Craziest Cars Made By Typically Sensible Automakers

Automakers spend years establishing brand identity through consistent lineups that emphasize reliability, performance, or luxury. Sometimes, however, automakers release vehicles that venture beyond what they’re typically known for — vehicles so out of character that they seem out of place in the showroom.

Volume automotive brands typically rely on a few popular core models that define them. Honda, for example, is known for sensible, reliable vehicles like the Civic and CR-V. Yet even brands like Honda, Toyota, and Volkswagen have occasionally ventured into the bizarre.

Here are some examples of unconventional vehicles that came from typically sensible automakers.

Toyota Mega Cruiser

Toyota has a long history of capable off-roaders like the 4Runner and Land Cruiser, which are both renowned for being able to tackle any terrain while still having all the creature comforts of regular vehicles. The Mega Cruiser, however, went a step further and showed a side of Toyota we rarely see. Based on a military truck, it sacrificed comfort for capability. Designed for the Japanese army, it raised drivetrain components higher into the cabin for exceptional ground clearance, creating a massive transmission tunnel that split the cabin in half. Power came from a 4.1L inline-four diesel borrowed from a bus, producing just 153 hp. Only about 3,000 Mega Cruisers were built, with 130 to 150 sold to civilians, making it rare and expensive on the used market.

Volkswagen XL1

Volkswagen has experimented with wild vehicles before — the W12-powered Phaeton from the 2000s comes to mind — but the XL1 was extreme. Built to achieve 1.0 L/100 km fuel economy, it weighed only 795 kg and was powered by a 0.8L three-cylinder diesel making 47 hp, paired with a 20-hp electric motor. With no door mirrors and a drag coefficient of just 0.18, it was one of the most aerodynamic cars ever made. Scissor doors added a supercar flourish. Production was capped at 250 units, each costing about $150,000 US. Expensive, weird and experimental, the XL1 was unlike any other Volkswagen.

Honda Crossroad

If you look at the Honda Crossroad and feel like you’ve seen that shape before, you would be absolutely correct. In the 1990s, when SUVs were quickly gaining popularity, Honda didn’t yet have its own SUV, so to fill the gap, it partnered with Land Rover and rebadged the first-generation Discovery as the Honda Crossroad. Produced from 1993 to 1998, the Crossroad looked nearly identical to its British counterpart, right down to the boxy shape. The Discovery was a relatively sensible vehicle, but Land Rovers of the era were notoriously unreliable, the exact opposite of Honda’s hard-earned reputation. Other than swapping badges, little was changed, making the Crossroad one of Honda’s oddest missteps.

Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR

Mercedes typically doesn’t venture far from its traditional formula, focusing on luxury sedans, coupes and SUVs, with performance handled by AMG versions of regular models. The CLK GTR was a rare exception — a mid-engine supercar built to satisfy GT1 racing homologation rules. It was the brand’s only mid-engine supercar until the recent release of the limited-run AMG One. Despite sharing its name with the relatively tame CLK coupe, it shared little beyond headlights and taillights and was a huge departure for the brand. Powered by a 7.3L V12 making more than 600 hp, it was trimmed with leather and checkered seats to match Mercedes’ luxury image. Only 26 were made — 20 coupes and six roadsters.

Jaguar XJR-15

Jaguar’s best-known supercar, the XJ220 of the 1990s, was largely forgotten, famously failing to meet high expectations despite being the world’s fastest car for one year. Less remembered is the wilder XJR-15 from the same time period, a Le Mans-derived road car developed in collaboration with Tom Walkinshaw Racing, the brand’s racing partner. Just 53 were built, with 27 road-going versions, making it far more rare than the XJ220, of which 250 were made. Powered by a 6.0L V12 producing 450 hp, it weighed only 1,050 kg — lighter than a Mazda MX-5. Despite being a road car, creature comforts were nonexistent: exposed carbon fibre replaced wood and leather, the deafening cabin required headsets for the driver and passenger, it had non-adjustable seats, and the engine cover couldn't be removed without unbolting several parts and removing the wheels first. The XJR-15 was far closer to a Le Mans race car than something you’d see at the dealership.

Nissan R390 GT1

Nissan is a brand typically known for making economy cars like sedans and SUVs designed for volume sales. Despite the brand having successfully made performance cars in the past — notably the Nissan GT-R — the brand has never had a full-on supercar, with one exception. Nissan would use a race car platform to build the R390 GT1 to compete in the GT1 class of racing in the late 1990s. Only one road-going version of the R390 GT1 was made, and it is currently on display at Nissan’s Nismo warehouse. It was powered by a 3.5L twin-turbo V8 making 550 hp, and had the look of a true race car with a low-nose and long-tail body painted in Nissan’s signature Skyline blue. Inside, it was barebones, trimmed only with red and black leather for a pop of colour.

Chevrolet SSR

Chevrolet is a brand that sells a wide range of cars, ranging from trucks to compacts to sports cars, and they’re usually pretty sensible. The Chevrolet SSR of the early 2000s, however, defied categorization. Inspired by 1950s hot rods, it was a two-door pickup truck with a folding metal hardtop — part roadster, part truck, part muscle car. It sounds cool in theory, but its execution was questionable. To top it off, it was initially powered by a 300-hp V8, and later versions had 390 hp. But it was built on GM’s mid-size SUV platform, giving it poor handling, and its bed was too small to really haul anything. No one really understood what this vehicle was supposed to be, and as a result, just 24,150 sold over its three-year production run.

Lincoln Blackwood

Lincoln generally makes relatively conservative cars. The brand has never made any performance cars or anything quirky, with one exception — the Lincoln Blackwood. Based on the Ford F-150, it was intended as a luxury pickup and was only sold for two years. Ford made some questionable decisions with the Blackwood. The bed was enclosed, heavily limiting practicality and carrying capacity, and rear-wheel-drive only meant weak towing and hauling capabilities for a truck. The Blackwood had a 540-kg (1,200-lb) payload capacity and towing capacity of 3,900 kg (8,700 lb). The “Blackwood” name referred to the faux wood panelling in the rear quarter of the truck. This truck wasn’t luxurious or particularly practical, and only 3,356 were sold.

VinFast LUX SA2.0 President

VinFast, a Vietnamese automaker, now sells electric vehicles in North America. But its early models were rebadged BMWs. The LUX A2.0 and LUX SA2.0 were based on the BMW 5 Series and X5, respectively. The X5-based SA2.0 came with a top trim level called the President, which was powered by a General Motors 6.2L V8, the same engine used in Corvettes. Styled by Pininfarina, it was a bizarre fusion: a Vietnamese brand selling a BMW, designed by an Italian company, with an American V8 under the hood.

Audi A2

The Audi A2 was a subcompact car in the late 1990s and early 2000s that was never sold in North America, which makes sense because it doesn’t exactly fit Audi's image as a luxury performance car brand. The A2 was a very cleverly packaged subcompact city car that used spaceframe aluminum construction, which made it very light. Combined with the A2’s range of tiny diesel and gasoline engines, it was very efficient, with gasoline engines capable of achieving 5.0 L/100 km, while diesels managed an even more impressive 3.0 L/100 km. Over a six-year production run, the A2 sold 176,000 units, far less than its Mercedes A-Class rival, which sold well over a million units in its first generation. Despite its efficient powertrain and good engineering, it was more expensive than its competition while not delivering much more power.