Montezuma’s Aztek Revenge

Still, for anyone born in the 1980s or 1990s, the Aztek is increasingly the new Edsel, Ford's infamous automotive failure from the late 1950s. This would incline a swath of GM designers and engineers not to dare utter its sullied name. They don’t like the rather strange front fascia, nor do they care for the elevated rear end. They don’t like the lower-body cladding. But all these aesthetic objections are misplaced. The Aztek didn’t work, but it demonstrated that GM had the capacity to invent a product that people didn’t know they wanted. The General can still do this—the forthcoming Chevy Volt-extended-range electric car could be a game-changer for the company. But it needs to keep doing it.

And even though it might fail miserably … well, that’s the auto industry. Success is never guaranteed. But blandly hewing to what has worked, falling victim to fear rather than having the confidence to completely miss the mark from time to time, will not bring GM back to its glory days. Or even, someday, enable the company to return to profitability and pay back the taxpayer. So remember the Aztek. It may not have been great. But it gave birth to a new idea in the auto business, and that’s gold.