These Cars Were The Biggest Departures For Their Makers

Lexus

For the most part, car companies don't like to break the mold. They're good at building what they're good at building, and they really don't want to deviate too far from that. However, every once in a while, an automaker will swing for the fences with one of their creations, coming up with something truly wild and far outside of their normal, everyday offerings. Those cars are what we asked you about last week.

We wanted to know what car was the biggest departure for its maker. What single vehicle was the most different from all the other ones its company had built before? Usually, you goofuses give some very silly answers, but I'm happy to say that most of you actually came through. Perhaps it's because I haven't been around these past couple weeks and you wanted to show off for everybody else.

In any case, there are some really sick, oddball and intriguing cars on this list, so it's a mighty good time to drop on down below and check out the cars that are the biggest departures for their automakers.

Porsche

The Cayenne. Porsche's whole ethos was sports cars, and then, seemingly out of the blue (or maybe out of necessity for the green $$$), Porsche comes out with an SUV.

That car, for better or worse, changed Porsche's landscape from a sports car brand to a sports luxury brand, and paved the way for the Panamera, Macan and Taycan, cars that would have been unthinkable just a couple of decades earlier.

Submited by: Tiago Bastos

Ford

Turbo 4-cyl in a field of V8s, focused on handling and balance when everything in their competitive set was based on straight-line acceleration.

Submitted by: potbellyjoe

Kia

Honestly? The Kia Stinger came out of nowhere and helped turned the tide of Kia Hyundai reputation. Younger readers might not even realize just how bad the Kia Hyundai reputation was in the 2000s. Even in 2018 when the Stinger came out, folks really couldn't believe these things were Kias. A RWD sport sedan with Audi and BMW DNA (talking about the pedigree of the folks behind the car) coming from a brand that was otherwise known to be a penalty prize at the rental counter was absolute crazy work.

Submitted by: Atomic

Honda

The NSX. No one was expecting Honda to launch a mid-engined sports car that rivaled Ferraris.

&

Honda with the NSX. A company known for its elite econobox game and some fun cheap and cheery boy racer versions of their econoboxes goes out and creates a mid engine supercar to go toe to toe with Ferrari.

Submitted by: GrannyShifter & JaredOfLondon

Aston Martin

A badge engineered Toyota iQ made solely to increase brand MPG.

Flopped after only 2 years on the market.

Submitted by: half man half bear half pig

Plymouth

Yes the V6 + auto. But what even was Plymouth in the 90s other than value Chrysler brand then BAM...30s style hot rod.

&

Plymouth Prowler, it is unique and would be a departure for any car brand, and i happened to have a poster of a lovely purple one on my wall as a child next to a yellow Lamborghini diablo.

Submitted by: Dano Nahabedian & Flattering Rainbow

Lexus

Lets be honest Lexus mostly makes cars for accountants and rich stay at home moms. Nothing wrong with that but they are just not exciting and not risky at all. Then the LFA dropped with the one of the best sounding engines of all time

Submitted by: Gerrit DeBoer

Audi

Since the NSX has already been taken, I'll go with the Audi R8. It was the holy grail of halo cars. The halo car that actually got people to change their opinions about the rest of the lineup. Eat your heart out, LFA because you could literally never.

Submitted by: Give Me Tacos or Give Me Death

Lamborghini

A company known for sports cars producing what could pass for a military vehicle turned into a luxury SUV. Maybe they saw the future.

Submitted by: Joe Stricker

Cadillac

The 2005 Cadillac CTS-V. Just look at the slop they had been pushing out for the prior 30 years. That model was a renaissance for the brand that led to us getting a V8 stick wagon, a twin turbo coupe in the ATS, and the monster that is the current CT-5.

&

1st Gen Cadillac CTS V. Caddy had been making land yachts for grandmas in Florida and then they stuck the engine and gearbox from the Vette Z06 into the CTS. I have one...fun car. Hauls groceries, kids and a** all at the same time.

Submitted by: manbearpig & Music Teacher 17

Hyundai

I know someone said Stinger, but for me it was Genesis Coupe... Hyundai US had the Tiburon as the most sporty car in the lineup and it wasn't sporty at all. They also had zero RWD cars in the US outside of the Kia Borrego. Then they go and offer a potent V6 model and a turbo 4 model, RWD, manual transmissions with extra packages for more sporty intentions? And the V6 sounded as good as it did from the factory? AND they were cheaper than all the competitors.

Then the Genesis sedan pushing upmarket, but the Coupe was the bigger departure to me.

Submitted by: cintocrunch1