Automotive history is littered with the wreckage of cars that were created to wow the public but failed miserably and expensively. Most were created in desperation by companies that were on the brink of going under and others were created by fairly healthy companies trying to emulate or trump the success of another manufacturer's wares.

Car companies have a name for vehicles that are created to cause a stir and perhaps nourish sales of other cars from the company. They are called halos.

Two good examples of successful halo vehicles are Chrysler's Prowler and Viper. Both hit the automotive world by storm and while neither was ever intended to create a great profit per unit, they succeeded in capturing media attention for years. The amount of times they appeared on the front cover of magazines was likely worth their development costs. That Vipers went on to dominate GTS racing for years didn't hurt either.

Sadly, not all halo cars duplicate the success of the Prowler and Viper, no matter how clever their designs.

One of the first really recognizable halos would have to be the 1936 Cord, created by the financially troubled Auburn Cord Duesenberg Co.

Advanced aerodynamic styling with hideaway headlights, front-wheel drive, supercharging and finger-touch electric gear shifting should have created a car that would have the public clamouring, cash in hand, outside showroom windows. It didn't.

While it is true that today the Cord is thought of as one of the greatest cars designs of the 20th century, in its day it was treated more with curiosity than it was coveted by the general public. It killed rather than saved the company.

Another car that presided at the funeral of its creator was the Studebaker Avanti of the early 1960s. Once again, the car's styling was far ahead of its time, which did little to persuade people to buy Studebakers.

Car companies are still hard at work creating halo cars, but most of these cars cost too much to design and develop to ever be successful themselves. And while they may develop a small blip in positive sales, the public these days gets bored and moves on rather quickly.

Currently, there are a few examples of how a halo design can turn and bite its creators. General Motors has to live with its SSR Roadster Pickup. Disappointing sales and the fact that it has not generated much excitement are proving a bit of an embarrassment. Truth is, they should have asked truck guys what they want.

Non-truck-buying car guys like it, truck guys don't and most truck fanciers don't particularly care for the disappearing roof. Most I have spoken to would much rather have the cheaper and much more powerful Viper-powered Dodge Ram SRT 10 than the Chevy SSR.

GM would have been better off taking a stock pickup, dropping a hot-rodded 500-horsepower Corvette motor into it and creating a fancy body kit and graphics. That, perhaps, would have sold and persuaded buyers that all Chev trucks are cool.

Lighting didn't strike three times at Chrysler, either -- the beautifully designed two-seat Crossfire sits without buyers, proof that you can have too many two-seaters on the market.

Honda and Toyota both found that out with small roadsters that look great but just don't sell all that well.

Ford brought out its Thunderbird again and it bit the dust just as Buick's late-'80s Reatta and Cadillac's early-'90s Allante did.

The trouble is that all of these failed cars are usually two-seat technological wonders full of innovation and often great designs but they fall on markets that either can't afford them or are bored and fragmented by a glut of new, sophisticated cars on the market.

I think that the Prowler and Viper, if launched today to a jaded media in a market crowded with supposed halos, would both fail to command anywhere near the attention they received in the halo-bereft mid-'90s.

Manufacturers aren't learning any lessons from the past, though. Ford is introducing its new GT, Chrysler is thinking about the ME 412, Mercedes has the SLR and possibly the P-8, and GM, while a little outclassed, is producing yet another Cadillac attempt at a sports car, the XLR.

Chances are that most of these will grab a bit of quick media attention but soon find themselves ignored or at best footnotes, while cars that were never intended to wear a halo could be the newest trendsetters.

Perhaps a halo has to be earned rather than planned for or bought. If so, then perhaps the next car to wear a halo will be Smart as well.

David Grainger owns an automotive restoration company.