Reviving a classic? Can it ever not be a contentious move? In recent years, nearly every major car marque has indulged in the pursuit, and with Lotus set to revive the Esprit, there's likely to be plenty more in the pipeline.
The stakes are high with classic revivals. It can result in cars like the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera if firms get it right. Though if firms get it wrong, you can end up the recently axed Volkswagen Beetle, too. So which are the best and worst of them? We hand over to our colleagues at Classic & Sports Car to decide.
Greg Macleman, features editor
For better - Aston Martin DBS Superleggera
Where Aston has succeeded with the DBS isn’t in making a car that’s objectively better than its 1960s namesake but in recreating the spirit of the gentleman’s express. Horrendously costly, hugely quick and dripping with cowhide, it’s a car that makes you want to wear string-backed gloves and outrun the gendarmes down to the Riviera. While most reboots leave me longing for the character and purity of the original, the DBS has both qualities in spades. With gorgeous looks and blistering V12 performance, there’s no shame in choosing it over the classic.
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Another 2
2 more to add on this list:
Hit: AC Cobra - recent updates consistently get good reviews
Miss: MG RV8, which I remember Autocar giving a 2 star road test and the comment that the MGB should have not been disturbed in its grave.
Why DS?
I don't know why DS is even mentioned here - it hasn't revived any classic at all, just taken a well known badge that, for most, conjures up memories of something entirely different to what its currently being stuck on. No attempt has been made by either Citroen or this upstart "premium" brand to even suggest any heritage from the wonderful DS car (or the GS, CX or SM for that matter).
The DBS is beautiful and
The DBS is beautiful and carries the name with pride and will become a historical wonder, maybe not in the same as the DB5, but wil become an iconic car in it's own right, the DS, why have you put the DS3 awfully ugly heap of C-Rap with this beautiful DS of yesteryear, surely the first generation DS3 should be used, as already stated above, that car is still not a comparison car, the DS9 is the nearest they have to the DS of the 60's so why not use that.
The MINI is just a bloated rabid heap of P00, The Beetle is a Golf is tarts clothes, and fails at that, Where is the Fiat 500, it is the nearest to the original in looks that the rest, but still over sized, Only idiots that have no clue berate the 2.3 Ecoboost engine in the Mustang, it is still a V6 and still goes like stink, just because it is not a V8 doe snot make it bad, the Foxbody is not my cup of tea, its not the worst Mustang made by far, but Todays car is a better reinvention of the original that any of the other cars in the list.
The Toyot ais nice, but the original cant be beaten, it was harsh, noisy, uncomfortable and served a purpose that only the Land Rover was better at achieving, the newer one, was just another blatent attempt to cash in on history, it sold reasonably well, in the first year or two but then fell off a cliff. Today's Alpine is a brilliant car, thats not to be argued about, Renault have pulled out all the stops on it, and have hit the nail on the head, it has, the looks of the original looks with the modern tech but does not take anything away from its heritage like the MINI or Beetle, they have just raped the history and failed, (sales are not at question, just design), the Vauxhall is another car that is in a different range, the Viva HA, HA & HC were all family saloon cars, the newer Viva is a City car Hatchback, so like the Citroen, non comparable cars, the new Viva is just a rebadge Spark, i believe, and that car, albeit, a sales success for Chevy, is not really a good car, the Viva has taken all the bad parts of the Chevy and sorted them out, its not a bad car, just not good enough, it sold reasonably well in Europe, as the Karl, but ifear Viva was wrong choice of name, and they should have given it more funky colours and graphics, it might have sold more than the MG3, which has been a success for MG because of this.
The G-Wagon is without doubt a tour de force, and a car that has been developed over decades to be a car that is truly a great car, its like the Range Rover, it too has been developed from its origins to uber luxury too, both have remained the same shape, albeit bigger, both have the over looks carried across and with some similarities in interior designs, all to keep that historical sameness, the G-Wagon though is not a replacement new model as, like the Range Rover, it has never been out of production, so has just improved, like a fine wine, with age, which is no difference to the MK I Focus and the current one, the same name, same style, just improved with each new generation. The Toyta Supra, is another brilliant car today, with both Toyota and BMW at the helm, you get the reliability of Toyota, lacking in BMW's, and the ompff of the BMW's with driveability too, that a lot of Toyota's fail to get to grips with, the design is brilliant too, and i believe that it is currently one of teh best looking two door coupe's available today, within that price scale.As i mentioned above, there are a lot of issues with the piece posted, and those that have written them seem to have little knowledge about historical cars, with incorrect pictures, and, incorrect comparisons, Autocar has become a former shadow of it's self over the alst few years, and i hate to say its now heading down to Auto Express levels, and that pile of horsey smell, is the worst car magazine in existance.
Lot of insults there, best get things right then
Would those idiots be the one's that know it's not a V6.