Dream cars that unfortunately were never built

T you can evacuate - for example to find a body variant of a classic car that has never been seen before at a classic car market. Every now and then you come across such creatures like a BMW 7 Series station wagon of the E23 series or a VW Polo remodeled into a convertible, but what the automotive designer Christian Schulte drew on his computer would be a medium sensation.

When the car manufacturers only had three models in their range

Like the Lancia Gamma Shooting Brake. Not that far from historical reality, after all, with the Lancia Beta HPE, the Italians invented the practical lifestyle station wagon. But in the 50s to 70s, the automobile manufacturers only had a few models in their range, of which there was usually only one body variant. It was simply too expensive and fraught with too much risk to simply develop new convertibles, station wagons or coupés out of the blue.

Mercedes

With the 190, an entry-level Mercedes was presented in 1982, the middle class was expanded with the variants of the W123 and W124.

The manufacturers - and customers - were already satisfied when there were models in the small car class, in the middle class and perhaps in the upper class in the portfolio. The great diversification only came in the 1990s. Mercedes is a pioneer in the growing model range: in the 1980s there were just five series. With the 190, an entry-level Mercedes was presented in 1982; the mid-range was expanded considerably with the variants of the W123 and W124 - T-model, coupé and convertible. Then there was the SL and the S-Class as well as the G-Model. And suddenly everything wentvery quickly: In just 15 years, no less than twelve series were added. There is now the right model for every application - from all major manufacturers.

Alfa Romeo Montreal Cabrio and Fiat 130 Shooting Brake

The computer retouching shows what classic car beauties there could be today - if the trend had started decades ago. And some of Schulte's creations would have had a good chance of success 30 or 40 years ago. Starting with the Alfa Romeo Montreal Cabriolet for well-heeled sports car drivers. The coupé is considered an icon of automotive engineering, the convertible version adds a crown of exclusivity to the whole.

The concept of the Fiat 130 Shooting Brake is particularly practical. A luxury car with space for four people including holiday luggage - a real GT as a top-of-the-range loadmaster. The Alfa Romeo Giulia Shooting Brake, the two-door station wagon version of the beautiful Italian woman, is also particularly successful. With some designs you even think you've seen them at some point, for example the Mercedes-Benz 300 Coupé or the Opel Kadett Cabrio. Perhaps one or the other will come up with the idea of ​​wanting to replicate one of these dream cars - and maybe we will soon see an NSU Ro80 Coupé or a cut-open Opel GT at a classic car market it in our great slideshow.