Classic designs you'd like to see revived?

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EccentricRichard

New Member
This is what's got me going:
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/05/05/koen ... lvo-p1800/

Looks absolutely fabulous to me - although the wheels are a bit too big and a bit too bling. Now, other than the obvious 'let's see a modern P6!', what else would you like to see revived? Obviously, Merc has now got a modern Gullwing, so that's done... the 911 has never changed (same goes for the Range Rover)... the Fiat 500 is back... Mini are working on a smaller version of the MINI, something closer in size to the 1959-2000 original... the Lancia Stratos is coming back (albeit unlikely to make full production)... the BMW Z8 (which, I know, was itself a revival of the old 507)...

I think I'd quite like to see a 911-based VW Splittie camper, too. A splittie with a 911 GT3 engine? Yes please!

Others that strike me as in need of revival include the Alfa GTV (the old 60s one - RWD and a modernised Busso V6 or twin-cam four for me, please), the Alfa Duetto Spider, the Lancia Fulvia, the Lamborghini Islero, the Lambo Miura, the Lambo Urraco, maybe even the Espada. I'd also quite like to see the Jensen Interceptor Coupé back (NOT the ungainly fastback), along with the Triumph Stag, the Sunbeam Alpine, the TR5, the Ferrari Daytona, the 250GTE/330 America and the 275GTB. Pretty much any 1950s Bentley Continental, too - along with the just-discontinued Arnage (so much more handsome than the new Mulsanne IMO). Hmm, what else... Lotus Esprit, Lotus Elan... both in the works already, I understand. Hmm, anything else... De Tomaso Pantera? Deauville? Maserati 3500GT? Sebring? Corvette Stingray?

Bloody hell, I've hardly left anything for the rest of you! OK, let's see your fantasy lists anyway...
 
Citroen DS23...

+1 on the interceptor - would prefer the coupe but would take either

TVR Griffith ( or the cerberas etc without the speed 6 engine...)

opel manta

NSU RO80 with a working wankel

Alvis, Vanden Plas princess...
 
The SD1 could do with another go I think, with a modern update I think that could do well. Let's see, what else? The Karmann Ghia could do well too, or how about a Jowett Jupiter? Interesting lines to play with. And lastly, there is a proviso with this one, the P4. The proviso being that whoever revamps it does it justice or they'll have to put up with hordes of burning torch carrying Rover enthusiasts on a picket line outside the design office :wink: .
 
DaveHerns said:
Mk 2 Escort 2 door -possibly the best rally car ever
It looks so right with big wheels and arches
Click to expand...

Hmm... gimme a Stratos, a Quattro or an Impreza any day. You know Escort is an anagram of Scrote? Says it all, really. That's the kind of person that buys them... great cars, I know, I do like them, but the chav image puts me off...
 
2CV with an electric engine. :LOL:

Mk3 Ford cortina, 2dr 2000 GT. (because I had one and I kick my self daily for scrapping it)
 
richarduk said:
2CV with an electric engine. :LOL:

Mk3 Ford cortina, 2dr 2000 GT. (because I had one and I kick my self daily for scrapping it)
Click to expand...

2CV? Oh, please! One candidate for the worst car ever made... it's not even pretty!
 
EccentricRichard said:
richarduk said:
2CV with an electric engine. :LOL:

Mk3 Ford cortina, 2dr 2000 GT. (because I had one and I kick my self daily for scrapping it)
Click to expand...

2CV? Oh, please! One candidate for the worst car ever made... it's not even pretty!
Click to expand...

I think at least a few of the 3,872,583 buyers may disagree :LOL:
 
webmaster said:
EccentricRichard said:
richarduk said:
2CV with an electric engine. :LOL:

Mk3 Ford cortina, 2dr 2000 GT. (because I had one and I kick my self daily for scrapping it)
Click to expand...

2CV? Oh, please! One candidate for the worst car ever made... it's not even pretty!
Click to expand...

I think at least a few of the 3,872,583 buyers may disagree :LOL:
Click to expand...

Come on, it was badly-built even by French standards, it was pig ugly, it was slower than continental drift, its ride was bouncy, its handling was effectively non-existent, it was cramped inside... its only redeeming features were that it was cheap and easy to work on. Still, if that was what you wanted, you should have bought something secondhand for similar money.
 
I guess the point with a 2cv is to remember how old the design is(1948)... Only thing you could really compare it to is the beetle in terms of longevity i guess?
 
The 2CV wasn't designed to be pretty I think the brief was to carry a basket of eggs across a ploughed field with the driver wearing a top hat ! Something like that .Looks was not anywhere on the list

I accept a Stratos , Quattro or an Impreza is technically superior to a Mk2 Escort but that's the beauty of it ,Simple body shell ,live axle on cart springs and the sound of one flat out in the forest on twin DCOE's is something else .

I nearly bought a N Reg Cortina 2000GT back in 1976 and I still regret letting it go.
 
