Retro cars are making a comeback

Nostalgia sells cars, or so it would appear: “A sentimental yearning for a fuzzily remembered past is universal but when it comes to cars, it's especially strong in North America”.

European manufacturers have retro-styled cars such as Volkswagen's New Beetle and the British Mini. Now the US domestic automakers have embraced the trend in their struggle to hold onto their shrinking share of the North American market.

General Motors displayed its Camaro concept at the Vancouver International Auto Show. A show car that evokes the classic 1969 Camaro Z28 along with DaimlerChrysler's Dodge Challenger, an evocation of the 1970 muscle-car icon.

"Baby boomers coming through the market right now grew up with those cars," says Frank Trivieri, general director of marketing at GM Canada. "It just brings back some very, very fond memories for a lot of people." And so the article goes on…..

My great memory of 1970s cars was the way they appeared to rust in front of your eyes. Hopefully this is one of the retro characteristics the manufacturers will drop. Dick Stroud