What car started the RETRO craze?

[PerfAdv]

Could it be that Bellbottoms and Disco are coming back too? :eeK:

These days retro cars are no longer an oddity. Seems almost every one wants in or wants to build one, even just use a retro name. Which car started this craze, fad, phenomenon?

A few cars come to mind. The Miata? It's original design phase was started in the late 70's so maybe it not responsible for the current trends. Ford Thunderbird? Porsche Boxster?

Which car do you think most influenced the retro trend?

[660z]

I think Porsche have been playing the retro game with their 911 and latterly the Boxster longer than anybody else, I think other manufacturers have just taken a little bit too long to fathom it out.

[Matra et Alpine]

Originally Posted by 660z

I think Porsche have been playing the retro game with their 911 and latterly the Boxster longer than anybody else, I think other manufacturers have just taken a little bit too long to fathom it out.

I dont' call that retro as they never really DROPPED the design to resurrect it later.

THAT for me is "retro"

The 911 is "continuity"

[Classic Anycar]

[nota]

Although a minor player I guess Exacalibur is early retro. And New Beetle would be a big mainstream influence to the fad. The japanese home-market has long been big on retro too

[PerfAdv]

Originally Posted by nota

Although a minor player I guess Exacalibur is early retro. And New Beetle would be a big mainstream influence to the fad. The japanese home-market has long been big on retro too

I'm not familiar with the Excalibur, is it the car with the exposed exhaust pipes in the front and wheel arches?

A couple of the Japanese retro-cars, little known in the US.

[nota]

Yes the Mercedes SSK clone - initial Excalibur (1962?) had a Studebaker engine and chassis which should telltale its age

[Wolf03]

The Plymouth Prowler/Chrysler PT Cruiser...and obviously it all went crazy with the success of the new Mustang.

[Esperante]

The modern retro started beyond a doubt with the New Beetle. Retro had been dabbled in before, Excalibur, Zimmer, etc. in the 60's and 70's. In the early 90's, Nissan made their Figaro in the early 90's, but it wasn't popular worldwide, notably not in the US, and hence the designers didn't jump on the fad. The Prowler was Chrysler's attempt at making a streamlined, cheap version of the Panoz Roadster, but neither were popular. The New Beetle made retro known across the boards, and its almost instant sucess, followed by the PT Cruiser's, promised that retro had possibilities.

[henk4]

I don't think you can call the Excalibur Retro, it is a sort of Replica, produced by somebody totally else than the original producers (Mercedes). There are also many perfect replicas around and this month's Classic and Sportscar takes a closer look at a few of them, which have been in production for a long time already. Jaguar C and D type, Aston Martin DB3S, Frazer Nash LeMans Replica, (a rep of a rep ), Ferrari Testa Rossa and 196S, Porsche RSK etc. There are many of these "continuation" designs around, one of them I stumbled upon was the Chaparral 2E, which was shown at Laguna Seca last September.

Currently replicas are increasingly allowed in vintage racing too, mostly because many times they consist of original parts, such as the two Dino V6 246F1 cars which are still being campaigned. The Lancia D50 was more controversial as it had been more or less newly constructed, but it is now on track too, offering the immense pleasure of seeing that unqiue car in action again.

Another category of replicas are the real fakes, where the purpose is to pose the real thing.

Finally one of the besy knows replicas is the Cobra, of which many companies have produced copies with all kind of machinery you can think of.

Retro design as such was probably introduced by the VW Beetle, because I don't think that the Japanese little cars were actually copies of previous designs, but just had to look old.

[derekthetree]

Originally Posted by PerfAdv

Could it be that Bellbottoms and Disco are coming back too? :eeK:

Disco's already back baby

and the navy have always worn bellbottoms

[nota]

Originally Posted by henk4

I don't think you can call the Excalibur Retro, it is a sort of Replica, produced by somebody totally else than the original producers (Mercedes).

[snip]

Retro design as such was probably introduced by the VW Beetle, because I don't think that the Japanese little cars were actually copies of previous designs, but just had to look old.

In a cheap attempt at dissent, and to hone the definition of retro, the New Beetle is not an actual copy either but rather it mimics iconic Type 1 original, ie it 'celebrates', hence true retro. Likewise many of those jap retros sole raison d'etre is also to celebrate through mimicry & caricaturisation of the original manufacturer's previous (unique-to-japan) designs .. plus some not so japanese or obscure!

For an example the well-known Mitsuoka viewt has it all - it is retro, pre-Beetle, looks old, is obviously a copy - and of a non-japanese car to boot!

http://www.jag-lovers.org/brochures/viewt.html

[henk4]

Originally Posted by nota

In a cheap attempt at dissent, and to hone the definition of retro, the New Beetle is not an actual copy either but rather it mimics iconic Type 1 original, ie it 'celebrates', hence true retro. Likewise many of those jap retros sole raison d'etre is also to celebrate through mimicry & caricaturisation of the original manufacturer's previous (unique-to-japan) designs .. plus some not so japanese or obscure!

For an example the well-known Mitsuoka viewt has it all - it is retro, pre-Beetle, looks old, is obviously a copy - and of a non-japanese car to boot!

http://www.jag-lovers.org/brochures/viewt.html

Well I did not want to imply that the retro designs are actually carbon copies of the original cars (the replicas though are or try to be) The VW Beetle looks reminds of the old one, so does the T-Bird and the New Mini. All those try to cash on the reputation of an old design from the same company. The PT cruiser for instance, simply does look retro, without trying to mimic an original Chrysler design (AFAIK )

[carbrochuretom]

.....

[dydzi]

i'd say it was american ford; like 49, new thunderbird, gt...