Remembering the Concepts of NAIAS ’98

Last week’s Detroit Auto Show (née North American International Auto Show, or NAIAS) got us thinking about past shows and the concepts that debuted there, which naturally sent us to the internet, which of course led to YouTube and this excellent MotorWeek recap of the 1998 event.  

Poised before the threshold of a new millennium, manufacturers introduced more than 36 concept and new production models that year in Detroit. As is the always case with auto show unveilings, some had stronger legs than others, while many of the vehicles that caused a stir were never seen again.

“As has become tradition,” says MotorWeek host John Davis, “Chrysler kicked things off with a trio of concept vehicles, with the hint that one or two of them will eventually make it to production.” And as has become tradition, none of them went into production. 

The Plymouth Pronto Spyder, for example, epitomized the one-and-done lifecycle of the concept car. It “combines vintage Euro sports car design with Yankee ingenuity plastic bodywork,” which hardly seems like a compliment, given that everyone on earth now has bits of this car coursing through their bloodstream. But the concept drew praise for its “dramatic exterior” and “Swiss watch–like gauges.” It was an attractive car, no doubt—a precursor of the Opel Speedster to come, perhaps—and its 225-hp supercharged 2.4-liter four and manual transmission could have made for a good time.

Then there was the Jeep Jeepster, a high-waisted 2+2 “sports car” with four-wheel drive, adjustable suspension, and a 4.7-liter V-8. It was interesting in the way the Isuzu VehiCROSS was interesting, but it was also entirely impractical as a production vehicle, so instead it probably laid the groundwork for some Hot Wheels. 

Chrysler also unveiled its Chronos luxury sedan. Long and low, it personified the firm’s “Looking ahead by looking back” philosophy at the time and was inspired by the 1953 Chrysler d’Elegance. “Rumors are the firm may be considering making the V-10 Chronos as their long sought-after flagship,” Davis says. HA! Instead we just got more Cirrus. 

The Acura TL-X, meanwhile, was technically a concept but was so clearly the Accord-based second-generation TL sedan that would go on sale for 1999 that it’s hard to consider it one. Another Accord-based concept was Honda’s MV-99 minivan, a darn-close precursor to the American-made Odyssey we would see in 1999. The concept lacked exterior protrusions like door handles, the sliding-door track was zipper-thin, and the interior was concept-car wow, but it otherwise gave us a sneak-peak at the minivan that would raise the bar in that segment, with its dual-sliding doors and car-like handling. 

MotorWeek spends only a few seconds on the bright orange Mitsubishi SST concept—the first concept car ever displayed by Mitsubishi at a U.S. auto show. Quite presciently, Davis states that the car “says a lot about a future Mitsubishi sports coupe.” And he was right, of course. The SST informed the design of the third-generation Eclipse, particularly evident in emphasized wheel arches and the triple inlets at each front corner that turn to raked moldings in the doors. Long and tall, its visual heft was also translated well into the finished product. 

Aston Martin’s Project Vantage concept also debuted in Detroit. Finished in Derwent Green, the sexy GT housed a 450-hp 6.0-liter V-12 and had showgoers—and fans of the marque, particularly—clamoring for a production version. In 2001, they’d get their wish when the V12 Vanquish hit the streets.

Audi showed off its Allroad Quattro concept. At the time, the German firm was tight-lipped as to when its “civilized SUV wagon” would go into production, but, as Davis quipped, “We hope it gets the green light soon.” And you know what? It did. The A6-based dad-wagon hit showrooms in 1999. 

General Motors displayed a pair of concepts that predicted “where people movers might evolve in the new millennium.” Before “Thunder” was relegated to merely the top trim level of the Pontiac Montana minivan in 2002, the Montana Thunder concept was a short, sporty minivan with a Ram Air V-6, 18-inch wheels, pop-up headlights, giant dual nostrils in a familiar Pontiac snout, and weird ribbed buttresses extending from the side sheet metal out to the lower body cladding. In short, it looked like the answer to a question no one was asking.

Not to be outdone, “Buick engineers think that minivans, sedans, and sport-utes might one day all merge,” Davis says. They weren’t wrong, honestly, even if their AWD solution, the Signia, was … well, it was real ugly. But with a large removable glass hatch and slide-out rear floor, we can appreciate the novelty.

Alternative fuels were already on everyone’s mind in 1998 Detroit, including GM, which Davis claimed was “already the leader in production electric cars.” My, how times have changed, but the paint was barely dry on the four-seater EV1 that GM showed off at NAIAS. Ford’s 63-mpg diesel-powered P2000 never came to fruition, nor did the Dodge Intrepid ESX2 hybrid, which paired “a small diesel for cruising with electric power for hard acceleration and accessories.” Speaking of accessories, Dodge also debuted a stick-on aero roof for its big Ram pickups. Dubbed “Big Red,” it looked eerily similar to the bubble helmet worn in the 1990s by Buffalo Bills receiver Don Beebe.

That was MotorWeek’s take on “the most impressive car party of the season,” even if most of the party favors—which is to say the concepts that debuted that January—ended up in the bin. Such is the way of the one-off, no?