Which Classic Car Would You Love to See Reborn Today?

I aim to [i]hit two birds with one stone[/i] with this answer, a 1929 Bentley Blower.

Not only that most younger generation haven’t seen or heard of it, but also most adults undergoing mid-life crisis probably haven’t seen it as well except from watching old movies. It’s also sort of a related response to your latest feature, [url=”http://petrolicious.com/this-oakland-racer-fits-just-perfectly”]The Oakland Racer[/url].

Imagine yourself setting in a 2-seater car surrounded by Bentley luxury — a car a vintage body style with modern comfort and power under the hood. If only Bentley parent company, Volkswagen, will make a handful of these like what they do with Lamborghinis, and give it some retro look like what they did with the Super Beetle, wouldn’t that be awesome?

It’s a car both The 6-Million Dollar Man and Mad Max can agree on.

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I love to see a new Citroën DS Convertible. God, what a beautiful convertibele. After the DS the only nice French convertible was the Peugeot 504. So PSA wake up!

For giggles, I’d like to see VW riff on their iconic bus and bring it back, along with all its clever practical touches all over. The challenge would be to make it recognizable and keep it very simple and basic while packaging into it the mandatory safety equipments.

The Lancia Stratos almost came back in a Limited run with a new Ferrari V8, but that was sadly dropped. If I were to see anything come back, I’d love to see some of the old British and Italian Roadsters come back. The Triumph Spitfire, the MGB, or any of those fun little cars would be a delight to see on the road with modern updates.
I’d also love to see homologation come back to the WRC. It’s been over 10 years since we got a road ready rally car like the Lancia Delta Integrale of Ford Escort Cosworth. More’s the pity.
Finally, I’d love to see the swooping lines of the 60s come back. The way cars are designed today may be eye catching and amazing, but nothing very elegant. Aston Martin has made a bit of a capitol on this, but the last time a car like the E-Type, with it’s long, aerodynamic bonnet and soft line, was probably in the FD RX7 of the 90s.

The Porsche 928, It was always better than the 911 and Steve Jobs drove one which verifies it. Let’s just be honest here, 911’s are for dorks. I mean obviously I love them but how predictable is that? Every 20 something year old car dweeb fetishistically obsesses about owning an early 80’s SC or a Carrera because they can almost afford one.. but not quite. The Toyota MR2, its like a mini Testarossa and how cool is that? Its way cool. Plus, now that Alfa is making the 4C Toyota has a modern day formula for a tiny mid engined sports car that they can look to and completely rip off, and it will be great!
Datsun 240Z, brought back under the Datsun brand NOT as a Nissan. Bring it back as a cheap, light sports car, with a manual transmission (stating the obvious here) thats similar to the Toyota GT86 but not an ugly turd.
And of course the Volvo 240! If Volvo re-invented the Volvo 240 similar to the way Fiat revived the 500, as a small, cheap, simple, utilitarian, retro styled wagon and sedan it would be a sales hit. Is Volvo being serious trying to compete with Merc and BMW? Todays Volvos are the blandest blobs on the road while the 240 is still one of the most distinctive cars on the road 21 years after ending production. It’s like Ellen Paige in car form and thats why every hipster in every American city would push their own grandmother down a flight of stairs to own a mint condition, pale yellow wagon. So why not bring it back?

I have to say I’m a bit torn. On one hand, there are a lot of exceptional cars from days past that I’d like to see again, Alfas, Triumphs, some Japanese models etc. However, car design just isn’t what it used to be. I’m not saying there aren’t any pretty cars anymore, but with safety regulations etc. it’s just impossible to build cars as beautiful as they used to be.

Using a name with heritage as a marketing plot just doesn’t cut it for me and there’s just been one too many “revived” cars that doesn’t really reflect the “essence” of it’s predecessor. Take the Beetle for example. Sure, it is (was?) immensely popular in the U.S, but it’s essentially a VW Golf that is impractical and even more expensive, not the peoples’ car from which it stole it’s name. Also the Dodge Charger. Sure, they sold a lot, but reviving one of the most iconic muscle car names with a saloon just isn’t right (not to mention the FWD turbocharged Dodge Dart).

On the other hand, I have to say that I like the CR-Z. It’s not a modern carbon copy, but it’s still a spiritual successor in my book. As is almost the new GT86 and I too can’t help but feeling a little anticipation for the new Alfa Spider.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, if manufacturers are to revive old names, they have to do it in a serious way and really pay homage to the car they are reviving. Otherwise, I’m not interested.

I’m really into Japanese sports cars so I would love to see the return of the RX-7, a smaller lighter Z car in the spirit of the 240Z, and of course the Supra. I think the 2000GT and Cosmo should be replicated down to the smallest detail. That would be cool.

Anything mid-engined. A new Fiat X1/9 would be great, as long as Bertone designs the body.

none of them !
like movies, you just know the reboot will not have the charm and specialness of the original.
:p

BMW needs to do something with the Triumph Motor Company already and build a Z4 variant to sell at Mini Dealerships.

+1 to the full size Caddy but would also love to see a full size Lincoln (Continental)