After the Countach and next-gen Integra, what car to reintroduce next?

STM317 said:

GOOD Call

Thunderbird.

Mercury Cougar. (And Mercury in general.)

Country Squire wagon with real wood panels.

As a pre-Fiat Lancia fan, I'd love to see the brand spun off and resurrected. 

And of course......... Element, baby!

Am I the only one that really does to care at all about the Lambo?  They all look the same to me at this point.  An early to mid-2000's cars look just about the same as the proposed new one.  I think Lamborghini needs a serious refresh.  Their brand is getting visually stale to me.

I like the MR2 above.  Either the first or last picture would be cool.  The middle two have too much Lambo in them mixed with 370z

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

RX-7

Oh god please no to the Mazda6 nose.  I like it as the Mazda6 but not on that.   The real problem would be how do you distinguish it from the MX5 at this point.  

Cimarron. 

ShawnG said:

Packard anything.

America needs a proper luxury brand again. Lincoln and Cadillac have been slumming it for far too long.

Lincoln and Cadillac have been going Euro sport to the point that they are no longer really luxury cars that pampered you as you float down the road.   

I say we need to bring back "Wafting" as a car feature.  I loved my old 70's and 80's Cadillacs.  Floating couches on wheels.    

I need a bumper sticker that says "Bring Back Wafting"  :-)

How did we get from this

To this?

I am not sure 40 years of esthetic design evolution has been a good thing.

Jordan Rimpela said:

Cimarron. 

Jordan...

The Cimarron was so cheeseball that they couldn't even record a jingle. They just threw a lyric sheet in the ad and let you do all the hard work.

Also, the ELR does not get enough credit for being a Cimarron tribute. 

I can't be the only one looking at that Cimarron thinking 'with the right amount of gingerbread removal, trim going from chrome to black, and the GM parts big Lego party, one of those might not be so bad after all', right?  1.8 turbo & 5-speed from a Sunbird, 15" wheels, maybe there's a big brake "kit" to be pieced together from factory parts?  

Obviously a later-80's Cav wagon would be even better for this treatment but it wouldn't have the panache of a Cimarron.

The new 400Z has about 160 more Z's than is ideal and a straight 6 > V6; fight me.

wspohn said:

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

RX-7

Nice car but there are equivalents out there now (although I like the smoother body on that RX7 rendering better).

 

 

 

PS - although I liked the original version of the Countach, I like the Mira much more.

Equivalents with a rotary engine? There are a few wacko's out there (myself included) that want to see the rotary come back.

I was thinking the Lotus Esprit, but, like the 911 the Esprit was more of a GT I guess - so I am more interested in the Cayman and new Emira.

Love those MR2s above but I think between the Supra and the Subaru Toyota is sports car-ed out.

A modern Bugeye Sprite:

Only difficulty is, the simplicity, and let's be honest, total lack of any safety features, are what made it so wonderful to drive.  I doubt you could build one today that's anything less than 150% of the size and of the original.  Size to account for crumple zones and safety cages, weight for protection bars, emissions equipment, etc.

-Rob

dean1484 said:

How did we get from this

 

To this?

 

I am not sure 40 years of esthetic design evolution has been a good thing.

Arguing aesthetics is just about as sensible a thing to do as arguing politics, but I beg to differ on the Honda.  I owned the older version Civic and it was a great car -  far better than anything the USA was making at the time. But looks-wise, the new one strikes me as better six days a week and twice on Sunday. 

rob_lewis said:

A modern Bugeye Sprite:

Only difficulty is, the simplicity, and let's be honest, total lack of any safety features, are what made it so wonderful to drive.  I doubt you could build one today that's anything less than 150% of the size and of the original.  Size to account for crumple zones and safety cages, weight for protection bars, emissions equipment, etc.

-Rob

I'd love to see an obscure company like Tatra or Mahindra make an American entrance via a thoroughly lovable model that gave us classic soul with modern efficiency and reliability. Something like a bugeye would be a great start.

dean1484 said:

How did we get from this

 

To this?

 

I am not sure 40 years of esthetic design evolution has been a good thing.

Pedestrian impact that's how. 

Dodge/Chrysler. 

Take this. 

Call Chip Foose back and stick it in something like this. 

Cadillac get off your butts and make a real Cadillac, something that can compete with the Bentley coupe. Not a sports car, not a couch but a proper 700 mile in a day GT that is around the 110-120K mark in price. 

tomtomgt356 (Tommy) said:

Equivalents with a rotary engine? There are a few wacko's out there (myself included) that want to see the rotary come back.

Not only that, but the Z4 is a 3400 pound car.

I don't really expect Mazda to ever bring back the Rx-7 (Rx-9?).  It's too close to a Miata/MX-5, and they're too small of a car company to have two sports cars like that in their lineup.  That doesn't mean I can't wish for it, though. :)

In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :

They should do an electric CRX, as light as possible that still has range.. 

In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :

You take the gingerbread off and you reveal it for exactly what it is, a Chrysler K car. Can we please not bring those back? Ever? 

Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:

dean1484 said:

How did we get from this

 

To this?

 

I am not sure 40 years of esthetic design evolution has been a good thing.

Arguing aesthetics is just about as sensible a thing to do as arguing politics, but I beg to differ on the Honda.  I owned the older version Civic and it was a great car -  far better than anything the USA was making at the time. But looks-wise, the new one strikes me as better six days a week and twice on Sunday. 

The thing is when it came out it looked different. Now it just looks like every other small sedan in the segment.  
 

Also pedestrian crash testing is a thing but how do Lamborghinis pass it?  While the old civic is not perfect in this regard it does not look like it would be that bad. 
 

The civic was an economical small good looking hatch back. Now it is trying to be a sporty futuristic thing that looks like all the other cars in the segment.  Someone needs to go back and see what made them great and maybe re visit it. They could be different and possibly better by being retro?  
 

Edit: thinking about this it would not work. They have morphed the brand away from being a economical everyone car to a sporty car aimed at a younger generation that wants the car to have a more aggressive appearance.  

Jay_W said:

In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :

They should do an electric CRX, as light as possible that still has range.. 

Along those lines, all the EV's seem to have an over abundance of electronic gizmos with it.  I wonder what a dead simple (manual windows, locks, steering, no infotainment, etc) EV range would be.  Is the EV market big enough, yet, for a ultra light 2 seater sports car?  Probably not yet, but maybe soon.

-Rob

GLH.

In reply to RX Reven' :

I won't fight you....how about two iterations, one based on the 240 and one based on the Z32, both of which would be far better cars than those based on the Blob of late. Jury is still out on the Z to be let loose tomorrow.