“The Retro Craze: Yesterday is Here!”
The automotive landscape is rich and diverse, with an exciting past full of some incredible cars. Some more incredible than others. In fact some stand out over time, and remain evergreen to this day. Cars like the 2-seat Thunderbirds ,1955-1957), 1940 Fords, the VW Beetle, the Shelby Cobra, the ’65 Mustang, the ’69 Camaro and the ’70 Dodge Challenger still live on in the minds of enthusiasts of all ages.
In 1993 Dodge was searching for relevance. They were selling only front-wheel drive cars, there were no Hemis yet and the Kenworth-inspired Ram pickup was still a year off. Chrysler’s top engine was the aging 360 ci LA small block. What to do? Tap into the past for inspiration. Not Dodge’s past, mind you, more like Ford’s. The Shelby Cobra of the early 1960s is so iconic that an entire industry has sprung up just to make copies of it. Dodge ended up creating a modern day Cobra in the Dodge Viper RT/10, and for power they took the 360 and added two more cylinders to it making it an 8.0-liter V10. It sounded like a leaf blower but boy was it fast. Initially it was quite primitive with no outside door handles, no roll-up windows and a lousy convertible top. Subsequent generations got more civilized, but not much. It never sold in big numbers, not even Corvette numbers. Around 1,000 to 2,000 per year were built in 5 generations, totaling around 32,000 cars over 26 model years. Not big numbers, but Dodge did it anyway. The retro Viper was never intended to sell en masse, it was more of a halo car. And as such, it excelled. Boys had posters of them in their rooms. It fostered a rabid fan base and its own racing series. 2017 was its last year.
Chrysler was on a tear in the early 90s. At the same time they released the Viper,Chrysler Design Chief John Herlitz and designer Tom Gale (who later penned the PT Cruiser) were working on a wild, unique ride they called the Plymouth Prowler. It was an open-top roadster meant to look like a 1930s car customized in the ‘50s. The front wheels were practically open, except for tiny motorcycle fenders. It was powered by the 3.5-liter V6 engine from the Dodge Intrepid, but the transaxle was moved to the rear end. It was an odd setup, and seems a strange choice. V8 power is a given in hot rods, the V6 must have hurt sales. The frame was revolutionary in its use of aluminum castings, extruded aluminum tubing, structural bonding (adhesives) and specialized welding techniques. It sounds expensive, and it was. The narrow 30’s-style nose required a wide, sturdy bumper which were a pair of outriggers, and are odd to look at and yet somehow work. The two-place roadster had a manual soft top and almost no storage, so Plymouth sold matching trailers to put your suitcases in. It was a crazy car, it’s hard to believe that Chrysler did it. But they sure did. They were practically hand assembled and were costly to build, they lost money on every one they sold. Was it worth it? It was released in 1997, and over its 6 model year life only 11,702 were sold. But it was never intended to be a big seller. It was a halo car for Plymouth that brought people into their showrooms.
Volkswagen, a company steeped in rich history was quick to reason that this warm feeling of nostalgia for the past could be tapped in the present to sell more cars. With that, they designed a new body for their Group A4 platform that underpinned the front wheel drive Golf, Jetta and Audi A3. The new body successfully copied the looks of the classic Beetle from the 1960s that everyone knew and loved. No, it wasn’t rear engine, no it wasn’t air cooled. Underneath, it was a regular front-drive car just like everything else they built. It was a brilliant idea, one of those that leaves everyone else scratching their heads and wondering why they didn’t think of it. And it worked. It helped that it was incredibly cute. Released in 1998 it hit 107,090 units in its first year. The next year 1998 was even better at 160,147 cars sold. But then, as is so often the case with trendy products, the newness wore off and by 2000, the sales numbers were dropping and they didn’t stop until the 1st-gen’s run ended in 2011. There was a 2nd-generation that launched in 2011 with a half-inch longer wheelbase and more powerful engines and it revived sales. That having been said, VW sold nearly 2 million New Beetles, so they did something right. And whatever that was, others in the industry wanted some. Chrysler was next and followed VW’s lead by redressing one of its humble front-wheel drive platforms. Chrysler’s PL platform underpinned all three divisions’ Neons and was lengthened for this new vehicle, named the PT Cruiser. Keeping all the Neon’s mechanicals kept costs down. But the style was totally new. The nose paid homage to 1930s and ’40s Fords and the body was like a classic panel delivery. It had an aggressive stance and loads of attitude. The name supposedly came from Panel Truck although this one had windows, and four doors. Despite its oddness, the looks of a bad-ass hot rod with a front-wheel drive 4-cylinder power train, and being a new type of vehicle that didn’t fit neatly into any prior category, they sold 137,809 of them the first year, 2001. But, as is so often the case, sales dropped steadily after that. By the time they cancelled it in 2011, it was down to just 4,000 units per year. Added up though, PT Cruiser sales totaled 1.4 million cars over 12 model years. There was a time when you saw them everywhere. Clearly a success for Chrysler.
