These cars have been out of the limelight for decades. Many think they are hidden or even possibly destroyed.
The most notable features were the lack of a B-pillar and a sloping roofline.
Photo: Vanderbilt Cup Races
Back in the mid-’50s, Detroit was all about crazy concept cars.
Marketing experts realized that over-the-top concept cars drew attention at car shows and helped them sell regular models better.
The Norseman was an elegant fastback based on the 1956 Chrysler platform with a 331 V8 Hemi engine.
After completion of the car, they loaded the Norseman to ships and sailed to America. However, just before the SS Andrea Doria reached New York harbor, it collided with another ship and sunk some 60 miles from the U.S. shore.
If the car exists today, it should be one of the most original, well-preserved Ferraris ever built.
Photo: W Super Cars
Emerging in early 1953, the 375 MM was highly successful in Europe as well as in America. Ferrari managed to make and sell 26 of them.
Since it was an important, successful car, most owners took good care of their cars.
Today, 25 of those 26 are alive and well.
Ferrari sold the missing one, the chassis number 0378AM to Dr. Enrico Wax, an Italian businessman.
Dr. Wax was a supercar collector who didn’t race his 375 MM, keeping it in his garage in Genoa.
However, the Ferrari community never heard about the car again so no information is available on the 0378AM after 1953.
If the Aerolithe ever resurfaces, it could possibly be the most expensive car in the world.
Photo: Top Gear
It’s estimated that Bugatti built and sold around 10,000 cars until 1947, and many of them were restored and preserved by drivers.
However, there is one Bugatti that is possibly the most extreme classic car missing for 80 years.
Unfrotunately, there isn’t any trace of its fate or whereabouts. This car is the legendary Bugatti Aerolithe.
Bugatti introduced it in 1935, building the Aerolithe on a T37 chassis with a design like the gorgeous Bugatti Atlantic.
However, it came with a body they made from an extremely advanced aluminum-magnesium alloy called Electron.
It was also featured in magazine reviews, but then it vanished.
Nobody knows where the car is and the people who made or sold it are long gone.
Some people believe that it disappeared during the Second World War, but no one knows for sure.
Although the whereabouts of most 007 cars are known, one particular car is still missing.
Photo: Youtube
The film company used several cars for shooting. However, the car with all the gadgets, like revolving license plates, ejector seats, and mounted machine guns was for driving scenes and close-ups. After the shooting, it changed hands among several collectors, including Florida businessman Anthony V. Pugliese III.
in 1997, someone stole the car from the airplane hangar where it was in storage. Thieves disabled the alarm and security cameras, stealing the car in the middle of the night without a trace
There were some rumors the car went to Boston, but nobody has been able to confirm that.
Today, 20 years after they stole the famous Goldfinger DB5, it still remains one of the biggest missing car cases in history.
After the short lives of concept cars on the show circuit around America, most concept cars went to the crusher, but some managed to survive.
Photo: Barrett-Jackson
Cover Photo: Pinterest
This is where the Corvette Nomad case gets strange.
Since it was a fully functional vehicle, the chances are they sold it, possibly to an employee or dealer.
There are no records to show they crushed this car, but there are no records to prove someone bought it, either.
It vanished in the mid-1950s and Corvette fans have been searching for it ever since.
This car was the first customized “Lead Sled” Mercury model that set the template for thousands that came after it.
The late 1940s marked the beginning of the custom car culture with modified cars first appearing in magazines and car shows. One of the first highly influential models that gained wide recognition was the Bettencourt-Zupan 1949 Mercury.
When they built the car, it became popular and was in several magazines. However, by the end of the ’60s, it was outdated. After the original owner died in an accident, they sold it to the famous SoCal customizer Dean Jeffries.
But one night in 1970, someone stole the car in front of his shop and he never found it.
The only trace was a pair of photographs that were allegedly taken in the 1980s. Those pictures suggest the car still exists, but it could be in a private collection.
Duesenbergs are one of the finest American cars the industry ever built. It is also one of the most respected, sought-after classic cars in the world.
Photo: Kauno Diena
Duesenberg only made 26 of them. While they’ve accounted for most of the cars, the chassis number 506 has been missing since the early ’60s.
The car was bodied by the French company Franay, appearing at the Paris Motor Show in 1934.
They sold it to Emile Beghain of Algeria, who raced on the Le Mans track, later returning with the car to Algeria.
The elegant roadster remained in his possession until 1962 when civil war broke out and Beghain was forced to flee.
Although some people think the car was destroyed, there is no evidence of that, so the destiny of the SJ-506 remains a mystery.
The Charger III was no longer a muscle car, but a pure two-seater sports machine. It had compact dimensions, a low profile, a low weight, and several unusual features.
For example, instead of conventional doors, the whole top of the car opened to allow access to the interior. Also, the steering column tilted along with the steering wheel to make entry more comfortable.
Unfortunately, since the whole car was extremely futuristic, it was doomed from real production.
His Porsche 550 Spyder nicknamed “Little Bastard” is one of the most enduring automotive mysteries of all time.
Dean died in 1955, crashing his Porsche at an intersection in Cholame, California. The car was badly damaged, so they sold some mechanical parts like the engine, but the body and few components remained.
After a few owners, the car ended up with famous Hollywood customizer George Barris.
In the late ’60s, they shipped the remains of the 550 Spyder from Florida to California, but they never arrived in L.A.
Someone stole the car under suspicious circumstances and no one has been able to recover it.
Some historians claim Barris had something to do with the disappearance of the legendary Dean`s Porsche.
But Barris took the secret to the grave since he passed away in 2015.