10) Faraday Future FF 91
In 2017, the world got a first look at the Faraday Future FF 91: a new electric car that advertised a 0- 96kph time of less than 2.4 seconds.
In the time since, Faraday Future’s had all kinds of issues, including exploding prototypes and having to avoid eviction at its Los Angeles headquarters. Faraday Future eventually reported delivering some cars, but the company’s extensive troubles squandered all of its marketing momentum.
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9) Nikola Semi Trucks
Founded in 2014, Nikola Corporation got a lot of media coverage for the company’s Nikola One hydrogen-fueled semi truck. As the years went on, Nikola Corporation teased other trucks like the Nikola Two and Nikola Tre.
Provisional orders for Nikola’s trucks rolled in, including from major companies like beer giant Anheuser-Busch.
By 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating Nikola for fraud, and founder Trevor Milton stepped down. The company went bankrupt in 2025.
8) Lordstown Motors Endurance
Lordstown Motors was founded in the late 2010s as a new, flashy electric-car company in America. In 2023, the company filed for bankruptcy, put itself up for sale, and sued a major investor for trying to “destroy” the business.
Before things went south, Lordstown advertised an electric pickup truck called the Endurance. The idea was for the truck to have 440hp, a towing capacity of 3,628 kilograms, and a range of about 321 kilometers. It would’ve joined other flashy, previously unknown electric pickups like the Rivian R1T on the market.
But Lordstown is gone, and the company is now called Nu Ride. Instead of products, its website now lists financials, stock details, and other investor information.
7) Jeep Wrangler 4xe
The Jeep Wrangler 4xe debuted in 2021 as a plug-in hybrid version of the Jeep Wrangler. In 2022, Jeep’s parent company, Stellantis, announced that the 4xe was the best-selling plug-in hybrid in America.
The 4xe’s had some issues—including a buggy software update, engine fire recall, and a stop-sale—and in early 2026, Stellantis announced that it would discontinue the vehicle alongside other hybrids like the Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe and Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. What was once a hybrid version of one of America’s most iconic off-roaders is now no more.
6) Chrysler Turbine Car
In the 1960s, Chrysler popped turbine power into a Ghia body with the Chrysler Turbine Car. The car made 130hp and 575Nm of torque, and the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. says a total of 55 cars were built.
The high cost of building turbine cars didn’t outweigh the benefits, relegating Chrysler’s turbine era to a small part of its history. Normal engines won out over turbine engines, despite the fame that came with producing such a uniquely powered vehicle.
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5) Chevrolet CERV III
The Chevrolet Corvette’s history is full of experimental concepts and research vehicles, and one set of those vehicles went by the naming structure of "Chevrolet Engineering Research Vehicle": CERV, for short.
One model was the mid-engine CERV III around 1990, which came to the Detroit Auto Show with a Corvette badge, Car and Driver said, leading people to think it would be the fifth-generation car. As mid-engine Corvette rumors still roared, people thought the CERV III’s depiction might be the one.
But it wasn’t meant to be. The fifth-generation Corvette arrived with its engine up front, as usual. And, as opposed to the CERV III's four-wheel-drive system, the fifth-gen powered the rear wheels—as usual.
4) Chevrolet Experimental Project 882
In June 1970, a Motor Trend cover story described the events of the New York Auto Show: an apparently mid-engined Corvette, later dubbed the Experimental Project 882 (or just the XP-882), came out.
Mid-engined Corvette rumors occurred for decades before the car finally got the layout in 2020, since the father of the Corvette, Zora Arkus-Duntov, had envisioned putting the engine behind the driver since 1957.
Over the years, there were all kinds of mid-engined Corvette concepts, teasing reporters and car enthusiasts alike. But it took until the eighth-generation Corvette in 2020 for that move to finally occur—more than 60 years after Arkus-Duntov said it needed to happen, and more than 20 years after his death.
3) Kia Borrego
The modern Kia Telluride SUV took America by storm. For years, the easiest way to get more traffic on a car website was to simply review a Telluride. People couldn’t get enough of them, and Kia couldn’t make enough of them for all those people.
But before the Telluride came another vehicle. Back in 2008, Kia announced a new three-row, seven-passenger SUV that would soon come to the U.S. market: the Kia Borrego. The Borrego wasn’t just Kia’s new entry to the large-SUV market; it also featured Kia’s first-ever V8 engine, and that V8 made 337hp. Kia said the SUV would arrive for the 2009 model year, and the company said it was “set to be extremely competitive in the midsize SUV segment."
The Borrego ended up being extremely uncompetitive. In 2008 came the Great Recession, when gas prices soared, the stock market tumbled, and Americans reduced their spending in order to get by. Launching a new, large SUV with a flagship V8 wasn’t the smartest move and in 2009, Kia discontinued the Borrego in the U.S. due to tumbling sales.
2) General Motors EV1
In the 1990s, General Motors released a cute, futuristic little electric car: the EV1. The car had 110hp, 185Nm of torque, and less than 160 kilometers of real-world range.
GM leased the EV1 to about 1,100 customers, but because it was the 1990s, the demand and infrastructure in America didn’t realistically support the program.
The company repossessed all the cars, which is why it’s so rare to see an EV1 today. If you do, you’re probably in a museum.
1) DMC DeLorean
The DMC DeLorean is an American pop-culture icon, with the first DeLorean production cars arriving in 1981. They left the factory with wedge bodies, gullwing doors, and raw stainless-steel bodies. The DeLorean’s V6 engine had a slightly pathetic 130hp and a 0-96kph time somewhere in the nine-second range. Its role in Back to the Future (it’s a film, you might have heard of it) solidified its fame.
Despite the DeLorean’s icon status, the DeLorean Motor Company itself (and thus, the production DeLorean) didn’t sell well. There were all kinds of issues with both the car and the company’s founder, John DeLorean. Reports of the company’s shutdown came in October 1982, and overall, DMC only built about 9,000 units.
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