In 2002 Ford revived the Thunderbird, dormant since 1997, as the rebirth of the 2-seat ‘Birds of 1955-57. The new car was a marvelous modern day interpretation of the original, two seats complete with removable hardtop and that crazy porthole. It was a product of the fertile minds of Ford Design Chief J Mays, Designer Freeman Thomas and veteran Jack Telnack (who had been instrumental in the creation of the Fox-body Mustang), and it was never meant to be a hot rod. Like the original, it was more sophisticated, with adequate but understated performance. And like the original, the lack of power hurt sales. Built on Fords’ DEW98 platform, which also underpinned the Lincoln LS and Jaguar S-Type it was powered by a small 3.9-liter DOHC 32-valve V8 that was a destroked version of Jaguar’s AJ30/AJ35 engine architecture. At launch in 2002 the engine made 252 hp but received variable valve timing in 2003 boosting power to 280 hp. It was still not enough, not in an era where every car that Mercedes-Benz sold had more horsepower, all but one BMW, half of all Lexus’s (Lexi?). Even the Chevy Silverado pickup had more power than that. And of course, there’s that other thing. The same thing that killed the first 2-seat T-bird. Two seats. When they turned the Thunderbird into a 4-seat car in 1958, sales tripled. One has to wonder if that would have worked this time. The 2002 T-bird sold 31,368 units, in 2003 it dropped to 14,678, in 2004 just 12,757 and in 2005, its final year only 9,292 were sold. It’s a shame it didn’t do better. While we may bemoan Ford’s decision to use such a weak engine, they should be commended for having the guts to do something like this. It’s passion like this that brings us great cars, cars that never would have happened if it were up to the bean counters.
In 2003 Chevy launched the SSR (Super Sport Roadster), a highly-styled convertible pickup with a retractable hardtop, all styled to mimic the early 1950s Chevy trucks. The looks were stunning, the top worked great, they came with Corvette-derived engines with up to 395 hp, and they were totally, totally cool. They shared their GMT360 platform with the Chevy Trailblazer and GMC Envoy among others, so it was a solid truck. They got tons of attention at car shows, especially when demonstrating the retractable top, and they brought strong money at auction for awhile. They just didn’t sell that well. They sold less than 10,000 trucks in its maiden year of 2003 and sales declined from then until it was discontinued after selling only 4,000 units in the 2006 model year.
When Chevy saw all the fun Chrysler was having with the PT Cruiser, and seeing how easy it looked and how profitable it must have been, they couldn’t resist trying it themselves. The Chevy HHR (Heritage High Roof) is a funky retro panel delivery-styled front-wheel driver built on the Delta platform, shared with the Chevy Cobalt, Pontiac G5 and Saturn Ion. Whatever magic Chevy tried to capture from Chrysler must have worked. First year sales in 2006 were a 108,847, and 122,246 in 2007. But they declined after that, finishing at just 16,088 units in its final year, 2011. It didn’t help that it wasn’t as pretty as the PT Cruiser. The design just looked too contrived, like they were trying too hard. Some people thought they looked like a bread box or a toaster.
