The surprising classic cars brought back for the modern era

Designers have always borrowed from popular items of the past. But these cars prove that even unpopular cars are worthy of a revival

Murray Scullion

by Murray Scullion

16 September 2024

Follow @mscullion2

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Nostalgia is a hell of a thing.

Today, companies, social media influencers, and Peter Kay all make a living by sticking on a pair of rose tinted specs and telling you things were better in the good old days.

Car makers have been at it for years too. Just look at the success of the BMW Mini or the new Fiat 500. Both iconic cars had a tonne of nostalgia attached, and when they were reinvented for the digital age they became overnight successes.

But what happens when manufacturers dip a hand into their back catalogue and rip out something…not iconic. Something a bit meh. Something people have probably forgotten about?
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The French brand is going through a real purple patch at the moment, and recently revived the 17 coupe.

As is typical of a new car, the firm teased it a bit. But then smack. Bang. Wallop. The gorgeously brown carbonfibre clad coupe arrived and immediately took over the internet.
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The original 17 was first launched in 1971 and was the company’s first front-wheel-drive coupé, based on the Renault 12.

The stunning restomod has the same doors, windows and underbody as the original, but is much lower and 170mm wider. It swaps the 1605cc petrol engine for a 270bhp electric motor mounted to the rear, making it rear-wheel drive.
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Hyundai marked the 35th anniversary of its Grandeur luxury saloon back in 2021 with this retro-tastic EV.

At the time, Hyundai called the mix of blocky styling and ultra modern technology as “retro-futurism” and today, it somehow looks even more bizarre.
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The 2.0-litre from the original Grandeur has been replaced by an EV powertrain and while it might look like the eighties saloon not sold in the UK, the interior is vastly different.

All of the dials are digital, there’s a widescreen infotainment system and for some reason there is a portrait style screen that controls a virtual piano.
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Opel, and by extension Vauxhall, is quite keen on bringing back historic names. Look at the new Frontera, for instance.

And back in 2021 Opel dipped its toe into its back catalogue and emerged with an electrified version of the Manta Coupe.
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Opel preserved the original’s delicate lines, but of course, ditched the original donor car’s 75bhp 1.6-litre engine and replaced it with a custom-made 145bhp electric motor.

We drove it back in 2021 and were surprised by how well sorted it was considering it was basically a rolling concept. We were also pleasantly surprised to find a four-speed manual gearbox.
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The RS200 is being brought back as a limited-run special edition to mark the car’s 40th anniversary.

Boreham Motorworks was chosen by Ford to produce and remaster one of its most revered cars. The company’s take on the RS200 will be built in Coventry from the ground up as an "entirely new" creation, rather than using components from existing cars.
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We’re yet to quite see what it will look like. But early indications suggest it will match the original car’s silhouette, while details, such as LED headlights, will bring it up to date.

No word on what it will be powered by, but the company has cited the RS200’s mid-mounted engine and four-wheel drive system among its defining attributes. So it is likely it will maintain these.
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The XJS, despite its motorsport heritage, is not a brilliantly quick road car. TWR is hoping to change that.

Earlier this year the firm revealed an outlandish, 600bhp reworking of the Jaguar XJS, complete with carbonfibre bodywork, a supercharged V12 and a manual gearbox.
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The aggressive lines come courtesy of internet-famous digital designer Khyzyl Saleem and renowned Porsche modifier Magnus Walker. The development took more than two years, and was undertaken by a group of former F1 engineers.

TWR Performance will build 88 of these XJS Supercats. The number has been chosen to commemorate the firm’s first Le Mans win in 1988. Price? £225,000 a piece.
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London-based design house Makkina set the pulses of Triumph lovers racing when it revealed a modern day Triumph TR2 in 2023.

The company is normally a behind the scenes affair that works closely, and quietly, with OEMs but the TR 25 concept was released to mark Triumph’s centenary as a car maker and the 70th anniversary of the Triumph TR2.
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The one-off was built in Germany, and it sits on a BMW i3 chassis.

There are no plans to put it into production, but maybe if you had extremely deep pockets and asked very, very nicely, Makkina might build you one.
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Earlier in 2024, German engineering firm HWA revealed its homage to the Mercedes 190E Evo II.

The HWA Evo replaces the Cosworth-fettled 2.5-litre four-pot with a Merc twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6, said to be good for 443bhp - or 493bhp if you want to pay even more money and get the Affalterbach performance package.
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Yes, that’s right. HWA will actually build and sell these.

Only 100 examples will be made, priced from around £600,000. They do at least come with a 12-month/12,000 mile warranty, though...
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Ah yes. The Morris Commercial. Back in 2019 it was released with an expected launch date of 2021.

It has a pretty simple premise. Take an iconic van, bring it up-to-date with styling cues and an electric platform, and hey presto, you have a winner.
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It was set to have a 200-mile range, a 1000kg payload and a 2.5-tonne gross weight. It was said to cost £60,000.

At the press conference the Chinese backers were confident that independent businesses would use it not only for transport, but as a canny way to advertise themselves.

Alas it has still not arrived. But the company’s Instagram is still active, so there’s hope yet.
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We’ll cut to the chase. It weighs 1246kg. Or around half a tonne heavier than the original. Although in fairness, it’s still an extremely light EV.

Yes that’s right, another electric restomod blesses this slideshow. The Nyobolt concept was designed by Julian Thomson, the same man who designed the original Elise, and features an EV powertrain good for 470bhp.
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The one-off is based on a Lotus Exige S chassis, and it’s being used as a marketing tool and test bed for Cambridge-based Nyobolt.

The firm’s battery tech slashes charging times to just a few minutes with its special tungsten anodes. It says this technology makes cars lighter and quicker to charge, which of course, lends itself to sports cars, hence the Elise.
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Many of you reading this will know that Hyundai’s first car was the Cortina. A car, as you may have guessed, made by Ford.

But the original Pony, while designed by Giugiaro, owes an awful lot to the Morris Marina.
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Not many people will be mistaking this modern reinterpretation with a BL product.

The new Pony concept hit the internet like a Kardashian selfie in 2021, gathering thousands upon thousands of likes.

The silhouette remained distinctly unchanged from the original, but the new Pony featured camera-based mirrors, a digital-touch transmission and the Ioniq 5’s head and tail-lights.

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