10 'What Ifs' That Could Have Changed The Course Of Star Trek
7. ...USS Excelsior Was The Enterprise Replacement
The return of the USS Enterprise to Spacedock sees the old come up against the new; "Come come now, Mr Scott. Young minds, fresh ideas - be tolerant."
It's fair to say fans are more than aware that the Enterprise meets an explosive end later in The Search for Spock, and that The Voyage Home would introduce NCC-1701-A. Thus cementing the numbering of starships for future generations.
Producer Harve Bennett's plan was to have the Excelsior as Kirk's new ship. It was sleek, sexy and a clear progression from the outdated Constitution Class. For the comic series running in the 1980's this did happen. The Enterprise-D may well have remained in TNG for a key link back to TOS but that could have ended up as the NCC-1701-7.
Think of the loss of ethos, lineage and association that would be lost. While only a ship, it is intrinsically linked to Kirk and is, perhaps, just as important a character. It's arrival might also have influenced the lineage of the Enterprise to skip a second Constitution Class version and go straight to the Excelsior variant , thus altering the look of the 3rd and 4th ships of the namesake.