EccentricRichard said:
DaveHerns said:
Mk 2 Escort 2 door -possibly the best rally car ever
It looks so right with big wheels and arches
Click to expand...

Hmm... gimme a Stratos, a Quattro or an Impreza any day. You know Escort is an anagram of Scrote? Says it all, really. That's the kind of person that buys them... great cars, I know, I do like them, but the chav image puts me off...
Click to expand...
Have you seen what Escorts make now and how they are presented? If those owners are chavs, I wanna be one :LOL:
Loved racing mine 8) Legendary cars.
Simon Mauger has been giving all the 4x4 Foci/Imprezza/Evo boys a real run for their money over which step he stands on in a rally MK2 Escort :wink:
Talking of anagrams, my mate rearranged his boot badge to say 'Atomic tesco' :)

BTW I hate 2CVs but they do handle much better than you think, many a door handle nearing the floor when they race those things :shock:
 
I think one of the problems with attempting to resurect these old designs is by the time you've added all the required safety features, crumple zones etc etc, you'll end up with another modern bland car, and lose the essence of the thing that made it special in the first place.

Having said that, I'd like to see a modern MGA, very pretty design, much nicer than MGF/MX5/Z4 etc.

Also the yanks have managed to do a couple of succesfull retro builds recently, especially the new Camaro, really striking.

chevrolet-camaro.jpg


Whether it's actually any good or not is another matter.

Interestingly, has anybody else noticed how the new Beetle has flopped ?, Apparently they're stopping production next year. Certainly didn't take off in the same way the new Mini did (or it certainly appears that way).
 
There's a big difference between the new mini and the new beetle i think...

I dont really like the mini, because its not, er mini enough ( way too big) but at least it's a well engineered car designed what it is from the groun up in it's own right. The beetle was a re-engineered golf cinically changed to be a 'beetle' and the only change inside really being a vase in the dashboard.

THat's why mini is successful and modern beetle isnt... (in my humble opinion ;))
 
I happened to park the SC next to a new mini some time ago and the mini was the same size as the P6!!
Definitely nothing "mini" about it.
 
rockdemon said:
There's a big difference between the new mini and the new beetle i think...

I dont really like the mini, because its not, er mini enough ( way too big) but at least it's a well engineered car designed what it is from the groun up in it's own right. The beetle was a re-engineered golf cinically changed to be a 'beetle' and the only change inside really being a vase in the dashboard.

THat's why mini is successful and modern beetle isnt... (in my humble opinion ;))
Click to expand...

Too bloody right! Apparently there's a new Cheetle out next year, and MINI are working on something smaller to accompany the MINI.
 
GrimV8 said:
EccentricRichard said:
DaveHerns said:
Mk 2 Escort 2 door -possibly the best rally car ever
It looks so right with big wheels and arches
Click to expand...

Hmm... gimme a Stratos, a Quattro or an Impreza any day. You know Escort is an anagram of Scrote? Says it all, really. That's the kind of person that buys them... great cars, I know, I do like them, but the chav image puts me off...
Click to expand...
Have you seen what Escorts make now and how they are presented? If those owners are chavs, I wanna be one :LOL:
Loved racing mine 8) Legendary cars.
Simon Mauger has been giving all the 4x4 Foci/Imprezza/Evo boys a real run for their money over which step he stands on in a rally MK2 Escort :wink:
Talking of anagrams, my mate rearranged his boot badge to say 'Atomic tesco' :)

BTW I hate 2CVs but they do handle much better than you think, many a door handle nearing the floor when they race those things :shock:
Click to expand...

Yeah, I once got a ride in a 2CV, whenever we went round a corner doing more than 35mph, the doors on the outside of the car from the corner flew open uncommanded, the flex in the body was so bad, and it wallowed almost as badly as a 70s Detroit luxobarge... And where does 'Atomic Tesco' come from? I can see where "esco" and "t" come from, but not the rest, and there's an R that's gone missing...
 
DaveHerns said:
The 2CV wasn't designed to be pretty I think the brief was to carry a basket of eggs across a ploughed field with the driver wearing a top hat ! Something like that .Looks was not anywhere on the list

I accept a Stratos , Quattro or an Impreza is technically superior to a Mk2 Escort but that's the beauty of it ,Simple body shell ,live axle on cart springs and the sound of one flat out in the forest on twin DCOE's is something else .

I nearly bought a N Reg Cortina 2000GT back in 1976 and I still regret letting it go.
Click to expand...

Come on, the Scrote may sound and go well, but compare it to the straight-five bellow of a Group B Quattro, or the howl of a Stratos' V6, or the offbeat snarl of an Impreza's flat-four (or indeed a 2-stroke Saab 3-banger, what a noise that thing makes), or the yowl of an E30 M3 with its manically revving 2.3L I4, the Escort doesn't sound THAT special - it's just one of many soul-stirring sounds on a rally stage. The live axle on cart springs bit just means it doesn't handle as well as other rally cars on the road. IMO the Impreza is the prettiest saloon ever to be rallied...
 
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