16 retro cars and their classic inspirations

You can’t hide from your genes

There have been many cars – including those sold in kit form and more mainstream models such as the Chrysler PT Cruiser – which suggest older designs without referring to anything specific.

There’s also another group, consisting of cars which look more or less like their distant predecessors, despite being far more modern.

Here we’re considering models which belong to the second set, and comparing them with their lookalikes of previous eras.

There are 16 pairs, conveniently listed in alphabetical order.

1. Alpine A110 (original)

The Alpine A110 was the third Renault-based sports car produced by Jean Rédélé’s firm, and the first to achieve major success.

It was both appealing on the road and devastating in rallying, in which it dominated the inaugural World Championship in 1973.

On top of that, it was beautiful, certainly in Berlinette form, which made it almost inevitable that Renault would bring it back at some point.

Alpine A110 (new)

Just about the only thing the current A110, launched in 2017, has in common mechanically with the original is that its engine is mounted behind the cockpit.

Rather than the earlier model’s Cléon-Fonte and larger Cléon-Alu units, both of which had gone out of production years before, this one was powered by a far more powerful 1.8-liter gasoline turbo.

In terms of design, though, it’s about as close to its distant predecessor as modern standards and safety requirements allow.

2. BMW 507

Closely related to the BMW 503 coupe, the 3.2-liter V8 engined 507 roadster of 1956 is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful cars this marque ever produced.

Unfortunately, and again like the 503, it was very expensive, which was enough to persuade potential customers to look elsewhere.

Total production of both amounted to only 663 cars before BMW pulled the plug.

The company was in a terrible financial state in the 1950s, and for all its charm the 507 certainly didn’t help.

BMW Z8

The relationship between the late 1990s Z8 and the 507 of four decades earlier may not be immediately obvious, but BMW has described the former as being a ‘modern reinterpretation’ of the latter.

They are certainly similar in that they are both roadsters with V8 engines, though the one in the Z8 was considerably larger at 4.9 liters.

Production was still on a modest scale, though if you include that of the later Alpina Roadster V8, a development of the Z8, if was about double that of the 503 and 507 combined.

By now, this didn’t matter, since BMW had become extremely successful, and could afford to design and build an expensive car of limited sales potential without looking nervously over its shoulder to see if the creditors were approaching.

3. Chevrolet Camaro (original)

The Camaro was Chevrolet’s response to the Ford Mustang, which launched in 1964.

In first-generation form, it was available only in the 1967 to 1969 model years (with a mild redesign in the last of these) and is therefore the shortest-lived of all Camaros.

The second Camaro looked very different, and by the time the fourth was discontinued in 2002, with no hint that there might be a successor, none of the original styling remained.

Chevrolet Camaro (new)

After an eight-year gap, the Chevrolet Camaro line was resumed for the 2010 model year.

The fifth-generation model was unlike any of its predecessors in the sense that its styling implied a recollection of the past rather than a voyage into the future, with clear references to the late ’60s version.

The retro look was retained, though slightly less obviously, for the sixth-generation Camaro.

4. Fiat 500 (original)

When people speak of the classic Fiat 500, they are usually referring to the second car of that name (hence Nuova, or ‘new’, 500) manufactured from 1957 to 1975, rather than the earlier model nicknamed Topolino.

It’s not difficult to see why. Although the Nuova 500 was austerely functional, designed to do little more than transport Italians from A to B at slightly above walking pace, it also happened to be one of the most charming-looking cars ever made.

The Topolino was also delightful its way, but if any Fiat 500 was going to be used as the basis of a retro model, it would certainly be the Nuova.

Fiat 500 (new)

Fiat brilliantly exploited the continuing appeal of the Nuova 32 years after it went out of production.

The 500 launched in 2007 had no mechanical relationship to the earlier car (among many differences, its engine and transmission were at the front rather than the rear), and it was not widely regarded as the best supermini on the market, partly because of its severely limited luggage space.

Despite all that, it was an enormous success thanks almost entirely to its body design, which was as close to that of the Nuova as could be achieved in a car meeting 21st-century standards of performance, practicality and safety.

Fiat then went a step further by transferring the styling across to the larger 500L and 500X with, to our eyes, less happy results.

