Best affordable concept cars that never made it to production – Roadshow

Most concept cars and trucks wow on the auto show circuit, but are soon forgotten. The show cars, trucks and SUVs featured here have stuck in the minds of Roadshow’s editors far longer, and they serve as worthy reminders that just about every automaker has missed an opportunity or two to bring something great to new-car shoppers in America’s showrooms.

While most show cars tend to be high-dollar flights of fancy, the vehicles seen here weren’t just closer to reality than your average concept, they were designed with a measure of everyday-consumer affordability in mind. We asked our editors to come up with concepts that probably would’ve cost around the (inflation-adjusted) equivalent of $40,000 — only a few thousand dollars more than the price of the average new car. Here’s what their long memories came up with.