Mazda's reborn RX-7, Holden's revived Torana, Hyundai's electric Porsche rival and other concept cars that should become a reality

We recently looked at some concept cars that never stood a chance of seeing a showroom. But what about the opposite? The concepts that are so good they deserve to hit production?

There are plenty of examples of cars that start off as stunning concepts and are so well received, it either vindicated the designer or forced a management rethink to turn the concept into production as quickly as possible.

Recent examples of this include the Hyundai 45 (which will hit showrooms soon as the Ioniq 5), the Honda e (which was too cute to be ignored) and the Mercedes-Benz Vision EQS (which has recently launched without the ‘Vision’).

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But what about those that, for whatever reason, look great as a concept but never get beyond that stage. Well, we’ve assembled a list of concept cars that we believe deserved better than just being a one-off creation.

These aren’t just the concepts we liked for the sake of it, these are models that we think could (or still can) play an important role for each brand. 

Holden Torana TT36

The TT36 Torana Concept was the smallest and shortest of all the VE-based projects.

Back in the glory days of Holden in the early 2000s, the brand could seemingly do no wrong, producing a series of acclaimed Commodores and even reviving the Monaro. Then at the 2004 Sydney motor show, it teased the comeback of another famous nameplate, showing off the Torana TT36 concept.

This mid-size sedan was meant to sit beneath the then-popular Commodore to appeal to those who wanted a more compact car, and thanks to its rear-wheel drive platform, it could have been a cut-price rival to the links of the BMW 3 Series.

While the concept had a twin-turbo V6, any production Torana would have needed a range of four- and six-cylinder engine options to be competitive.

Would it have saved Holden? Probably not, but it would have been a better mid-size proposition than the forgettable Epica and Malibu models that were offered up instead.

Nissan IDx

Nissan couldn’t find a partner to share the development and production costs for the IDx to make it a reality.

People of a certain age will have fond memories when you mention a Datsun 1600. And seemingly some of those people worked in Nissan a decade ago, because the IDx concept paid clear homage to the ‘Datto’.

The IDx was seemingly the right car at the right time, a compact rear-wheel drive sports coupe to rival the then-new Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ. This was a period when Japanese car companies were looking to inject some excitement back into their line-ups, so the creation of the IDx Freeflow and the follow-up IDx Nismo made sense.

Unfortunately, unlike the Toyota/Subaru joint-venture, Nissan couldn’t find a partner to share the development and production costs for the IDx to make it a reality. Which is a shame, because in an era when affordable performance is in demand from customers but getting harder to find, the Datsun-inspired IDx would have been a great addition to the brand’s line-up underneath the 370Z.

Mazda RX-Vision

Mazda may not have given up on bringing the RX-Vision to production reality.

Hope springs eternal… at least for RX-7 die-hards. Mazda has teased the possibility of a revived rotary sports car too many times to mention, but the closest the company has come to following through was the RX-Vision concept.

Unveiled at the 2015 Tokyo motor show, the RX-Vision was the car RX-7 fans had been waiting for: a proper, two-door, front-engine, rotary-powered sports car. And early on, Mazda executives were talking optimistically about putting the concept into production - originally for 2020 to celebrate the brand’s centenary. 

Obviously that didn’t happen, with the company’s financial resources devoted to developing its spark-ignition Skyactiv-X engines and larger-volume models. But not all is lost; Mazda is still reportedly toiling away on making rotary engines more fuel efficient, although possibly as a range-extender for electric vehicles.

Another reason to hope is a recent leak from the Japanese patent office, showing the rear-end structure of a sports car very similar to RX-Vision, suggesting Mazda may not have given up on bringing the RX-Vision to production reality. Maintain hope, RX-7 fans.

Hyundai RM20e

Hyundai plans to develop an electric midship sports car. 

The idea of a Hyundai mid-engine sports car to take on the likes of the Porsche 718 Cayman and Alpine A110 may seem far-fetched, except for the fact the company has explicitly said it would like to develop such a car. What’s more, they want to make it electric (or at least hybrid).

When the South Korean giant announced its investment in Rimac, the Croatian EV supercar specialists it said one of the main reasons was to accelerate its plans “to develop an electric version of Hyundai Motor’s N brand midship sports car.” 

It appeared to be coming to fruition when Hyundai showed off the latest in its series of ‘Racing Midship’ concepts, the RM20e. This followed on from previous RM concepts that had the engine in the middle, but it replaced the engine with electric motors. Packing 596kW and 960Nm, it certainly had the performance to take on the likes of Porsche and co.

Unfortunately, more recent comments from Hyundai management suggest they’re having second thoughts about building a bespoke electric N sports car to take on more prestige rivals. Instead, we’re likely to get an N version of the upcoming Ioniq 5, which should possess similar performance to the 430kW Kia EV6 GT.

Volkswagen ID Buggy

Volkswagen had reportedly engaged e.Go to build the unique chassis and bodies for a production ID Buggy.

The German giant is making a major shift towards electric vehicles with the ID.3 and ID.4, but is adamant that EVs must be fun. That’s why the ID Buzz concept is turning into a production reality as a reborn Kombi.

Buoyed by that success, the company pushed the boundaries even further with the 2019 ID Buggy concept. This was a modern twist on the iconic beach buggies of the 1960s, specifically the Meyers Manx that was based on a VW Beetle, with electric motors replacing the flat-four engine.

Volkswagen had reportedly engaged a third-party company, e.Go, to build the unique chassis and bodies for a production run of the ID Buggy, only for the company to run into financial trouble. It’s unclear if Volkswagen is still looking for another outside company to help turn the Buggy into a production reality, but for a company that wants to showcase just how fun EVs can be, it would be great if they could find someone to make it happen. 

Genesis Essentia

The Genesis Essentia was unveiled at the 2018 New York motor show.

Hyundai’s growing luxury brand unveiled the Genesis X Concept earlier this year, hinting strongly that a production version of this electric grand tourer would appear within the next few years.

While it would make a great addition to the Genesis line-up, providing a halo model to sit above its range of otherwise sensible sedans and SUVs, there’s another concept that arguably fits the mould of a hero car better.

The Genesis Essentia was unveiled at the 2018 New York motor show, and it was as stunning then as it is now. Unlike the GT-style X Concept, the Essentia is a pure sports car, albeit with electric power rather than an internal-combustion engine.

The sleek lines and cab-rearward stance gave it a sharper, more purposeful look than the brand’s latest concept. If Genesis is serious about taking on BMW, Mercedes-Benz and co. as a serious luxury player, then the Essentia seems like an essential addition to us.