5. Ford Bronco (original)

Although the two vehicles differed widely in most respects, the 1966 Ford Bronco was similar to the Fiat 500 in that both were cheap and utilitarian, with nothing fancy about them.

The Bronco remained on the market for 11 years, a timescale not even approached by any of the four following generations which carried the nameplate through to 1996.

In the first of those generations, launched in 1978, the Bronco grew up, becoming much larger and undoubtedly more practical, but also losing much of its early rustic charm.

Ford Bronco (new)

A quarter of a century separated the discontinuation of the fifth-generation Bronco and the arrival of the sixth in 2021.

For the new version’s styling, Ford ignored most of what had happened before, and instead found inspiration in the 1966-’77 vehicle.

Back came a shape composed almost entirely of horizontals and verticals, along with the round headlights which had been compulsory in the US during the era of the first Bronco, but had long since been superseded by more adventurous designs when legislation allowed these to be used.

6. Ford GT40

The most dramatic, and perhaps unlikely, Ford of the 1960s was the GT40, developed specifically to beat Ferrari in sports-car racing.

Famously, the Ford GT40 won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1966 and 1967 with a 7-liter FE V8 engine.

Following the introduction of a capacity limit, it did so again in 1968 and 1969, powered on these occasions by a 4.9-liter Windsor.

Already familiar to classic car and motorsport enthusiasts, the story became more widely known after the release of a 2019 movie known in some territories as Ford v Ferrari and in others as Le Mans ’66.

Ford GT

Except that it had a different name, since Ford no longer owned the one it had come up with, the 2004 GT was similar to the GT40 in many ways.

Like the earlier model, it was a low-slung two-seater with a mid-mounted V8 engine, in this case a supercharged 5.4-liter Modular.

A large part of its appeal was that it also looked very similar to the ’60s car, whose body design was still very effective after nearly 40 years.

The GT was produced until 2006 and not replaced until a decade after that by a version which, though still recognizably inspired by the GT40, looks far less retro than the first GT did.

7. Ford Mustang (original)

Ford’s application of 1960s styling to 21st-century models encompassed not only the Bronco and the GT, but also the Mustang.

The first version was introduced in 1964, and although that generation is considered to have run for nearly a decade there were several major updates.

One of these took place in the 1969 model year, when the Mustang became larger than it had been before, and now had more hooded headlights.

That look lasted for only two years, but it was to become very significant.

Ford Mustang (new)

The design of the fifth-generation Mustang, introduced for the 2005 model year, has been described as ‘retro-futurism’.

Unmistakably, it was influenced by the 1969 update of the original car, making this the first Mustang with a visual reference to any that had gone before.

Its replacement, which came along a decade later, was similar in overall shape, but its sharp-edged detailing, and especially the complex shape of its headlights, made this version far more difficult to describe as ‘retro’-anything.

8. Honda Civic

Honda Civic is one of the world’s longest-running nameplates, having been introduced way back in 1972 and used ever since.

The first Civic was also arguably Honda’s first big success, suitable for a far wider range of customers than the tiny S sports cars and N passenger models, and more appealing than the air-cooled 1300 it replaced.

It looked a little like the contemporary N360, but its lower, and slightly cowled, headlights, among other details, made it appear more grown-up and less astonished.

The next Civic resembled this one to some extent, but after that was replaced by the more angular third, Honda would not return to its 1972 design language for a very long time.

Honda e

Honda has not explicitly compared the design of the e with that of the earliest Civic, but it’s difficult to believe that the older car didn’t influence the all-electric version produced from 2020 to 2024.

It’s as if someone looked at a picture of the Civic and thought, “Yes, we can use this again, if we modernize it, make every design element flow into the one next to it and keep the round headlights.”

This could also have been said of the e’s predecessor, the Honda Urban EV Concept revealed in 2019, but in the case of the e itself the resemblance was considerably stronger.

9. Land-Rover Defender (original)

For convenience, we’re using Defender as an overall term for the very long series of off-roaders manufactured from 1948 to 2016, though in fact the name was not used before 1990.

