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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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 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.

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.

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.

What would become the third generation RX-7 was spotted testing in early 1991. The car wouldn't make its official debut until late 1992; MotorWeek was right about a few features of the car, like its turbocharged twin-rotor engine.

Initially, publications speculated that the XJ was being designed as a smaller vehicle to complement the larger Cherokee and Grand Wagoneer. That turned out to be true in a sense, as the XJ took on the likes GM's S-10 Blazer/GMC Jimmy and the downsized Ford Bronco II.

What would eventually become the 1990 Previa was spotted testing in late 1989. MotorWeek got a couple of details about the unique Toyota van wrong, like saying that it would be a North American only model — the Previa was sold around the world and continued to be after our version ceased production in 1997 — and that the Previa was front engine. It was mid-engined, with the four-cylinder sitting at a 75-degree angle under the front seats.

Early prototype versions of what would become the Taurus were strange to look at. For a program with a budget of $3.5 billion, Ford engineers were doing skunkworks stuff during the early days of development. What you see here is a Ford fascia on a Chevy Celebrity.

Cadillac had been wanting in on the luxury sport sedan game for years. Cars like the Deville DTS, and he who shall not be named Cimmaron, were jokes compared to what brands like Audi, BMW and new players like Lexus and Acura were doing. Years before anything like it went into production, Cadillac was looking at prototypes of something called the Luxury Sports Sedan or LSS. Sources told MotorWeek that GM was looking at designing the sedan with components developed by Lotus and that the sedan would be powered by a 32-valve V8 engine.

While we did have the rebadged Opel Cadillac Catera in the late 1990s, it would be years before GM gave Cadillac a proper sports sedan in the CTS/ATS/CT5/CT4 sedans.

No, you're not confused. What you see is a Ford Taurus, but it's not actually a Ford Taurus. Instead, it's a heavily disguised prototype of what would become the Infiniti Q45 testing in late 1988. The Q45 was one of the first models offered in the U.S. by the brand when it was introduced in 1989.

What would become the Lotus Elan was spotted testing outside Lotus facilities in late 1988. The third car to wear the Elan name, more money had been invested in it than any other car in the company's history. While it was designed in-house, its high price development price tag probably had more to do with the outside help Lotus had on the car. The engine and transmission came from Isuzu while GM was used for development and testing.

Work on the 10th-gen Thunderbird began way back in 1984, even though the car wouldn't debut until 1988. Prototypes like the one seen here started to show up around 1986, with Ford attempting to disguise the car to look like the previous generation. The prototype here is shown with a front fascia that should have made it to production, with a more Mercury Cougar-like nose.

While the first generation Jeep Grand Cherokee wasn't introduced to the world until 1993, prototypes were spotted in early 1988. Only known by its ZJ code, not much was known about the Grand Cherokee then. MotorWeek speculated that given its similar styling to the Cherokee that it would replace it.

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