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On Nov. 4, 1968, this car started life as a Lordstown, OH, Palladium Silver Firebird 400. Selected by John DeLorean, the folks at Pontiac Engineering transformed this car into the preproduction Trans Am. PHS shows it was invoiced to Royal Pontiac in Hollywood, CA, with a handwritten memo from George Stevens, car distributor for Pontiac Motor Division, who organized the first press testing of this vehicle at Riverside Raceway in December 1968 that featured the new GTO Judge and Firebird Trans Am. This silver prototype was featured in multiple magazines (Hot Rod March 1969, Motor Trend June 1969, Car Life April 1969, and Car Craft March 1969) before the production release in March 1969. It was purchased from Royal Pontiac by racing legend Jerry Titus and used as a daily driver and test mule for TG Racing, making appearances at El Mirage dry lakes and Stardust Raceway for aero testing downforce and lift. Sold by the Titus family in 1970, it spent the next 30 years in California. The well-known restorer Scott Tiemann of Supercar Specialties has carefully restored the car. Once completed, the car has only accumulated test miles to make sure that everything works correctly. The car was completely disassembled and stripped to bare metal. Once the body was prepared, it was given a fresh coat of the correct Palladium Silver, and all chassis components were replaced and refinished in the correct original factory finishes. The restoration on this Trans Am prototype is correct down to the T-3 headlamps and original style Firestone tires. The correct XN code Ram Air IV engine was carefully rebuilt and dyno-tuned by engine master Dan Jensen. The correct PQ Code heavy-duty Turbo Hydramatic 400 transmission has been rebuilt and detailed by Brian Stefina. Everything about this amazing piece of Pontiac history has been reviewed by PHS founder Jim Mattison and confirmed for accuracy. Source: Première année : Pontiac Trans Am - Forumactif.com. https://tribuneauto.forumactif.com/t38629-premiere-annee-pontiac-trans-am Images: oldconceptcars

From 1969-1971, the Citroën M35 was produced. It was a prototype 2-door fastback coupe made to research the Citroën Wankel engine in normal service with paying customers who do high mileages. Only 267 M35 coupes are made out of the intended 500. Heuliez built them. Robert Opron had designed the M35 with obvious similarities to the Ami 8, but few panels were shared between the two models. Source: simoncars.co.uk Images: oldconceptcars

Very little is published on the 1969 Mitsubishi Minica Jeep Concept. What is known is that there were two variations. One version would have color-matching fender-mounted mirrors, fog lights, and a convertible top. The other version would have no top, chrome mirrors, no doors, and a mismatched hood. Comment below if anything is known. Images: oldconceptcars

Audi was never a real volume car manufacturer pre-1970s. In the early days, Audi released to the market very specialized cars, and this 100 LS (C1) drop-top Cabriolet was one of them. Osnabruck-based Karmann Coachworks was commissioned to build and deliver all the bodies, and they already had their own business with Volkswagen, building special models like the Karmann Ghia. However, this would have marked a new space for Audi. Though not quite as exotic in appearance as the Bertone-penned Coupe S, the 2-door notchback body style of the 100 likely marked an easier design from which to engineer a convertible. A prototype was built and the car debuted at the 1969 Frankfurt IAA. Alas, the car would never move beyond the prototype stage, but it certainly marked an interesting page in the C1/F104 architecture history. For years, Karmann would produce coupe and convertible models for the Volkswagen Group, including the B3-based Audi Cabriolet (1997-2000) and A4/S4 Cabriolets (2002-2008). By 2009 the company had fallen on hard times and was eventually purchased by the Volkswagen Group. The Karmann-built 100 LS Cabriolet remains today in the collection of Audi Tradition, occasionally pulled out for classic car events. Source:Audi 100 LS 1969 Model Cabriolet by Karmann. https://www.dsf.my/2013/04/audi-100-ls-1969-model-cabriolet-by-karmann/ Images: oldconceptcars

Little is published about this 1969 Audi 80 Prototype. Comment below if anything is known. Image: oldconceptcars

Abarth's chief engineer Mario Colucci designed the ‘Cuneo’ or ‘wedge’-shaped Abarth prototype and featured a mid-mounted V8 engine. Source & Images: carsthatnevermadeitetc.tumblr

