![]() ![]() ![]() RELATED: The 10 Fastest Hybrids Under $50,000 It was Honda’s attempt to make hybrid technology cool, and to be fair, it did its job, as the concept still sounds great. 2 Honda J-VXĪ sporty two-door hatchback with unique doors and an innovative hybrid drivetrain, the J-VX has aged extremely well, seeing its debut in 1997. It’s a shame, because the SST concept arguably looks better than the production Eclipse, and it would have sold better if Mitsubishi had stuck to its original design more faithfully. The combined taillights are also not present on the production car, and are not as wide or low. However, the concept comes with some cool features that the production car didn’t: for starters, the yellow-green paint is unlike anything Mitsubishi ever offered to customers. The original press release for the Mitsubishi SST describes it as “a study for a sporty model that Mitsubishi Motors is developing”, and that model will soon arrive as a third-generation Eclipse. Eventually, the owners decided it would not be powerful enough, and a 3.5L V6 engine was developed to produce the 350Z. The biggest difference between this concept and the production 350Z would be its engine, as the concept picked up a 200 hp four-cylinder engine from the Nissan Altima. The concept had many stylistic similarities to the final next-generation Z, the 350Z, but it is hardly a carbon copy. 4 Nissan 240Z ConceptĪfter axing the 300ZX without a direct successor, Nissan showed off the 240Z concept in 1999 to gauge the interest there might be for a new Z model. ![]() The SSM also featured an inline-5 engine which was replaced by an inline-4 on the later S2000. The biggest difference between the SSM Concept and the production S2000 is the headlights, which are very short on the concept. RELATED: 10 Awesome Modified Hondas That Aren’t a Citizen It was shown at the 1995 Tokyo Motor Show and garnered much attention, which encouraged Honda to entertain the idea of making a production version. Some readers may recognize the concept as looking very similar to the Honda S2000, and yes, the SSM is a direct predecessor of that car. Yamaha was planning to put the car into production, but its skyrocketing price in Japan and financial issues meant that the OX99-11 was eventually canceled in 1994 after only 3 prototypes were built. It made global headlines upon release for its unusual design, and is still one of the strangest looking sports car designs to date. It’s impossible to talk about Japanese concept cars of the nineties without mentioning everyone’s favorite hammerhead-shark-looking car, the Yamaha OX99-11. After all, many SUVs sold today focus more on sleek aerodynamics and styling than on actual off-road functionality. The company’s owners reportedly considered a production run before deciding against it, which is a shame because Isuzu was on to something. The XU-1 took a different approach, with a sleek body that was unlike anything the brand had made before. ![]() Most of the SUVs on the market at the time focused more on function than form, essentially having boxes on wheels for the most part. 7 Isuzu XU-1īuilt on the chassis of the Isuzu Trooper, the XU-1 took a futuristic approach to SUV design. Almost every major part of the concept car was designed to be easily recyclable until the end of its life. The HSR-III also moved away from the purely performance-based design of previous HSR models, shifting its focus to stability. The 1991 HSR-III was the first roadster in the series and featured cutting-edge innovations such as a flexible “skin” on the rear spoiler for improved aerodynamics. Mitsubishi’s HSR series of concept cars ran for ten years between 19, with each new version showing the latest performance technology that the company had developed. It is believed that several roadworthy examples were built for the Sultan and his family, although it is not known how many. While the concept never made it to full production, it caught the eye of the Sultan of Brunei, who at the time was known to buy almost any high-performance car he could get his hands on. It features state-of-the-art innovations including a folding hard-top roof made of carbon fiber and a 2.5L inline-5 engine specially developed for the car. This collaboration between Italian design house Pininfarina and Honda came out in 1995, and is one of the best looking Honda concepts out there. It took until 2003 for the RX-8 to come along and continue the rotary sports car lineage. Originally, Mazda intended for this concept to lead to a production vehicle that would replace the RX-7, but this never happened. The RX-01 took things back to basics with a lightweight and simple build that took inspiration from the first generation of the RX-7. The 1995 Mazda RX-01 was introduced in response to criticism of the company’s flagship RX-7 being too heavy and complicated in construction. ![]()
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