These Cars Were Ahead Of Their Time

We praise the wagon every chance we get. It's just one of the best car body styles, if not the best. A gnarly off-roading wagon, like the Volvo XC70, makes for an even cooler car. But as you know, a car like this came and went decades before the XC70. The AMC Eagle Wagon wasn't really as appreciated as it should've been. The car world just wasn't ready.

Time has vindicated the defunct AMC, along with the Eagle. The Volvo XC70 and Subaru Outback both probably share a lot of lineage with the Eagle, even if it's just in spirit.

And, apparently, crossovers — as we know them today — have been a long time coming. That tracks, according to our own Raphael Orlove. We asked readers to tell us which car was just too ahead of its time, and these are their answers:

Beat the SUV craze by a generation.

And

Predated the bmw x6 and others like it (mb glc) etc. by a long way.

Submitted by: GenderRevealOrdnanceDiposal, IRegertNothing, 4jim, Tim the KNinja, among many others

Aztek"Most days, I have to fight the urge to tell someone — anyone — that the was truly the precursor to modern, boring crossovers."

Fight harder. It wasn't. It came out in 2000 – after the RX300, Highlander, Rav4, Forester, CRV, etc, etc. I was driving a RAV4 for 5 years before an aztek even saw the light of day.

And

This is correct. The RX300 was the prototype for boring crossovers because it was engineered to be large and heavy enough to qualify for work truck tax breaks, despite being a Lexus (and a damn fine one). It debuted at a time when gas anxiety was low and the economy was high, and a generation of kids raised in cheap vans were becoming parents who wanted the opposite. Hair dressers and interior decorators were buying them on tax breaks for marginally more than a minivan despite being far, far nicer. It sold like crazy, and eventually Acura and Mercedes had to keep up. It all went downhill from there.

Submitted by: HammerheadFistpunch, notsomethingstructural, TheManBearPigRoams, ranma, among others

I'd say the Aztek was ahead when it comes to overstyled and ugly CUVs.

I'm not saying all CUVs are ugly, but the Aztek was hit hard for its styling, yet no one gives a crap when an automaker releases another ugly CUV.

Juke, Crosstour, Venza, Kicks, Ecosport, HR-V, CH-R, Cherokee, and the list goes on

And

Look at the front end design of the Aztek, now look at the front of say, the Mitsu Outlander, the Cherokee, etc. Now tell me it wasn't ahead of it's time. The vehicle underneath was a crappy GM minivan. Its was the design and the way the features were packaged.

Submitted by: Eng. Alv_90, burpbeepburp

The Acura ZDX was pretty early with the fastback crossover trend (I refuse to call them "coupes") but it didn't manage to leave its mark, and now it seems like every company has a swoopy version of their crossover offerings.

The styling has aged exceptionally well in my opinion. I wasn't a huge fan of it when it debuted, but now it strikes me as a rather handsome thing that still looks fairly fresh today, metal beak notwithstanding.

Submitted by: Aldairion

The 3000GT

Active aerodynamics

Four-wheel-steering

All-wheel-drive

Adaptive suspension

And a convertible hardtop in later models

Submitted by: SlickS30r

The Stout Scarab. Not only the world's first minivan (almost half a century before the Caravan), but it also had a revolutionary cab-forward design without running boards and big fenders. The whole thing was an unheard of concept for 1936.

Submitted by: Jonee

Citroen DS

So many firsts. Disc brakes, Dynamic suspension, swiveling headlights.

[...]

Submitted by: daveman – all new cars have totem pole face, wki

Four door truck with a short bed. These things were laughed at back in the day as useless. Now this is every truck.

Submitted by: RunToday_BrokenTomorrow,

Avantime... i wonder what it could mean...

Submitted by: Jb boin

Hate to say it, but:

[...]

Side Note: look at the hood gap from a 2012 C&D article, LOL.

Submitted by: WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAthenGTInowA4

The Desoto Airflow, built back when aero didn't matter and things looked like this:

[...]

Submitted by: My British German car wasn't that reliable, is now dead, spookiness

Subaru Baja

It was a flop at the time and now it has a cult status that Ford and Hyundai are now filling in the Baja's shoes 2 decades later.

And

Close

[...]

Submitted by: TheDriveress, Scooter Man

Citroen Traction Avant. Introduced in 1934, it had:

• FWD

• Unibody Independent Suspension

• Rack and pinion steering.

• And unlike some slightly earlier pioneers, this car was actually mass produced with 760k units produced.

• In later years it also received optional:

• Hatchback

• Self leveling suspension

Submitted by: duurtlang