Like the Fiat 500 and the Volkswagen Beetle, among many others, this was an example of a vehicle which became what might be described as a cultural icon, even though it had been designed purely as a functional object.

Its flat sides and cuboid shape existed simply because nothing more complex was necessary, though long before production ended they had become part of the Defender’s charm.

Land Rover Defender (new)

Public enthusiasm for the Defender was such that a replacement was almost inevitable, and sure enough the new model was on sale within four years of the old one being discontinued.

In its design details, it looked exactly like what it was – a completely new vehicle, and very much a 21st- rather than a 20th-century Land Rover.

It even appeared that some attention had been paid, for the first time in seven decades, to aerodynamic efficiency.

Nevertheless, Land Rover was careful to give the latest Defender a retro look, without which it would no doubt have been far less appealing to potential customers.

The overall shape was still resolutely foursquare, as if to reassure Defender enthusiasts that the spirit of the original had not been abandoned.

10. Mercedes-Benz 300SL

The first Mercedes was built back in 1900, and of all the models produced in the century and a quarter since then, the 300SL still stands out as one of the most desirable.

Developed from an early 1950s sports racer at the suggestion of US importer Max Hoffman, it was manufactured from 1954 to 1957 as a coupe (with fabulously exciting gullwing doors) and from 1957 to 1963 as a roadster.

The roadster is held in very high esteem, but the Gullwing coupe was the one with all the shock value, and is perhaps the version which first comes to mind when the 300SL is mentioned.

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

Introduced in 2010, the SLS AMG was the immediate successor to the SLR McLaren as the highest-performance Mercedes-Benz.

There was nothing retro about the SLR McLaren, but the SLS AMG was at least partly a nod to Mercedes’ heritage, specifically because it had the same type of doors as the 300SL Gullwing.

This might seem a tenuous link, but it was in fact emphasized by Mercedes, which described the SLS AMG in a pre-launch press release as ‘the new Gullwing’.

There was also a technical connection – both cars had spaceframe structures, though the 300SL’s was made of steel, while that of the SLS AMG was made of aluminum.

11. Mini (original)

In comparison with the Land-Rover Defender (or simply ‘Land-Rover’ as it was originally), the Mini was a flash in the pan, but by motoring-industry standards in general it had an exceptionally long life, remaining in production from 1959 to 2000 with steady rather than radical development.

It was outstanding when it first appeared, and during the 1960s was hailed for being a style icon, a fabulously successful competition car and simple, economical family transport all at the same time.

It had become seriously old-fashioned by the end of the 1970s, but people still wanted it, so the company responsible (whose name and structure changed every few years) kept building it.

Mini (new)

Although some people are still very angry about this, the fact remains that the original Mini was replaced in 2001 by a completely new version developed by Rover, but marketed by BMW, which had taken over the brand.

No vestige of the 1959 car remained, but given the continuing worldwide affection for it, the 21st-century model was made to resemble its aged relative fairly closely.

The enormous difference in size between the two cars was immediately noted, and led to humorous suggestions that the new one should have been called Maxi instead, though the potential marketing benefit of doing that is open to question.

There is still a visual connection today, though BMW has been criticized (as Fiat has in the context of the modern 500) for using the same styling on still larger models such as the Clubman and Countryman.

12. Renault 4

If the 4 hadn’t been introduced in 1961, Renault might not exist today.

The company was in serious trouble because the previously high export sales of the Dauphine suddenly collapsed, resulting in a major loss of revenue.

Fortunately, the 4 – only Renault’s second four-wheel-drive model after the Estafette van, and its first passenger car with that layout – was a huge success, despite, or perhaps because of, the fact that it was very simple and very cheap.

Like other utilitarian models in this list, it touched the hearts of millions, and remained in production well into the 1990s.

Renault 4Ever Trophy

The Renault 4Ever Trophy is a concept car which previews a production model due to be launched in 2025.

Other than the fact that both are the work of Renault, there is no connection between this car and the 4, since the 4Ever Trophy is an electric vehicle of a type and capability which would have been beyond imagining back in 1961.

It is, however, festooned with references to its distant ancestor, including the reverse slant of the B pillar, the modern interpretation of the rear light clusters and the fact that it appears at first glance to have round headlights, even though it actually doesn’t.

