Five Ford Prototypes You Probably Didn’t Know About

Ford is one of the oldest and most prominent automotive brands in the world. Henry Ford, the man who started this company over a hundred years ago, was a pioneer in automotive engineering and brought combustion engine vehicles to the masses. Over the years, there have been many makes and models that have been best-sellers for Ford including the Ford Focus, Mondeo and of course, the F-150 pickup truck. But what many people don’t know is that there have been countless Ford Prototypes that have been in development but never actually made it to the production line. Here we talk about the five most interesting prototypes that Ford never made.

FX-Atmos

The FX-Atmos, which stands for “future experimental atmospheric” is a futuristic car like no other and the first car we are going to talk about from Ford’s prototype vault. At first glance, its design looks like a cross between the Jetsons’ family car and a Cadillac. The Ford vice-president, in 1954, declared that as this was just a design concept for the future, the engineering behind the car had not yet been figured out. It showed one of the avenues in which automotive styling could go in the future, but sadly bubble canopies did not catch on like Ford and Cartoon Network thought, but it is still a fun design to look back on.

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Capri II

The Capri II is next on our list. This car never got off the ground and into production but you can’t say that Ford never tried. There were no fewer than eleven different de-designs for this car over the years but they never seemed to get it right. The earliest model was introduced using a clay model that depicted a gold-coloured exterior, hatchback rear and pop-up lights. But it was stopped soon after this model as when Henry Ford saw the design he insisted that the Capri will never have pop-up lights. Back to the drawing board then.

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1965 Mustang “007”

So like the Ford Thunderbird, the 1965 Gold Ford Mustang was destined for a role on the big screen in a James Bond movie. But unlike the 2003 Ford Thunderbird, the Mustang “007” didn’t actually make the cut. This car was supposed to be shown during the James Bond blockbuster 1964 film “Goldfinger.” This car depicted the villain’s love for gold-gilded items. But as the real Goldfinger was an architect, the filmmakers decided that the more demure Wimbledon White Mustang convertible was used. If used in this movie, it could have been the springboard to boost the 1965 Mustang’s fame but alas it was never seen.

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Escort Cosworth including Three Spoilers

The Ford Escort is one of Ford’s best-selling cars of all time. The Escort Cosworth design was kept so under wraps it was developed offsite at a specialist location away from the main Ford design studio. The picture depicts another clay model of the exterior design of the car, with the many sketches behind of what the engine and interior will look like. This model also shows the Escort Cosworth’s distinctive features including its twin-spoiler. There were rumours that this car was being re-designed to include a three-spoiler setup which would have changed its iconic design.

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2000 Ford 24.7 Truck

Google wasn’t the first company to think of the idea of autonomous vehicles, Ford also had a concept in the works. Ford developed the 24.7 concept truck in 2000 as one of three small vehicles that emphasized technology and software. This forward-thinking approach alienated many people in 2000, who balked at the idea of a vehicle so dependent on technology. However, if Ford released it today, the 24.7 would seamlessly bridge the gap between the Tesla Cybertruck and the Ford F-150 electric. Due to its size, it would be perfect for many consumers who wanted a small truck while living in densely populated areas.

Conclusion 

Overall, the five designs showed how vast and varied Ford’s design team were. They were designing cars for both far away in the future and also refining some of the most-loved models. It would be interesting to know if these cars actually made it to the consumer market, would they have been a success?