New Takes on Classic Cars

gubble

Recently had a similar situation with my Dad who was after changing up his spitfire for a classic he can use for longer trips etc .

We discussed that in the bike world there's now modern 'classic' bikes from the likes of Royal Enfield where you can get the look of a classic but with modern engineering and appointments.

In the car world there's nothing like that at all except for Morgan and having driven a couple recently they're still an old car.

But going properly back to the real topic of this thread in the majority of cases i think many modern cars are so similar in look and design for safety/economical reasons and bringing back the old model names would only disappoint. the new 'capri' being a great point.

But just to play along a new Honda Prelude would be great

stickyfiddle

The Mini 2-door is still a small car vs the rest of the market. It’s just that cars are bigger now. They also don’t kill you when you crash them, so being that I don’t have 50s-tinged-rose-sunglasses I’m perfectly ok with it. 

The various Beetle models this century have been relatively more pointless as it’s just a reskinned Golf with less space inside. 

The biggest for me though is the Mustang. They lost their way with it through the 80s/90s but since 2005 it’s been great and the current ones are fantastic cars for the money. 

As for the MX5, I maintain it’s still one of the best cars ever made. Just such a perfect little 2-seater that barely anyone else bothers even trying to compete any more 

boogieman

A Capri would be great. Ford should be making something like this instead of the generic abominations they’re currently turning out. I bet Henry’s rolling in his grave. 

Rob1742

I don’t think classic cars will evolve much going forward.

The ones they have tried to recreate are all from the golden era of motoring, yet many of these have failed.

There is no chance for recreating any of the stuff from the last 30 years and it never will be recreated as they have all been throw away designs that have only lasted a few years.

in addition to them being short lived designs, the amount of models available have gone up something like five fold so it’s all got diluted and so becoming iconic in a crowded market has become too difficult. 

A good example I suppose is certain football fans wear re-issue football shirts from the 70’s. These shirts hung around for years back then and there was only a home and an away version. It was fairly easy for these to become iconic. Now with at least three kits and them disappearing after one year there is no chance of these being recreated in volume in years to come.

Unfortunately by creating loads of models of cars it’s put an end to iconic designs that will be recreated in years to come 

boogieman

stickyfiddle said:

The biggest for me though is the Mustang. They lost their way with it through the 80s/90s but since 2005 it’s been great and the current ones are fantastic cars for the money. 

Have you seen the electric version of the Mustang though? Sheeesh, what a munter. 

guitars4you

Soft spot for the Ford Capri - But how about resurrecting the Triumph Stag 

stickyfiddle

boogieman said:

stickyfiddle said:

The biggest for me though is the Mustang. They lost their way with it through the 80s/90s but since 2005 it’s been great and the current ones are fantastic cars for the money. 

Have you seen the electric version of the Mustang though? Sheeesh, what a munter. 

The Mach-E? Yeah it’s just an SUV. But obviously the Mustang name is just branding, just like everything else

I try not to get too attached to this sort of thing tbh - I highly recommend it! 

ICBM

Kurtis said:

ICBM said:

VW ID Buzz.

Kind of like the mini it's not really going to be in the same spirit as the original. 

No, but that’s the point. The original is an iconic classic - but rust-prone, unreliable, underpowered, terrible to actually drive, and horrifically unsafe. A friend of mine has a restored one and the amount of work it is just to stop it disintegrating again is ridiculous. It’s nice to use in summer when you don’t have to go anywhere fast, but apart from that… not so much. It’s also tiny, and although that means he can get it completely inside a modern garage to work on it, it also means it’s really cramped to go on holiday in.

The ID Buzz should be none of those things, except also nice to use in summer - but also at any other time of year. It’s a shame I can’t justify a vehicle that large or expensive, or I’d have one now.

boogieman

Kurtis said:

ICBM said:

VW ID Buzz. Microbus for the 21st century.



It also comes in a 4WD version which does 0-60 in something mad like 5 seconds...

Kind of like the mini it's not really going to be in the same spirit as the original. 

Isn’t that the whole point though? It has design cues from the iconic original but is updated in the important ways…. like being safe, doing more than 25mpg, not catching fire and not breaking down every time you take it out.

Classic cars are great in theory but aren’t exactly great for daily transport (Been there, done that, got the bruised knuckles and empty wallet).  

