Yahoo Autos These Old Automotive Spy Photos Are a Blast from the Past
Before the age of having the collective knowledge of humanity literally at our fingertips, those of us into cars had to either watch TV or read our favorite auto publications to find out what new cars were on the horizon. Personally, I didn’t just like reading about speculation. I wanted to see stuff that was coming and one of my favorite things were spy shots. Seeing prototypes of cars running around city streets or proving grounds was just cool to me. Often because these cars weren’t as automakers wanted us to see them. They were dirty or rough looking with weird paints, wheels, and ill-fitting body panels. They were prototypes after all. But they were cool.
My internet sleuthing has resulted in me finding a treasure trove of old spy shots collected by none other than our favorite automotive TV magazine, MotorWeek via YouTube. So sit back and enjoy checking out prototype versions of future models long gone or forgotten.
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GM W-Body Chevy Lumina and Monte Carlo
GM was out for blood with the second-generation W-Body Lumina. Seeing the success of its two crosstown rivals — Ford with the best-selling Taurus, and Chrysler with its recently introduced and game-changing cab forward LH sedans — GM wanted in on that curvy vehicle game. As a result, the Lumina got a redesign for the second generation.
A spy shot of the Monte Carlo, which was a slightly sportier Lumina coupe with a legendary name, was shown as well. MotorWeek mentioned Autoweek’s speculation that the Monte Carlo would receive a detuned version of the Corvettes LT1 V8. That turned out to be very wrong.
Third-Generation Ford Taurus
The redesign of the third-gen Ford Taurus is probably one of the most controversial vehicle redesigns ever. The ultra-oval design, which wasn’t quite apparent in these spy shots of the prototype, is often blamed for the Taurus losing the top-selling U.S. family sedan crown to the Toyota Camry in 1997.
Porsche 968
Reports initially thought that what would eventually become the Porsche 968 was a redesign of the 944. But the writing was on the wall for the 944, as these spy shots coincided with reporting that Porsche was slashing prices on the entire 944 lineup because of low U.S. sales.
Chrysler LH Coupe
Apparently, when Chrysler debuted its LH cars, rumors started to spread of a coupe version of the cab-forward sedans. That’s what MotorWeek and the automotive press thought this prototype was, snapped testing at a Chrysler facility. Nothing like that ever came to be of course. But given that these reports and this picture are from 1992, it’s likely that this is an early prototype for the JA platform, which spawned the Chrysler Sebring/Dodge Avenger coupe and the Cloud Sedans (Stratus, Breeze, and Cirrus).
BMW Z3
What was to eventually become the BMW Z3 was initially thought to just be some kind of convertible variant of the 3 Series. The Z3 turned out to be one of the first vehicles built at the company’s Spartanburg, South Carolina plant.
Ford Tempo
Ford must have been experimenting with the styling of the Tempo back in the early 1990s. Spy shots of Tempo prototypes parked outside Ford facilities show an interesting, almost Saturn-like front fascia with four headlights to each side and angular turn signal lamps. It would have made for an interesting small car from Ford had this made it to production. This shot, reported on in 1990, was shown just before refreshed Tempo/Mercury Topaz was released to the public.
Pontiac Fiero
GM’s ill-fated mid-engine coupe from Pontiac was highly anticipated before its debut. When it eventually hit the market, it sold decently, with just over 370,000 made over its four years of production.
GM’s Project Saturn
What would eventually become the Saturn division started life as Project Saturn way back in the early 1980s as a way for GM to take on the Japanese. By 1984, spy shots of the project’s prototypes had leaked. But it would be over six years before the first Saturns rolled off the assembly line in 1990.
FD Mazda RX-7
