FAILED BRITISH CONCEPT CARS

High-tech concepts can spawn iconic models, but others don't make the cut. Here are just a few

- SIMON HUCKNALL

You've got to love the UK's low-volume car industry. Brimming with ambition, but more often lacking the funds to realise the potential of many of its most exciting and innovative designs, it has left Y in its wake a series of so-near yet-so-far concepts that never quite made the grade. And when it comes to would-be sports cars, this country has an enviable track record.

Some have emerged from resin-dust encrusted workshops in the Midlands to enjoy fleeting fame before being unceremoniously scrapped. Others were conceived to change our perceptions about a brand, before their technical complexity set alarm bells ringing with the bean-counters. And by the time a few more had been unveiled, changing market forces had simply prevailed enough to kill their original business cases.

But not all of our homespun sports car concepts were produced by manufacturers synonymous with such vehicles. Mainstream doyen Vauxhall can take a bow here, in its quest to find a more youthful following during the 1960s. At the other end of the market, Bentley dabbled in the supercar world, while Aston Martin's Bulldog was so forward-thinking that its true mettle wasn't tested until last year. But they all have one thing in common: none ever saw a showroom.

1. Triumph Lynx

In the late 1960s, there were rumours that the lucrative American market was set for an all-out ban on new convertibles, which would have impacted quite massively on BLMC's portfolio. By 1972, Triumph's TR6 successor, the TR7, had been signed off as a fixed-head coupé, but the company was still left with the open-topped four-seater Stag.