Over the years Dodge has built a surprising amount of concept cars, not all of them bad looking. The Intrepid Concept from 1989 looks great for its time, as did the Dodge Daytona RT Concept that came out a year later. However, there have been a lot more swings and misses than hits. So brace yourself for a quartet of cringeworthy concepts that Dodge should absolutely, positively have never made, and no doubt wishes we would stop talking about.
The 1995 Dodge Aviat sacrificed aesthetics for aerodynamics. What started as a Neon was morphed into something straight out of a B-rated sci-fi flick. Everything about this car is stupid, from its scissor doors to thank bonkers layout for the rear wheels. But the worst is the back end, which you can see in all its (lack of) beauty in this video.
If you put the Chrysler 300 on steroids and gave it the face of a Charger from the mid-2000s you would have the Super8 HEMI Concept. This beast made its debut at the 2001 Detroit Auto Show and packed a 5.7-liter V8 good for 353 horsepower and 395 lb-ft of torque. Despite having a top speed of 154 mph the Super8 was never fast enough to outrun its own monstrous looks. But Dodge seems pretty proud of the concept, at least according to its official blog, and it does have reason to be. This thing was a partial preview of the revived Charger and became a Hot Wheels model. That's the mark of concept car success, right?
Feast your eyes on corporate America's view of surf culture. The Dodge Kahuna is so ruthlessly cheesy that it'll bring tears to your eyes. Everything from the name to the wood paneling is incredibly lame. But wait, it gets better! There's a fully retractable fabric roof, because topless minivans are what people wanted back in 2003.
A convertible roadster pickup truck is the dumbest idea ever. But, the Dodge Sidewinder concept is no normal automotive abomination. This thing debuted at SEMA in 1997 and as you'd expect is plenty powerful. Under the hood is an 8.0-liter V10 engine sourced from a Viper GTS-R. The embarrassment of riding in a coverable truck doesn't seem so bad when you can do up to 170 mph. At that speed you should be able to outrun your own reflection.