1) 1959 Mini Countryman
Subtle one, this. BMC’s original 1959 Mini had a wagon version, the Clubman, but it was a stretched two-door. The Countryman, technically a subcompact crossover, didn’t appear until 2010. So what would an Alec Issigonis-designed Countryman have looked like back in the early ’60s? Well, wonder no more—weird doors aside, you can see how good it might have looked.
2) 1967 Tesla Model 3
Here’s where AI has to work hard—the ’60s were a time of innovation from the USA, with some exceptional designs. And yet Tesla as a corporate entity didn’t even exist until 2003, and the Model 3 wasn’t born until 2017. The AI decided that the Model 3 of the latter ’60s was still a compact executive car, but actually a two-door worthy of a poster. If only.
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3) 1974 Range Rover Sport
Another one that looks real. The Range Rover Sport appeared in 2005 as a midsize luxury SUV. The first Range Rover appeared in 1969, and was two-door only until 1981, so an imagineered 1974 RRS has ended up looking largely like a smaller Range Rover Classic with fat wheels and no rear door handles.
4) 1981 Porsche Cayenne
The Cayenne caused controversy when it was launched in 2002—an SUV from a maker of sports cars? The horror! And yet it largely bolstered the company’s future against the slings and arrows of outrageous market forces. But the early ’80s saw an imaginary Cayenne that borrowed heavily from the 911’s stylings, yet weirdly ended up with shades of a ’70s Honda Civic. Or is that just us?
BONUS: 2023 Ford Model T
This last one’s the other way around. If someone distilled the classic Model T of 1908, boiled it down to the stylistic components, and then rehydrated them for this year, this is what the result might look like. Although this seems to be a modern interpretation of a mid-’20s pickup version of the Model T—sometimes called the Runabout—and the world’s first pickup truck.
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
