The Retro Car Epidemic of the 2000s

automotive design accomplishes quite a lot for both manufacturers and prospective buyers the overall look of a car can give the driver a sense of Pride and maybe even status as they walk out of their local bank or 7-Eleven to their beloved vehicle cars can exude style and even a sense of performance sometimes without even having to move automotive design often looks forward as manufacturers push to be on The Cutting Edge but what if the next big thing is actually a vehicle whose design looks entirely back into history not forward into the future while maintaining modern features and technology and as we know often companies copy each other's popular designs so how would the major manufacturers handle such a trend well today we're looking at exactly that phenomenon and specifically the Retro car epidemic of the 2000s now before we dive too far in it should be noted that this was not the first time that manufacturers set out to make cars that looked much older than they were or that pointed to specific design languages or even specific models from the past one of the earliest examples of this approach was the 1961 Chrysler Imperial at first glance it just kind of looks like you know just another big you know gigantic 1960s American boat car but when you look at the previous year's model it becomes somewhat obvious what the motivation was behind this reskin for this year Virgil exner decided to take Chrysler's Flagship Car and go old school in a few key areas to really hearken back to the designs of the 20s and 30s primarily with its freestanding headlights and chrome trimming that was made to kind of mimic the old school fenders of those old cars now this idea for Virgil would really find its peak in the later stuts cars like the Blackhawk with it more prominent headlights and fenders and even old school radiator and then from the rear a 1980 Cadillac Seville headlines that closely resembled pre-war cars but for the most part through the ' 50s and 60s and 7s and 80s manufacturers were looking forward as none of these really old school designs garnered the kind of excitement that we would see later on now I should note that there was and sort of is still a niche group of automakers making what we could call neoc Classic Cars very much in the style of those pre-war vehicles but these are not really coming from major manufacturers and they're you know essentially kit cars and as we'll see retro car design would move Beyond making cars designed in this very old style and would rather start to mimic cars from a slightly different era and in a different vein before the 2000s really got underway BMW Z8 but much more Mazda's MX5 pointed back to the roadsters of the 19 1960s as much as the Miata was a sort of new version of cars like the MGB it actually looks strikingly like a lootus Alan from the 60s for the most part though manufacturers had never fully set out to make a car entirely designed to either look like a specific old car or to just have retro Aesthetics throughout mostly it had just been little touches here and there and sort of nods to history in that way that is until Plymouth made this car as the '90s got underway Chrysler wasn't exactly known for making cars that featured exciting new Innovative designs most of their money was coming from their K cars and vans but then head of product development and legendary Automotive thinker Bob Lutz well he had other plans he wanted Chrysler and its subsidiaries to become known for being on The Cutting Edge of design and making cars that weren't just you know kind of lifeless blobs and he did so initially with the Viper but he wanted to follow the Viper up with an even more radically designed car affectionately named the prowler the main idea behind the prowler in its concept stage was to make what was basically a factory hot rod but they never really thought that it would make it to production there was a ton of Buzz around the design at its unveil and somehow the thing managed to make it to production the prowler was not a success in the end the design kind of lost its Steam and it also was just kind of ruined a bit by its ridiculous front bumper it was overpriced and some of the design cues turned potential customers off despite all this it would go down as one of the single most influential retro cars to ever be made and it would influence the main cars we're looking at today from the 2000s now before we get too deep into the Retro craze of the early 2000s it's worth taking a look at why manufacturers and consumers were becoming more interested in retro design Vehicles this didn't just come out of nowhere the new millennium would Mark a massive societal shift as the analog was replaced with the digital and as the internet slowly took over there was quite a bit of unknown at this time tensions in the Middle East and of course that one big event there was quite a bit of fear and during times of economic uncertainty and geopolitical tension people often seek escapism and comfort in familiar cultural touchstones you know Nostalgia for the past was really reflected in this interest in retro things in all areas not just in the automotive world and this idea of looking back would serve as a form of escapism from the anxieties of the present and really the unknowns of the future the West at this time became increasingly more insular and looking back at the good old days before we were ever in you know a never-ending war was a way of coping now we don't have to mention that the good old days we often look back to weren't necessarily all they were cracked up to be I mean we were in a never-ending War through the 60s the era of what many would argue is is kind of the peak of automotive design and certainly a beloved retro aesthetic but our cars were cooler back then there's no doubt so following the tradition created by the Plymouth Prowler the first retro American Car of the 2000s would make its debut and that is the PT Cruiser now this car did not just happen in the early 2000s designer Brian nesbit's vision of creating what he called a hugable car one that es skewed the standoffishness of contemporary designs it actually began way back in the 9s where the PT Cruiser really shined was in its design as a whole it was of course retro