An attempt to make a 4-seat successor to the AC 428 Coupe´ (also designed by Pietro Frua). A 7.0 liter Ford V8 powered the 429, but AC’s financial issues mean the car did not develop beyond a single prototype. Source & Images: carsthatnevermadeitetc.tumblr

While attending a General Motors media event in Germany, the automaker laid out several old Opels, including this unique example of the GT sports coupe. While the mini-Corvette-styled GT is a rarity, the car you see here is one of only two ever built. The Aero GT was first shown at the 1969 Frankfurt Motor Show after the GT entered production. The black roof is a removable targa top, and the Aero also had an electrically retracting vertical rear window. For some reason, GM opted not to produce the Aero, and only this example was mothballed for the last 40 years. The second car was sold to a collector, and its whereabouts are unknown. Source: autoblog Images: oldconceptcars

The XJ-002 used a Jeep Commando pickup frame and running gear and had a fiberglass body (the production car was to use Cycolac thermoplastic). Described as the first four-wheel-drive Jeep Sports Car, it was to have been sold through selected Jeep dealers. It was designed by Dann Deaver for the Bolide Motor Car Company under a commission by Kaiser-Jeep directly before their takeover by AMC. The AMC takeover happened when the car was commissioned and built and debuted at the 1970 New York Auto Show. AMC had no interest in pursuing the project, which was a joint venture between Kaiser-Jeep and Borg Warner (manufacturer of Cycolac Thermoplastic). The car was rediscovered in West Virginia in 1996. Source & Images: carsthatnevermadeitetc.tumblr

Volvo’s Italian importer commissioned Zagato to build a coupé based on the Volvo 144, hoping to persuade the Swedes to add a second, more modern coupé to their range. Despite a buoyant market for sports coupés at the time, Volvo wasn’t interested, and the GTZ remained a one-off. It was presented on Zagota’s stand at the Turin Motor Show (pictured). It was sold to a private buyer after the show, but the car’s whereabouts are unknown if it still exists. Source & Images: carsthatnevermadeitetc.tumblr

From 1969, with the idea of a front-wheel drive, front-engined philosophy well in place, Volkswagen made its first steps, ironically with an air-cooled prototype. Somewhat boxy in appearance, the EA276 was a hatchback design with a front-mounted air-cooled engine as the powerplant and MacPherson strut suspension. Again, it never made it into production in Germany but was used as a testbed for the up-and-coming Beetle killer „ the Golf. Eventually, the basic design was shipped to Brazil and adapted into the VW Gol (not a spelling mistake). This was a hatchback between the Polo and Golf in size, which began life with a front-mounted air-cooled engine. Subsequently, its appearance morphed so that it looked more like the Golf (though smaller) and was converted to use water-cooled powerplants. Source: www.ltv-vwc.org.uk Images: www.volkswagen-automuseum.de; Volkswagen AG

While most Japanese firms turned to European design houses for their innovative designs, Toyota struck its own course. The 1969 EX III was a case in point. Here was a sleek coupe, which advanced the dream-car ideal as much as the Europeans. Its sleek shape carried over to its ultra-smooth undertray (underbody), making it very aerodynamic. Like the EX-1, the EX-III was also designed for long-distance, high-speed driving, but it was a bigger car. Shown at the 1969 Tokyo Motor Show, the EX-III was the big brother of the EX-I. The larger body was even more aerodynamic, being built very low with a pointed front (no bumper), a long bonnet, sharply sloped sides, and tapered rear. Large exhaust outlets hinted at a gas turbine engine, but no details were given. Source: www.is-it-a-lemon.com; Stepho’s Toyota Site Images: oldconceptcars.com

The EX-II was a 2-seater, fully enclosed electric runabout shown at the 1969 Tokyo Motor Show. Contact with the outside world took place through the bull's eyes, and the headlights were situated behind the glass cabin, which enveloped the entire vehicle. It was an attempt to lend a new shape to a microcar, but it never went beyond fashionable futurism. EX-II Type A (for shopping and commuting), EX-II Type B (for carrying luggage within the private premises), EX-II Type C (for leisure use). Images: Toyota; oldconceptcars

