A great car’s legacy is made up of equal parts innovation, capability and opportunity, and a vehicle can become a massive success simply by coming about at the right time.

Take the original Range Rover, for example. It used dependable Land Rover engines, had four-wheel drive, low and high range and disk brakes to create a car that was not only fantastic and durable off-road, but better than many family saloon cars of the time on it.

However, not every car is as well-timed as the Range Rover turned out to be, and as a result, there are many cars that either failed to sell, were released right around the time that their design concepts were rendered obsolete or were riddled with fundamental design flaws due to being released at the wrong time.

GM EV1

One of the most controversial car launches, releases and recalls in the history of motoring, the EV1 was a groundbreaking electric car that came about largely because a General Motors executive accidentally revealed that a concept car could be put into production.

Faced with pressure from the media, shareholders and the state of California, the EV1 was released and received considerable praise from the small group of people who could actually drive it for feeling like a car, as well as for innovations such as inductive charging and low-rolling-resistance tyres.

However, the problem that GM had was that it was released during a time when lead-acid batteries were still the standard, which were heavy and had limited range.

Arguments about whether the car was a success or a failure have endured since its initial announcement but had it been released when lithium-ion batteries were a possibility, the car may have lasted longer than its three-year limited release.

Vector W8

It is rare that a car can be described as ‘vapourware’ but the Vector W8, made by the tiny American supercar manufacturer over a period of several decades, very nearly qualifies.

As a result, by 1990 when the car was released its styling was several years out of date, its technology was a decade out of date and its reliability hearkened back to the Victorian era.

Most infamously, tennis superstar Andre Agassi ordered one but almost immediately demanded a refund when it nearly caught fire and crashed the first time he drove it.

Whilst the Vector M12 in 1995 was even worse and infamously never completed a single race it was entered into, the W8 fits the bill as a futuristically looking car that was a relic before it even launched.

Hummer H2

Whilst the second-generation Hummer SUV is a terrible car by nearly every standard that counts, it might have escaped the retrospective savaging that critics have subsequently inflicted on it had it not been released at the absolute worst time.

Based on the US Army’s Humvee, the H2’s military pedigree quickly became a millstone as public opinion shifted on the Iraq War, its giant size and gaudy styling made it a nightmare to drive whether there was a road or not and the car did less than 10 miles to the gallon during an energy crisis.

Add to this the wide release and commercial success of the Toyota Prius hybrid right as GM were destroying their innovative EV1, as well as the car being primarily made from older components and the car felt distinctly out of place and out of time even when it was new.