Dominic

Cirroen DS would be a very cool modernised car but nothing beats a Singer 1970s Porsche

boogieman

Dominic said:

Cirroen DS would be a very cool modernised car 

The SM would be even nicer. 

TTony

EricTheWeary said:

Ford always recycled names. I think there were at least three cars called Capri. 

Looks like they're bringing back the Pinto name too.

Electric only though, obviously

ICBM

TTony said:

Looks like they're bringing back the Pinto name too.

Electric only though, obviously

But now even harder to put the fire out…

RaymondLin

The C30 is a new take on the P1800, but of course, the C30 is also now discontinued.

In terms of the new card, old design, I love the look and design of the Honda E.  If only that came with a petrol or Hybrid engine and not full EV.

Sadly, it's production only lasted like 2 years!

steer

I don't know if anyone follows rallycross, but that has gone all electric in recent years and a team ran some cars resembling the old Lancia Delta.

Opinions might be split as to whether these are absolutely great, or an utter abomination. I personally really like them. Unfortunately they were both completely destroyed in a fire during one of the WRX events, leading to the whole WRX season being in effect cancelled. 



I saw an TV program a while back where they took old classic cars such as the VW (T1) samba bus and put a tesla motor and battery into them. Again, this will certainly divide opinion!

Axe_meister

I'd love to see a new take on the Triumph Spitfire with and electric motor. My current car is a Fiat 124 Spider (ok it's an MX5 underneath). Cracking little car alas now discontinued. 
I had the new mini again a cracking little go-kart of a car, but comfortable on a long journey, BMW reliability.
Another car I'd like to see is a new take on the original Corvette S1. One of the most beautiful cars ever made.

EricTheWeary

TTony said:

EricTheWeary said:

Ford always recycled names. I think there were at least three cars called Capri. 

Looks like they're bringing back the Pinto name too.

Electric only though, obviously

Car names are difficult to come up with, more so these days because regional builds/names don't really exist in the same way anymore. Renaming a car for Australia or Indonesia or wherever doesn't tend to happen as much. So if Capri, Mustang, Pinto (although, really?) already have strong associations as a car then they are going to reuse that name on whatever lump of metal they design next. 

steer said:

I don't know if anyone follows rallycross, but that has gone all electric in recent years and a team ran some cars resembling the old Lancia Delta.

Opinions might be split as to whether these are absolutely great, or an utter abomination. I personally really like them. Unfortunately they were both completely destroyed in a fire during one of the WRX events, leading to the whole WRX season being in effect cancelled. 



I saw an TV program a while back where they took old classic cars such as the VW (T1) samba bus and put a tesla motor and battery into them. Again, this will certainly divide opinion!

Quite an interesting cottage industry in doing this although the results aren't cheap. I watched one with an old Beetle which lost the back seats but accelerated like shit off a shovel. If you've got £60k and a desire to burn people at traffic lights it's the way to go. 

BigMonka

Axe_meister said:

I'd love to see a new take on the Triumph Spitfire with and electric motor. My current car is a Fiat 124 Spider (ok it's an MX5 underneath). Cracking little car alas now discontinued. 
I had the new mini again a cracking little go-kart of a car, but comfortable on a long journey, BMW reliability.
Another car I'd like to see is a new take on the original Corvette S1. One of the most beautiful cars ever made.

That guy has a Youtube channel where he shows his conversions. Personally I think a lot of them are awesome, but there are some classic cars where the sound of the engine is an important part of why they've become classics:
https://www.youtube.com/@ElectricClassicCars

boogieman

steer said:

I don't know if anyone follows rallycross, but that has gone all electric in recent years and a team ran some cars resembling the old Lancia Delta.

Opinions might be split as to whether these are absolutely great, or an utter abomination. I personally really like them. Unfortunately they were both completely destroyed in a fire during one of the WRX events, leading to the whole WRX season being in effect cancelled. 



I saw an TV program a while back where they took old classic cars such as the VW (T1) samba bus and put a tesla motor and battery into them. Again, this will certainly divide opinion!

Vintage Voltage? I watched a few episodes but didn’t think much of it. Hugely expensive option to convert an existing car, everything has to be custom built of course. 

Offset

BluesLover said:

Opel Manta please.

Bit like this?