The most interesting cars never sold in the UK

There are a multitude of reasons why a car will be sold in one market and not in another.

We look at those that never made it to the UK, from the good, the bad, and the just plain unusual:

Acura TLX

The Acura TLX is a rival for the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes C-Class, but this division of Honda does not offer this saloon outside of the US market. It means keen drivers on this side of the Atlantic miss out on a saloon with a 268bhp 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder engine or 350bhp twin-turbo 3.0 V6.

The 2.0-litre model uses a rear-wheel drive chassis, while the V6 comes with all-wheel drive as standard. Keen pricing in the US makes the TLX a tough contender in its sector, but there are no plans to bring this model to the UK as a Honda.

BMW 333i

BMW in South Africa had a habit of doing things its own way and the 1985 333i is a perfect example. While Europe had the E30 M3, the South Africans came up with a big-engined version of the compact saloon, which was developed with input from Alpina.

A 197bhp 3.2-litre straight-six gave the 333i similar performance to an M3 and it was also created with race homologation in mind. Despite interest from many UK and European buyers, BMW did not export this model from South Africa, though one was brought to the UK officially for evaluation as the African-made cars were right-hand drive. Only 204 333i cars were produced.

BMW 745i

There were two 745i models produced by BMW alongside each other, and neither reached the UK. The Euro-spec E23 745i used a turbocharged 3.2-litre, and later 3.4-litres, six-cylinder engine with 248bhp. It topped the range in continental Europe but difficulties with converting to right-hand drive meant it did not cross the Channel.

In South Africa, another 745i was offered between 1983 and 1987, and it was right-hand drive. A 286bhp 3.5-litre straight-six was borrowed from the contemporary M5 and gave strong performance. However, only 209 of this 745i were produced and all were for the domestic South African market.

Cadillac Escalade

The Cadillac Escalade is an institution in the US, yet it has not made across the Atlantic officially. As a rival to the likes of