with both hot rod and just pre-war classic kind of lines I mean cars had stopped having vendors like this long before the 2000s but on top of that it was truly Innovative and it would change the compact car world forever nesbet points out the spirit of post-war car design something that was essentially gone by the time this car came around he says it seems that in the larger volume and lower priced cars of today that individualism has sort of escaped us we don't seem to put that type of differentiation into products anymore my generation missed out on the post-war optimism that funneled into a lot of great products it seems like that's been gone for a while and this PT Cruiser hearkens back to that optimism in a way and if the Retro car craze of the 2000s could be praised for anything it is really this spirit and this boldness that you know once again today is completely gone what he said saying about car design you know couldn't be more relevant today internally the PT Cruisers retro inspired theme continued with vintage details such as a round speedometer Chrome accents and a QQ ball shifter the car's interior was praised for its spaciousness and versatility offering ample room for passengers and cargo alike a departure from the cramped confines typically associated with compact cars the PT Cruiser was tested and well received in Europe before its North American debut and this success underscored the car's broad appeal and paved the way for its production and its influence really did extend beyond just its sales figures it shaped perceptions of compact cars and inspired a new wave of crossover designs and its bold retromodern aesthetic challenged conventions in automotive design at this time exemplifying the importance of innovation and diversity in catering to varied consumer tastes many considered the PT Cru a failure though some say it's one of the worst cars of all time and this just isn't true but it was pretty expensive for what it was we can admit that but while Chrysler was busy cooking up the PT Cruiser the other big American manufacturers were working on their own retro cars Ford actually saw the trend relatively early as they started working on a new retro styled Thunderbird in the late 99s and this car stood out from the PT Cruiser in that it wasn't a generally retro aesthetic with no specific models as inspiration for the design rather it pointed directly to the original t- bird of the 1950s and it was kind of a modern take on that design Ford's goal was to make a compelling retro now two-seater Thunderbird with modern mechanics and features but sporting a kind of retrofuturistic look its exterior styling Incorporated signature elements of that old model it had a prominent Grill it had round headlights and a really long Hood the two Cedar convertible body style emphasized sportiness and luxury and it could have been a massive success but Ford really rushed it to production just 2 years after the concept unveil making a production design that ultimately felt somewhat unfinished coupled with its Hefty price tag and built on the problematic d98 platform in its short run just over 30,000 customers would purchase the new thunderbird making it today a somewhat rare classic in and of itself the 11th gen Thunderbird really gives us a bit of a lesson when it comes to Retro or just uniquely styled cars in general they still have to perform well within their class to succeed a specific Style just isn't enough and this new T-bird it couldn't compete in the luxury class that Ford placed it in with the likes of BMW and lexus's comparable models and a big part of the PT Cruiser success was its revolutionary elements Beyond just its style in and of itself for the most part the PT Cruiser was a good car but for the price the Thunderbird just didn't hold up despite all this I really do think that Ford learned some valuable lessons from this final Thunderbird when it comes to making a retro vehicle and you know when it comes to Reviving an old great model more on that later without a doubt the single most bold and perhaps most memorable take on a retro design vehicle from this time was the Chevy SSR this was another concept vehicle that somehow made it to production much like the prowler but instead of making a 40s or 50s styled hot rod car this was the truck version and it indeed was a hot rod a performance truck so to speak the design of the Chevy SSR was heavily influenced by classic trucks from the mid 20th century particularly Chevy's iconic Advanced design series introduced in the late 40s its retro styling included this distinctive front grill round fenders and a muscular stance the SSR featured a retractable hardtop roof allowing it to transform from a roadster to a pickup truck with a covered cargo bed the Chevy SSR was offered with a range of Powertrain options over its production run initially it was equipped with a 5.3 L V8 producing around 300 horsepower but later models were offered with a more powerful 6 L V8 engine delivering upwards of 400 horsepower paired with a six-speed manual or automatic transmission production of the Chevy SSR R commenced in ' 03 targeting a really specific niche of enthusiasts who wanted you know a combination of performance and style and functionality and just something unique its distinctive design and limited availability initially fueled really strong sales sadly though demand waned really quick resulting in its discontinuation in ' 06 after approximately 24,000 units were manufactured the story of the SSR is similar to most of these retro American cars failure and it also doesn't help that the truck was pretty downright ugly I'm sorry but it's true in high school we made fun of people who drove these I'm kidding I didn't know anybody in high school who drove a Chevy SSR but if you did I would have made fun of you as I toled along in my Chevy S10 that couldn't make a pass on the highway if the air conditioning was on this truck on the other hand was very fast but were there any lasting retro designs from this era there are a few other notable retro cars that came out around this time that we haven't covered namely The Rebirth of the mini and the Beetle and of course you know there was the ever old looking Morgan cars but these cars are a bit different than what we