Cars that Were Ahead of their Time

Every generation of vehicles has a few cars that are ahead of their time with technology and style that was ambitious to offer what we weren’t quite ready for. What’s really interesting is that most of the technology and powertrains that were offered on these early models has come to be part of the future generations. It’s time to take a look at what some of these cars are and give them the proper respect they deserve.

Honda FCX Clarity – This was the first hydrogen fuel cell car that was offered for public sale. Even though they were supposed to be offered for sale these were only available for lease and had a limited market; Southern California to be specific. The problem was there are not enough refueling stations for these cars to be practical in a wider market yet.

Aston Martin Lagonda – The original Lagonda had a wedge-shaped front end that was extremely stylish for the 1970s, but that wasn’t even the most advanced part of this car. In the cabin you found a digital instrument panel which was certainly well ahead of its time, but a seriously cool idea. Unfortunately bright sunlight would wash out the display and the buttons were way too sensitive to be kept.

Honda Prelude – The Prelude is a car that was sought after for its entire time in production. What this car offered other than a great style that was borrowed from the NSX was four-wheel steering. We love this feature on the Porsche Turbo, GT3 and 918 Spyder but Honda had it as early as 1987 to be an awesome addition to a car that was loved and hated.

Oldsmobile Jetfire – If for no other reason than the cool name, GM needs to make another Jetfire of some type. This was the first mass produced turbocharged car and it was offered in 1962. GM didn’t only have one car with turbocharging at the time, the Corvair Monza from Chevrolet also boasted a turbocharged engine. You can thank these two for starting this trend toward more power.

General Motors EV1 – This was the first modern day mass produced EV car which was the culmination of over 100 years of work and research. Offered in the 1990s the EV1 was capable of 137 horsepower and had a range of 70 to 100 miles depending upon how you drove the car. Because it was the first of what could be described as an experimental propulsion system it was offered for lease only.

Nissan Pathfinder – While the first generation was a competitor, the one that was ahead of its time was the second generation of one of our favorite SUVs. What this SUV did was ditch the body on frame construction that had been popular for several decades, turning to a unibody design. While most of our SUVs now are unibody in their build the Pathfinder was one of the first.

Honda Insight – This was the first hybrid car that was mass produced and sold in the US. The Insight offered a sleek design to reduce the drag of the car and bring in higher fuel mileage numbers than gasoline only vehicles. Unfortunately the Toyota Prius all but destroyed any chance the Insight had of surviving .

Citroen DS21 – How could such a gorgeous car be considered ahead of its time? This car was the first production car to have front disc brakes and a self-leveling hydropneumatic suspension with gave you the softest ride every. This suspension system was admired so much it has been used not only by Citroen but also by Rolls-Royce and Maserati.

Lamborghini Miura – We love our mid-engined cars of today. This build allows the front end to be as sharp and sleek as the automaker wants it to be, allowing the car to have more balance than one that has the engine up front. This was the first production car to have a mid-engine build with a transversely mounted V12 behind the seats to power this beauty.

Stout Scarab – When you look at this car you might not think of a minivan, but this is the forerunner to the family movers that were so popular in the 1980s and 1990s. This car had a 1930s look and a rear mounted Ford V8 engine to power the wheels, but the large interior was a cavernous hold for several passengers to ride along.

Porsche 959 – This was the pride and joy of Porsche in the 1980s. This car was the fastest street legal car in production with a top speed of 195 mph as well as a technologically advanced car. This car had the AWD system that would become the standard for turbo models and the twin turbocharged flat six-cylinder engine produced 444 horsepower. This was a car that allowed you to control the ride height and it came with an electronic tire pressure monitoring system. This car was only one of two that had zero lift aerodynamics, the Ferrari Testarossa being the other one. To top it all off, the 959 had titanium connecting rods, making it the most advanced car of the time.

Pontiac Aztek – Most of us groan when we hear the name of the Aztek because it seemed to be one of the vehicles that brought Pontiac down. Even with that thought, this was an SUV that was only around for a few short years but it was the predecessor to some of the minuscule SUVs we see today that are barely larger than a wagon. This SUV even looked a lot like one of our favorites, the Lexus RX making you wonder about its possibilities had Pontiac survived.