[TangoRed]

Excuse the inelegant title, but please post cars that were supposed to supplant an existing model but ended up merely coexisting with said model instead. It's especially interesting when the replacement model was ultimately cancelled. I'll start:

1978 Porsche 928 - intended to replace the 911 and was positioned above it. Canned after a long model run.

1997 Mercedes-Benz M-Class - intended to replace the G-Wagen

2006 Mercedes-Benz GL-Class - they tried to replace the G-Wagen again

 

[BKennett]

Ford Probe was supposed to replace the Mustang

 

[The_Real_Stack]

Cherokee lived alongside Liberty for a model year or two.

 

[GoFaster]

The BMC (Austin/Morris) Metro was supposed to replace the original Mini. Instead, the original Mini kept being built beyond the date at which the Metro ended production.

 

[Nealric]

Alfa Romeo 116 architecture (seen here with Alfetta model) was supposed to replace the 115 found in the Spider and Giulia sedans/coupes (which was a refinement of the 105 architecture found in the Giulia starting 1963).

The 116 cars ended up being produced through 1987, while the 115 cars ended up being produced until 1994 in Spider guise. There were prototypes of a 116 Spider made in the mid-70s, but it was cancelled for cost reasons (Alfa started falling on hard times in the late 1970s and needed to refresh the spider as cheaply as possible, so ended up with the refreshed Series 3 spider, which came out in 1981).

 

[r_fostoria]

When the FWD A-body Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera (based off the infamous 1979 X-body platform) came out in 1982, the older RWD Cutlass Supreme models kept going until 1987-88.

And then in 1989, the W-body was developed to replace all the A-body cars. However, the Cutlass Ciera and Buick century kept going until '96.

 

[Senior Member]

 

[Nealric]

When the FWD A-body Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera (based off the infamous 1979 X-body platform) came out in 1982, the older RWD Cutlass Supreme models kept going until 1987-88.

And then in 1989, the W-body was developed to replace all the A-body cars. However, the Cutlass Ciera and Buick century kept going until '96.

Brings back memories. My wife's first car (when we were just dating) was a 1992 Cutlas Ciera. Biggest turd of a car I've ever experienced. I was driving a 1992 Infiniti at the time, and the difference in quality between the cars was hilarious.

 

[LT1M21Stingray]

Volkswagen Scirocco 1973-1995

Volkswagen Corrado 1988-1995

 

[Zinhead1]

The 116 coupe and sedan did replace the 105/115 range which went out of production in 1977. However, an open top 116 was never produced or seriously considered largely because when they were in the design stages in the early 1970's, the US government announced that they were considering outlawing open top vehicles for safety concerns. Alfa, like most other car makers, stopped work on new convertible designs at that point which is why we got all of these Targas and T-tops in the 1970's.

Spiders largely survived because their production was done by Pininfarina in a separate factory. Pininfarina did develop several open topped Alfetta show cars, but they were never really considered for production.

Alfa/PF Open Top Prototypes

The 116 chassis underpinned the 161 chassis (75/Milano), then was modified to construct the SZ and convertible RZ. The last RZ's were produced at the end of 1994 after Spider production wrapped up in 1993.

Alfa Romeo 116 architecture (seen here with Alfetta model) was supposed to replace the 115 found in the Spider and Giulia sedans/coupes (which was a refinement of the 105 architecture found in the Giulia starting 1963).

View attachment 242452

The 116 cars ended up being produced through 1987, while the 115 cars ended up being produced until 1994 in Spider guise. There were prototypes of a 116 Spider made in the mid-70s, but it was cancelled for cost reasons (Alfa started falling on hard times in the late 1970s and needed to refresh the spider as cheaply as possible, so ended up with the refreshed Series 3 spider, which came out in 1981).

View attachment 242453

 

[JackStraw79]

I think this is the opposite of the thread intention. Mazda is pitching the CX-50 as the more rugged "Made in America For America" counterpart to the CX-5, but it may replace the CX-5 completely here like the CX-30 did for the CX-3.

 

[ghost03]

Mazda has been sick of producing NA/NB Miata parts for a while; the NC MX-5 Cup/SMX5 was supposed to replace the NA/NB Spec Miata.

It's a better race car in most regards--newer/faster/more durable/better parts availability, and a better car to campaign with things like sealed race motors on a crate from the factory and wheel bearings that can survive a stern glance. But for whatever reason, nobody collectively cares. Everybody still races the NA/NB cars and Mazda Motorsport still has to sell them the same 5 speed box they've been selling since 1990 to keep it all running.

 

[TangoRed]

@ghost03 That's very interesting, I always wondered why I almost never see NC Cup cars. That's kind of a funny pain in the butt for Mazda.

I think this is the opposite of the thread intention. Mazda is pitching the CX-50 as the more rugged "Made in America For America" counterpart to the CX-5, but it may replace the CX-5 completely here like the CX-30 did for the CX-3.

Nailed it, but I appreciate the participation nonetheless.

 

[Jimmy Russells]

What about the JK being produced for like a year after the JL started being produced?

 

[0dd_j0b]

Cherokee lived alongside Liberty for a model year or two.

The Liberty was supposed to replace the Cherokee? Good lord they did not do that well at all.

 

[Senior Member]

 

[ghost03]

@ghost03 That's very interesting, I always wondered why I almost never see NC Cup cars. That's kind of a funny pain in the butt for Mazda.

Personally I'd switch tomorrow if the whole field did, but I don't want to race in a near-empty class, and I'd rather spend time driving than convincing everyone else to switch with me.

What about the JK being produced for like a year after the JL started being produced?

Yeah, RAM and Tiguan both did that too.

 

[2 doors]

Chevy sold this Malibu in 2005

And this Malibu Classic in 2005.

Both were horrible.

 

[r_fostoria]

If it counts, this happens pretty often with convertible models where the old body style convertible overlaps the new normal model for a year or two.

1987:

1993:

1994:

2003:

 

[gti_matt]

I think this is the opposite of the thread intention. Mazda is pitching the CX-50 as the more rugged "Made in America For America" counterpart to the CX-5, but it may replace the CX-5 completely here like the CX-30 did for the CX-3.

The CX-30 and the CX-3 did coexist for a couple of model years.