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Nissan Alpha-T

This is an installment in a series of posts looking back on show cars that we feel deserved a little more attention than they got. If you have a suggestion for a Forgotten Concept topic, please shoot us a line or leave a comment below.

Nissan Alpha-T

First Seen: 2001 Detroit Auto Show

Description: Full-size pickup truck

Sales Pitch: “Nissan is serious about entering the full-size truck market in a big way.”

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Nissan Alpha-T

Details:

First seen at the 2001 Detroit Auto Show, the Nissan Alpha-T served to broadcast the Japanese automaker’s intentions to enter the North American large pickup-truck market–which it soon did, with the introduction of the Nissan Titan for the 2004 model year. The angular concept truck featured a crew-cab design and V8 power–traits popular with pickup shoppers then and now. Exterior features included a power-extending bed floor and a novel articulating tailgate design which acted as a step when fully deployed.

The Alpha-T’s rear doors opened “suicide” style, allowing for easy ingress to the four-place seating. The orange-leather-lined cabin featured suede and brushed-aluminum accents. Power came from a 300-horsepower 4.5-liter V8 mated to a 4-speed automatic transmission.

Forgotten Concept: GMC Centaur

2004 Nissan Titan

CG Says:

It took moxie for Nissan to enter the big-truck market when it did, especially since Toyota–having rolled out its full-size Tundra in 2000–was already scaling back its pickup ambitions. But for all of the Alpha-T’s bold, futuristic angularity, the production 2004 Nissan Titan that followed was depressingly conventional.

The first-generation Titan ran through the 2015 model year, and a redesigned second-generation model debuted for the 2016 model year. Despite the addition of a heavier-duty “XD” version with an available Cummins turbodiesel engine, the second-gen Titan didn’t make significant inroads in the domestic full-size-pickup market.

With the Titan’s future currently in question, looking back on this concept seems especially poignant. The Alpha-T may forever serve as a reminder that it takes more than moxie to sell big pickups in the United States.

Forgotten Concept: GMC Terradyne

Nissan Alpha-T

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Nissan Alpha-T

Written by: Tom Appel on July 28, 2020.

Lincoln Sentinel

First Seen: 1996 Detroit Auto Show

Description: Large luxury sedan

Sales Pitch: “Next-generation flagship luxury sedan”

Lincoln Sentinel Concept

Details:

First seen at the 1996 Detroit Auto Show, the Lincoln Sentinel Concept was described by then Ford design chief Jack Telnack as being “immediately identifiable as a Lincoln, even without badges.” Telnack boasted at the time that the Sentinel incorporated legacy Lincoln design elements without looking retro. At 218 inches in overall length, the Sentinel was nearly as long as the production Lincoln Town Car.

The large concept sedan was intended be a touchstone for future Lincoln design, combining elegance and design simplicity with visual presence.

Though not a running concept, Lincoln listed the Sentinel as rear-wheel drive and powered by a 6.0-liter V12 engine. Additional specs were never provided.

1998 Lincoln Town Car

CG Says:

Interesting as the Sentinel is, I find myself reaching to find examples of its impact on subsequent Lincoln design. The best I can do is suggest that the Sentinel’s basic silhouette at least somewhat helped shape the redesigned-for-1998 Town Car. Echos of the Sentinel’s waterfall grille, however, would reverberate throughout the Lincoln lineup for years to come, as seen on the MKX below.

It’s a shame that in the aftermath of a design as striking as the Sentinel, Lincoln would roll out such uninteresting-looking sedans as the 2002-2006 LS. Like other luxury automakers, Lincoln’s attention would soon turn toward SUVs and crossovers and away from sedans–especially large sedans. Interesting point: As of now, neither Cadillac nor Lincoln produces a large sedan (the Cadillac CT6 was discontinued after a short run of 2020-model-year cars). Both brands, however, retail tens of thousands of large SUVs. As for the Sentinel’s V12 engine: That would have been cool.

Lincoln Sentinel Concept (left) and 2011 Lincoln MKX midsize crossover

Written by: Tom Appel on June 29, 2020.

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Tag Archives: Concept Car

Forgotten Concept: Nissan Alpha-T

Nissan Alpha-T

Forgotten Concept: Lincoln Sentinel

Lincoln Sentinel