13. Renault 5 (original)

The first Renault which could reasonably be described nowadays as a supermini was launched in 1972.

The 5 was far more modern than the other small cars the company was marketing at the time, and was an immediate hit, not least because it looked so charming, as if it had a permanent smile on its face.

The next 5, introduced in 1984, was almost entirely new, but Renault ensured its appeal by making it look very similar, essentially applying retro styling which recalled an immediately preceding model.

Another successor appeared in the 1990s, but by that time Renault had started giving its cars names rather than numbers, so it was known as Clio rather than 5.

Renault 5 (new)

There are still Clios today, but Renault is about to bring back the old 5 name.

Closely related to the production version of the 4Ever Trophy, it’s another electric car, but aimed more at city than at rural buyers.

While the headlights make it look far more aggressive than the earlier R5s, there are more convincing echoes elsewhere, particularly in the vertical stacking of the rear lights.

14. Suzuki Jimny (original)

Known in its earliest years as the SJ (1981 SJ30 pictured), the Jimny series started off in 1970 with a reworking of the tiny HopeStar ON360 off-roader.

Many design changes followed, but the general appearance remained more or less the same up to the end of the 20th century.

Suzuki revised this policy in no uncertain manner in 1998, when it introduced a new Jimny.

In this, the headlights appeared very modern in their not-quite-square housings, and there was occasional daring use of diagonals where once there had been only horizontals and verticals.

Suzuki Jimny (new)

Today’s Suzuki Jimny arrived on the market in 2018.

The radical change of two decades before had been completely reversed, making this the first deliberately retro-styled vehicle in the model’s more than half-century-long history.

Diagonals were now almost completely absent, and Suzuki had reverted to the traditional round headlights.

Despite all that, the new Jimny was a thoroughly modern vehicle, though it still had a ladderframe chassis with a separate body, like all the others.

15. Volkswagen Beetle (original)

The Volkswagen best known as the Beetle, Bug or, in German, Käfer was officially named Type 1, and was related to the much less common Karmann Ghia and the Type 181, or Thing.

Production began in 1938 but was soon halted due to the outbreak of the Second World War, and resumed only with the help of the British Army in a project led by Ivan Hirst.

After this faltering start, the Beetle would go on to become the best-selling car in the world, exceeding the Ford Model T, and was still being built in Mexico as late as 2003.

Although it’s certainly possible for an observant onlooker to date a VW Beetle to within a decade or so, that last Mexican example was still very recognizably part of the same line as those manufactured in the late 1930s.

Volkswagen Beetle (new and newer)

Volkswagen used the Type 1 as inspiration for the styling of not one but two retro models.

The New Beetle (high-performance RSI pictured), launched in 1997 but previewed by the considerably earlier Concept One, shared a platform with the Golf and several other VW Group cars of the period, and therefore had its engine and gearbox at the front when those of the classic model had been at the rear.

This also applied to a third version known simply as the Beetle, which technically replaced the New Beetle in 2012, even though that car remained in production for much longer outside Europe.

With the final model, VW took the retro idea still further, giving some examples deliberately old-fashioned color schemes.

16. Volkswagen Type 2

Type 2 can refer to any one of a great many Volkswagen commercial or multi-passenger vehicles known individually as Transporter, Kombi, Bus, Microbus, Camper or Bulli.

Development of the shape has been gradual, the most obvious changes being the use of sharper edges for the third generation and a more pronounced nose for the fourth, caused by the previously rear-mounted engine being moved to the front.

Large round headlights were a feature of the first two generations, though they later became smaller and were eventually replaced by ones which were not round at all.

Volkswagen ID. Buzz

The Volkswagen ID. Buzz is a fully electric vehicle introduced in 2022.

Although the shape of its headlights is completely different to anything seen on VW’s Type 2, the form of the body is clearly influenced by those earlier models.

It has been said that the ID. Buzz refers particularly to the first-generation Type 2, but it’s not immediately obvious that this was the primary source.

The relatively flat front (made possible because there is no engine ahead of the passenger compartment) gives it a clear design relationship to any of the first three generations, but less so to any Type 2 built after 1990.