see from the Retro craze among American manufacturers namely cars like the mini and Volkswagen they actually lasted the only retro American car design from this time that really worked longterm was the fifth gen Camaro and what's the difference between the development of the Camaro vers most of these other American retro cars really it's time its debut came in 2006 as a concept car and it didn't go fully into production until 2009 as a 2010 model but the design we saw in ' 06 was pretty close to a finished product so we're talking roughly five or so years of work getting this car ready which is almost double most of these other vehicles and as much as the purists may not have liked it it really did become the Camaro and it is a great example of a successful retro car car why is it that most retro vehicles are at this point considered failures not only in terms of design but also just sales I think it's helpful to look at another segment of the automotive World a place where retro designs really do Thrive and where the motivations are pretty clear both for consumers and for companies marketing their products that's right motorcycles and if you don't already know I have a motorcycle channel so check it out if you like two- wheeled Vehicles as well and without a doubt the most successful retro motorcycle and probably retro vehicle in general is the Triumph bonnaville Triumph is an iconic British motorcycle manufacturer that despite having one of the most coveted and you know beautiful and awesome motorcycles of all time back in the 50s and 60s and 70s that is the Bonville despite all that this brand and this motorcycle would die at the hands of the Japanese Takeover in the' 60s and' 7s but they were then revived really in the '90s and Triumph would go on to build themselves into a successful major motorcycle manufacturer with their own cool niche in the market with a full premium model range at the very beginning of the new millennium as car manufacturers were beginning to get into this whole retro aesthetic Triumph re-released the bonnaville and this motorcycle would not only be a hit for Triumph but also turn into a whole model range and influence a whole new kind of motorcycle and it was really made in their own words to authentically point back to the great Bonville of old despite having no real obvious ties to the old Triumph twins now I've made loads of videos about Triumph and about the bonnaville of old and new on my motorcycle channel the thing to know is that Triumph is fantastic at marketing retro motorcycles they understand the art of using nostalgia in their marketing and they really understand the people who want to buy their motorcycles and what we see with the bonnaville is something that is almost entirely missing in the Retro car craze of the 2000s it's this idea of coupling an iconic Timeless design with a product that in and of itself is truly good and reliable and can stand on its own without the old school design as a great vehicle and then the icing on the cake is just good marketing marketing not towards some sort of weird novelty but rather this claim that this this car or this motorcycle is kind of the pure form of motoring that's what we see with Triumph it's what they do so well the bike really looks the part most people can't tell that the new Bonville is really any different than in Old Bonville and in the end it is a great motorcycle the problem with many of these retro designed cars is that they were more pointing to like hot rods and just classic design language and the whole Spirit behind hot rodding and custom building is that you're doing it yourself you know a factory hot rod has rarely worked it's kind of against the spirit of the whole movement but on top of that it is easier to just make a motorcycle that looks old it's really difficult to make a car that really looks like an old car but this leads us into the latest most successful retro vehicle which is the new Ford Bronco because with the Bronco rebirth Ford really did learn from their mistakes with the Thunderbird and this time they recreated a vehicle made in the spirit of the original with a solid relatively fresh design design as fresh as a modern design can be and just great marketing made again not only to evoke that nostalgic feeling the Bronco really does compete directly with Jeep's offerings it's not trying to create some sort of New Market in and of itself it's just another big SUV with off-road capability and honestly it's cool people think it's cool I think it looks like a pretty sweet car it looks better than most SUVs just the other day I saw black Bronco and I'm not going to lie I kind of did a double take it's a sweet design sure it'll never Garner the kind of attention that the original Bronco does if you see one going down the road but it's a massive sales success for Ford and it's not hard to see why maybe this is overs simplistic but the lesson learned from the Retro car craze of the 2000s is that you still got to make a good car the PT Cruiser was ugly but good so it worked and the Thunderbird was ugly and overpriced and it didn't work the Camaro was and is a pretty solid and affordable and you know not too ugly car so it works and the Bronco is pretty cool and it seems like it does the job so it works you've got to have the whole package oh wait there's a new retro car coming out from Chevy oh no wait it's going to be a Revival of a classic muscle car oh no oh this is supposed to be a chevel have we learned nothing this is this is not good all right guys thanks for watching I hope you enjoyed the video and if you've ever owned one of these retro cars from the 2000s would love to hear about your experience let us know in the comments below and we'll see you in the next video drive safe

Channel: Bart's Car Stories

Views: 182,814

Keywords: car, cars, car history, car video, car videos, history of cars, automotive history, vehicle, automotive, car channel, bart, bart's car stories, car stories, story, the retro car epidemic of the 2000s, retro cars, retro car, chevy ssr, pt cruiser, chrysler, ford, chevy, ford thunderbird, plymouth prowler, chevy camaro, camaro, ford bronco, bronco, new bronco

Id: BmwCPpkfsJM

Length: 19min 7sec (1147 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 09 2024