Styling in general is a delicate art. It’s easy to go too far, but it’s just as easy not to go far enough. And in the end, no matter what the designers think, it’s the buyers who have the final say, and you don’t hear from them until months or years after the design work is finished. Retro has been a successful theme in many of these cases, but it’s also not a guarantee of success.
In 2005 Ford introduced its 5th-generation of Mustang and it was totally and completely retro-styled. Fashioned to look like a modern day 1967 Mustang fastback, inside and out, it was well received with 160,975 sales in its first year. And every Mustang since, two more generations, have been styled to ape the looks of the classic 60s Mustang. Sales of the previous model were running around 130,00 sales per year, but the new retro-‘Stang sold 160,975 in its first year, a number that the Mustang hasn’t seen since. The simple, uncluttered beauty of the 2005 design proved to be timeless, Ford had done a great job of mimicking the past. It lasted until 2009 then in 2010 they reskinned it and it moved away from it’s classic roots somewhat.
Dodge introduced the world to a new, modern-day Dodge Challenger in 2008. The new car did a great job of conveying the look of the classic 1970 Challenger it was inspired by. The last time Chrysler did an E-body (Challenger and Barracuda) it was built off of the 1960s B-body cowl (Dodge Coronet, Plymouth Belvedere) and despite being ‘midsize’ cars, they were big. This made the Challenger big, the biggest of the pony cars back then. Well, they did it again. The new 2008 Dodge Challenger was spun off of the same LX platform as all of Dodge’s other rear-wheel drive cars, the Magnum, Charger and the Chrysler 300. They were full-size cars by today’s standards which made the Challenger a big car again, and once again the biggest of the modern pony cars. Despite its size, Dodge really nailed the looks. It’s instantly recognizable as what it is. It’s a great-looking car from every angle and it fulfilled its mission perfectly. And it gave the Dodge Boys a chance to build some crazy-fast engines for it. In every year except the two following the 2008 housing crisis, sales have run between 40,000 and 70,000 units, every year until they killed it in 2023 model year, that is. That’s 16 model years without a generational change. Who else can say that? That’s a long time for a car and yet it was still selling well when the geniuses at Stellantis killed it.
GM was getting left behind in these modern-day pony car wars. So in 2010, after an 8- year hiatus, the new 5th-generation Chevy Camaro was released to the public. It was a total retro design aping the looks of the legendary 1969 Camaro. It was a good choice, however they relied on a young designer to work out the looks and some think he was too young to fully appreciate what the Camaro was all about. The result seemed overdone, like they tried too hard. Some people thought it looked exaggerated or ‘cartoony’. The windows were pushed high up on the body, leaving narrow slits to look through. Built on the Zeta platform, shared with the Holden Commodore it was heavy, over 4,000 pounds. But they gave it plenty of horsepower to overcome its mass. The SS (Super Sport) variant got the LS3 making 426 hp and the Z/28 got the 7.0-liter LS7 with 505 hp and it got even better later. They sold 81,299 cars in its first year. So the customers must have liked it. It’s appearance in the movie “Transformers” in 2007 had people panting for its release. Yet many critics feel it was the worst of the three revived pony cars. But it sold well enough to continue it for two more generations, now in its 7th.
The Retro Craze ended around this time. No more notable examples were built after that except maybe the Mini and the Fiat 500, and of course the continuation of the Mustang and Camaro into additional generations that maintain the retro theme. And the Challenger ran 16 years unchanged (that must be some kind of record).
Retro styling was a trend that really had some legs. Lots of cars were sold as the result, and nostalgic car fans got a real treat in this crop of great cars. Maybe it stirred up memories of the past for some of them, or maybe they just liked great-looking cars that turned heads and said something about the person driving them. That’s the way cars used to be, you know. Perhaps the world was harkening back to the simpler days of the past.
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