Car Brands That No Longer Exist!

In this video, we’ll take a look back at some of the car brands that are no longer around. Some car manufacturers have been around for more than 100 years, such as General Motors and Ford. However, not every car brand has been so fortunate. There are some auto lines that only exist in history books and memories due to circumstances like bankruptcy, acquisition, or financial struggles.

In 1928, automotive executive Walter P Chrysler created Plymouth, which became one of several car brands under the umbrella of his Chrysler Corporation. Plymouth was a low-cost alternative to more expensive cars that were on the market. However, in 2001, the brand stopped production, and the company transferred its designs to other brands like Dodge and Chrysler.

At one time, Pontiac was a popular American car brand. The company was owned by General Motors and was launched in 1926. Some of the famous cars they had were Firebird, GTO, Grand Prix, and Grand Am. In 2010, GM discontinued the line following a recession.

Saab was a Swedish luxury car brand that was first introduced to the world in 1945. During its lifetime, there were multiple owners. In 2002, General Motors acquired Saab and tried to revive the car brand but were unsuccessful. Production of the cars was then shut down in 2011, and nothing was produced in 2012. In 2013, a new owner in Sweden took over the name and started producing electric vehicles. The following year, in 2014, the car brand was shut down for good.

The Mercury brand was launched in 1938 by the Ford Motor Company to attract entry-level consumers. Some of the more notable cars were the Mercury Cougar, Capri, and Sable. In 2011, the brand was shut down due to its lack of profitability.

Oldsmobile was one of the oldest car brands in the world. Olds Motor Vehicle Company first started manufacturing cars in 1897. In 1908, General Motors acquired the company and took over production of the line of vehicles. A couple of the more well-known Oldsmobiles were the Cutlass and Rocket 88. In 2004, General Motors decided to shut down Oldsmobile.

The Hummer car brand first came out in 1992 when its parent company AM General began producing a mass-market version of the Humvee, which was a military vehicle. The design went over celebrity fans like Arnold Schwarzenegger. In 1999, General Motors purchased the company, but GM discontinued the line in 2010 after filing for bankruptcy. However, GMC revived the Hummer with an electric version in 2022.

The American Suzuki car brand shut down U.S operations in 2012 after filing for bankruptcy. The company stated that they failed because of slow sales; however, its parent company still operates in Japan.

In 1985, General Motors created the Saturn Corporation as a subsidiary. Their cars were different than anything else on the market because they had plastic that would pop back out into place after they had been dented or hit. A couple of the more notable cars that they had were the Saturn Ion sedan and the Saturn Sky Roadster. The cars appeared to sell well, but they were also made very well, and they ran forever. In fact, you may still see some of these on the road. General Motors shut down Saturn operations in 2010.

The Scion car brand was created by the Toyota Motor Corporation in an effort to appeal to younger shoppers. It was launched in 2003.

Toyota Motor Corporation launched the Scion brand in 2003 with models such as the Scion xB and the Scion tC, aiming to attract younger customers. However, due to fierce competition in the market, Toyota decided to phase out the Scion and its cars in 2016.

Checker Motors Corporation, which reportedly existed between 1922 and 2009, is famous for its vintage yellow taxis, but the name actually refers to the car brand. Although the company filed for bankruptcy in 2009, rumors suggest that it may make a comeback.

Studebaker Corporation was established in 1852 as a blacksmith shop owned by brothers. The company manufactured horse carriages before switching to cars at the turn of the century. Studebaker continued as a car brand until 1967 when they faced lower price competition, which forced them to shut down.

Isuzu became popular in the U.S for selling SUVs and for moving the car market in that direction. The Japanese company sold passenger vehicles for almost three decades in the U.S, but once other manufacturers started producing SUVs, the company’s sales slowed. Isuzu decided to end its American passenger vehicle operations in 2009.

Willy’s Overland Company is credited for building the first Jeeps. They were established in 1908 and manufactured passenger vehicles before landing a government contract to produce military vehicles for World War II. Those vehicles would come to be known as Jeeps, and the company went out of business in 1955.

The American Motor Corporation (AMC) was formed in 1954 after the merger of two existing car manufacturers. George Romney, the father of presidential candidate Mitt Romney, was the company’s first chairman and president. He stayed until 1962, leading the company to focus on compact and fuel-efficient cars. AMC was shut down forever around 1988.

Kaiser Frazier started as a collaboration between two automobile executives in 1947 and ended up becoming the modern-day brand that we know as Kaiser Jade. However, it only lasted for a handful of years before being renamed, bought, and merged in 1953. This company holds the distinction of being the only new car company to be successful in the immediate years following World War II.

The DeLorean Motor Company only existed for a brief amount of time beginning in 1975. However, it has been immortalized as the time travel machine in the movie franchise Back to the Future. The company was founded by former General Motors engineer John DeLorean and only produced one model of car, the DMC-12, which had distinctive upward-swinging doors. The company filed for bankruptcy in 1982, which was the same year that John DeLorean was arrested on drug trafficking charges. He was later cleared of the charges and passed away in 2005. The DeLorean brand was relaunched in recent years, but the cars have yet to leave the assembly plant because of a series of issues. The latest word is that they may come out in 2024.

Packard was an automobile brand that has been gone for more than 70 years. The company produced its final car in 1958. During the 50-plus years that the company was in business, they focused on producing some very beautiful and very pricey cars.

DeSoto was a division of the Chrysler Corporation from 1928 to 1960. DeSoto created some memorable mid-century-style mid-price cars. However, the 1958 recession had a big impact on them, and the division was ultimately terminated in 1961.

When Chrysler acquired AMC in 1987, the company created the Eagle car brand. This car brand was only around from the late 80s to the late 90s when Chrysler decided to shut it down. Two of the cars that you may remember are the Eagle Talon and the Eagle Summit.

The Ford Motor Company had a lot of success as a company, but it also had its share of flops. The Edsel car brand was one of those. Between 1958 and 1960, the Edsel brand produced eight different models of cars. However, after poor sales, it was deemed a failure and discontinued by Ford.

The Studebaker Avanti car was a popular model during the 1960s era. After the company shut down, the rights and the parts for the vehicle were acquired by the newly formed Avanti Motor Company. That began producing the Avanti II. Even though the owners changed multiple times, the company continued to exist in some form until around 2006.

You may be familiar with the UK-based Rover company’s most famous car, the Land Rover. The company began in 1878 and manufactured the off-road vehicle from 1948 until it became its own brand. Today, the Rover brand no longer produces cars, but its intellectual property is owned by its automaker Jaguar Land Rover.

The Tucker Corporation was a small auto company and the brainchild of Preston Tucker. The entrepreneur had originally formed an aviation company in the 1940s, but he decided to enter the car market to design and produce his own model of car. However, the company ended up only manufacturing a total of 50 cars and was entangled in an SEC investigation that ultimately led to the demise of the company.

The Rambler was a popular car brand that had multiple owners during the course of its existence. The first Rambler car was reportedly created by Thomas B Jeffrey company sometime in the early 1900s. That company was later purchased and renamed after some other mergers. It eventually became the American Motors Corporation. The last Rambler car was sold by AMC in 1969 before being discontinued in the U.S.

The auto industry is a business that is constantly evolving in order to meet safety standards as well as consumers’ needs. These cars take us places that we never would have gone without, but sadly, some car brands will only take us places in our memories.