If you don’t learn from history you are doomed to repeat it. Wise words indeed and certainly ones to live by in the grand scheme of things… but surely some things from the past can be a blessing, and, dare I say it… improved upon?
The recent trend in the motor industry has been to dispense with the flashy marketing and attractive finance offers aimed at the logical side of the brain, in favour of tugging at the heart strings of past loves, lost in time. Nostalgia is a powerful force, and manufacturers that are lucky enough to survive until now have begun to reach back into their own history to secure their futures. Ford, Fiat, Nissan, Renault and VW have all been taking one step back and two steps forward by dusting off past models and bringing them up to date with a 21st century body blended with to a 20th century soul.
Take the Fiat 500 and the Ford GT for example. All have direct links back to the past both in line, purpose and presence. The rather lovely old 500 can be parked next to its modern descendant and be instantly recognisable as a Fiat 500, albeit a more substantial one having nearly doubled in weight over the last 50 years. But the basic shapes through the body, and in particularly the interior, can be seen making the voyage through time, and while some will always argue that you can’t better the original Italian micro town car, modern build quality and a dusting of 21st century toys can go a long way to persuading the modern crowds that it’s still most definitely an Italian classic. To some, Fiat’s new 500 is nothing but a cynical ploy to rebadge and redesign the existing Panda to sell a few new cars. I’d like to think of it as giving the public what they wanted – a delightful, simple, and efficient city car. Something you can be proud to own and most definitely a design icon once again.
A worthy revival?
The Ford GT’s rebirth in 2005 had a much more purposeful plan of action and it also came with a much greater burden of expectation. The famous Le Mans winning GT40 has a greater reputation than most cars, so for Ford to bring out a modern road car with the same zest and brute force as the four-time winner of the 24 hour endurance race was quite a daunting task! Ford had attempted this before with the still born GT90 but never reaching production, or even a worthy concept, the task was going to be pointing up hill from the offset. Ford knew that the hard work was done for them back in the 60s; the design was already there, already stunning from all angles, and more to the point, it was already that Ford. Update the dimensions a little to incorporate a more, shall we say, robust American buyer and throw in some modern chassis technology and we have 50% of the homage to a legend ready and waiting. The final 50% would be a monstrous V8 engine more than enough to keep up with the contemporary Ferraris. And if you remember, the number one goal of the original GT40 was what? To flat out beat the Ferraris at their own game. 40 years later Ford put their mind to the task again with the same result.
Timeless Icon
Other manufacturers have attempted a similar tactic of using past glory to overcome present procrastination in their line up. Some have been wonderfully successful like the Renault Clio V6. A recipe of taking a very powerful engine and putting it into the back of a once humble and flaccid hatchback proved to be too hard to resist for the hardcore driver. The Renault 5 Turbo, once developed to allow entry into the sweeping forests and deserts of the world rally, was the original big engine bully. Rear wheel drive and an engine behind the front seats only demonstrated the intent of the 80s superstar, and while the cars may be quite different in looks, the DNA of both can hardly be separated. The V6 is already a modern classic in its own right.
But are they really the direct relatives of the much loved originals, and is it right to try to recreate the analogue past from the digital present? So long as the soul of the car and the concepts are the same I see nothing wrong with updating brands and adding safety and improved quality! If you’ve ever slid 20 metres in a 1960s Fiat 500 then suddenly some ABS would be a wonderful addition. An airbag or two wouldn’t be swapped for an Espresso in an emergency either.
Modern safety regulations have quite rightly changed the size and some design features like; low noses and daylight running lights, but the 500 and the GT are the perfect examples of how a resurrection need not be a bad thing. The warm nostalgic feeling you get helps to lessen the obvious changes in size and technical evolutions, which are needed and necessary, and reminds you that even though it’s put on a little weight and probably has too many buttons, it could still be the one you loved many years ago.
A suitable modern interpretation to the original 500
It is not only the obvious nostalgia that customers feel that sells these cars but the reinventing of them; appealing to both the classic market and modern. It’s this marriage of old and new that will see the other designs from the past brought back to life with an injection of modern flare.
The fine balance between the past and the present is the key to success. So long as car makers can take the best parts of yesteryear and refine them for the modern era, we will see old friends become new ones for years to come. Come to think of it a new Quattro wouldn’t go a miss!
Thanks to David Gaunt for the help towards the contribution