The EX-I is the most conventional of Toyota's three experimental prototypes recently introduced at the Tokyo Motor Show. Designed by Toyota research engineers to accommodate a front-engine drive train, the EX-I is styled specifically for long-distance driving at high speed. Toyota executives have announced no plans for the production of the futuristic model. Source: Toyota Press Release Images: Toyota; Stepho’s Toyota Site; www.2000gt.net

In 1968/1969 Vignale built three prototypes for Tatra, the Czech luxury marque. One of them was used in a crash test. The other two survived this ordeal. Two models were proposed: a four-door limousine and a two-door coupe. Only in 1972 did the production of the T613 sedans start in Czechoslovakia. The T613s were primarily meant as transport for high government, and as taxis, a small number were exported. The coupe was never put into production. In style with the Tatra tradition, they were equipped with a V8 engine in the rear. To obtain a better weight division, the engine was placed right above the rear axle, a 'semi mid engine,' so to say. Source: www.vignale.org Images: www.automobilrevue.cz; www.tatra-club.com; www.svarny.cz

The aerodynamically shaped Pontiac Cirrus experimental car features a two-seat "cockpit" and is inspired by aircraft design. A futuristic 2-seater was a development of the GM-X Stiletto concept from 1964. It was a pure styling exercise and lacked an engine. Source: Vehicle Transportation in the Future, 1969. Images: www.autoweteran.gower.pl; www.chicagoautoshow.com

A sure show stopper, the topless Road Runner concept car for 1969 was called Duster I and came fitted with a 426-cubic inch Hemi-head engine that produced a whopping 425 horsepower. Built on a shortened Road Runner platform, the wheelbase was reduced 16-inches to an even 100 inches, and the car rolled on large H60 x 15-inch tires. A built-in roll bar was adjusted to match high-speed racing, and spoilers in the rear quarter panels opened to prevent side-to-side yaw when slipstreaming. Smaller front rock shield spoilers helped to reduce frontal lift. Source: www.chicagoautoshow.com Images: Concept Car Central; Custom_Cab's photostream

The Ferrari Sigma, also known as the Ferrari Sigma Grand Prix, was a Formula One show car built in 1969 by Pininfarina. The Sigma, presented on 13 March 1969 in Geneva, was a prototype never intended to compete in any Formula One races. The main inspiration for creating the car was that many Formula One drivers died in accidents because of low safety standards. The Sigma was built in 1969 in cooperation with Pininfarina and Revue Automobile with the support of Enzo Ferrari, Fiat, and Mercedes. The car's name ("Sigma") was chosen because Pininfarina had built a car with that name several years before. Paolo Martin designed the car. It was based on the Ferrari 312 and weighed 590 kilograms (1,300 lb). It was equipped with a 3.0-liter V12 engine with 436 horsepower (325 kW). This car was to be a "future car," showing mainly new safety standards. Many innovations included a driver survival cell, multi-layer fuel tanks, a fire extinguisher system, plastic fuel tanks, a safety belt system, and sidepods protruding behind the rear wheels to prevent interlocking wheels. Pininfarina owns the original car. Source: Ferrari Sigma - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_Sigma Images: Pininfarina; www.shorey.net; www.italiaspeed.com; Paolo Martin - www.paolomartindesigner.com

The Pininfarina-styled two-door 504 coupé and cabriolet unveiled at Geneva in 1969 were elegant but not very quick: not until the PRV V6 in 1974, anyway. This coupe would be produced in three different phases. Once from 1969-1974, again from 1974-1979, and finally from 1979-1983. Images: Pininfarina Pictured Above: 1969-1974 Peugeot 504 Coupe by Pininfarina Pictured Above: 1974-1979 Peugeot 504 Coupe by Pininfarina Pictured Above: 1979-1983 Peugeot 504 Coupe by Pininfarina

The 1969 Peugeot 504 Cabriolet by Pininfarina was presented at the 1969 Geneva Motor Show. This cabriolet would be produced in three different phases. Once from 1969-1974, again from 1974-1979, and finally from 1979-1983. Images: Pininfarina Pictured Above: 1969-1974 Peugeot 504 Cabriolet by Pininfarina Pictured Above: 1974-1979 Peugeot 504 Cabriolet by Pininfarina Pictured Above: 1979-1983 Peugeot 504 Cabriolet by Pininfarina