20 Unique Cars From Ordinary Car Companies

12. Porsche Cayenne

Ever since the first Cayenne appeared in the early 2000s, the market for quick luxury SUVs was born. This Porsche with four doors, a raised body and all-wheel drive may have offended a lot of brand purists.

But it also brought a lot to the segment in terms of driving dynamics, performance and prestige. Up until that point, Porsche only made two-door sports cars. However, with the Cayenne, it became a force in the SUV market, as well.

13. Subaru SVX

Back in the early 90s, Subaru wanted to enter the sports car market to promote its biggest assets, all-wheel drive and flat-six engines. So, the company hired Italdesign to design a sleek and modern coupe. In 1991, the SVX debuted with strange styling and a complicated side window, but it had sublime handling and a great performance.

Under the hood was a 3.3-liter flat-six that propelled this rare car from 0 to 60 in just 7.3 seconds. They only sold approximately 14,000 in America until 1996.

14. BMW i3

BMW`s mission to build clean vehicles is well-known throughout the industry, but nobody expected the i3. It is a small hybrid vehicle with a high price tag, but also with advanced technology and lively performance. Still, it is a true BMW with all their signature characteristics, but it is still a strange one. Somehow, it is quite popular in urban areas, although it is pricy and has a limited range.

15. Sale en S7

Infamous as the Mustang tuner and racer, the Saleen company was one of the major forces in cup racing in the ‘80s and early ‘90s. However, in the early 2000s, Steve Saleen decided to branch out and enter the supercar market with the S7 model.

It is a fast, good-looking and powerful exotic car featuring the latest technology and proven V8 power. The result was the 550 HP Saleen S7 they introduced in 2000. And it immediately drew the attention of the supercar crowd.

16. Ford GT40

Every Ford GT 40 was an utter surprise to the motoring world. But the first one they introduced in late 1965 was the biggest. Ford was always an economy manufacturer with a wide range of affordable cars and trucks. However, never has a company like that built a world-class supercar capable of beating all those European exotics.

In fact, it won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race four times in a row. But that is exactly what Ford did and what made the GT40 such a legendary and important car.

17. GMC Syclone

No one knows who came up with the idea to take a plebian Chevrolet S10 compact truck and turn it into Ferrari-killer. But GM took an ordinary S10 body shell and installed a 4.3-liter V6 engine with a turbocharger good for 280 HP. Next, they added a special four-speed automatic they sourced from a Corvette with a performance-based all-wheel drive.

The power figures don’t sound much these days, but the Syclone was able to sprint to 60 mph in just 5.3 seconds, which made it faster than its contemporary Ferraris. The key was its low weight, small dimensions and lots of torque from that turbocharged engine.

18. Chevrolet SSR

In the middle of the mid-2000s retro craze, the Chevrolet development team came up with the crazy idea to produce a nostalgic two-seater convertible pickup with muscle car performance. The result was the SSR, a vehicle that looked unlike any other car on the market, but not necessarily in a good way. The 1950s-inspired design didn’t work well, so the SSR looked just plain odd.

Despite many efforts to make the SSR appealing to their intended audience, Chevrolet managed to sell just around 24,000 of these oddballs. However, it served as their painful realization they needed much more than a wild imagination to make the concept work.

19. Renault Avantime

Enjoying the success of the Espace minivan gave the Renault the chance to explore the concept. They wanted to try something new and interesting in the typical French way. So, they thought of a unique minivan coupe they named the Avantime, which they introduced in 2001. The Avantime was the answer to the question nobody asked, so it was received with mixed reviews.

It was also expensive and came with only the most powerful engines and a high level of standard equipment. Although the Avantime was a chic and interesting car, it failed to attract customers. So Renault discontinued the model after only two years, producing a little over 8,000 examples.

20. Ford F-150 Lightning

The Ford F-150 Lightning is a legendary truck. Although it wasn’t the first Ford limited edition truck, it was the best because it was extremely well executed. And all that made the first generation, which they sold from 1993 to 1995, a true automotive icon. The basic idea was to make a muscle truck using a regular F-150. Then they would transform it into a Lightning model with more power, better components, and an updated suspension.

Ford put a lot of effort into designing and producing the first-generation F-150 Lightning. First, there was the engine, a 5.8-liter V8 unit with GT40 heads and a special camshaft. Second, they added a lot of unique internals. The output was modest by today`s standards with 240 HP and 340 lb-ft of torque, but it was enough for a vivid performance.