none of them ever got this far. Oh, and don’t worry, that name isn’t anything filthy – it was the name of Ford’s then-new V8 diesel engine that also made its debut in this concept.

Pontiac Rageous Pontiac Rageous

The 1997 Pontiac Rageous was basically any 1990s cliche you’d care to imagine wrapped up in automotive form. It is a pair of Pit Vipers on wheels. Maybe, like Pit Vipers, it’s now a bit ironically cool, but mostly, it just looks tacky and excessive through 2025 eyes. We have to assume that any production version would have come pre-loaded with Smash Mouth and Limp Bizkit CDs.

It wasn’t all bad – it paired a 5.7-litre, 315bhp V8 with a manual gearbox and some genuine practicality – but ask yourself: had the Rageous made production, could you really see yourself cruising around in it?

Renault Racoon Renault Racoon

The mechanical recipe of 1992’s Renault Racoon sounds great: 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6? All-wheel drive? A manual gearbox? Fully independent adjustable suspension? Yes please.

But then you look at it, and discover that it seems to have escaped from the set of a low-budget early ’90s sci-fi film. It looked so darn strange because a) it was styled by Patrick Le Quement, design figurehead of Renault’s lightly mad early noughties period, and b) it was amphibious. We can’t blame Renault for going down this route – as we know, every amphibious car ever has been a massive and unqualified commercial success.

Buick Signia Buick Signia

Really? Do we have to? Can’t we just pretend this never happened?

Okay, fine. This is the 1998 Buick Signia, and it was packed with many clever features, like a three-way split tailgate that opened up into a capacious boot with an extendable cargo floor, and stuff we take for granted in 2025, like blind spot monitors and a head-up display.

And yet, nobody remembers it for any of that. If they remember it at all, it’s because it looked like someone had crashed a hearse into a yacht, then filled the inside of the resulting mess with lots of chopped-up 1930s sideboards. None of that clever packaging or tech, nor the promise of a supercharged 3.8-litre V6, could fix that.

Alfa Romeo Sportut Alfa Romeo Sportut

Did 1997’s Alfa Romeo Sportut accurately predict the new millennium’s obsession with posh-badged SUVs? Absolutely. Did any of that change the fact that it looked like somebody had attempted to disguise a Renault Scenic RX4 as an Alfa Romeo on a very tight budget? No. It did not.

It would be nearly 20 years before Alfa eventually got an SUV into production with the Stelvio, and happily, there was very little of the Sportut’s DNA left in it.