Our Readers Want These Dead Car Brands To Make A Comeback

There are a lot of different car brands out there, more than there have been in decades — or probably ever, taking the global market into account. Though crossovers have proliferated across the world, and some body styles are becoming a lot more rare than they used to be, there’s still a lot of variety on the market. As enthusiasts, though, we’re always wanting more, and always missing what we don’t have anymore. That’s what led me to my question from earlier this week: Which dead car brand should make a comeback?

In my question, I said that I want to see a revival of Tatra. The Czech automaker’s history of beautiful and innovative rear-engine streamliners is ripe for a retro-futurist treatment, and I’m glad some of you agreed. But there were a lot of great ideas in the comments, ranging from brands that died recently to ones that were gone before I was even born. (That’s only 33 years ago, so there are a lot of brands I never lived alongside.) I’ve rounded up my favorite answers for your reading pleasure.

Pontiac. The perfect brand to bring back the RWD sedan to the domestic market

Came here to say this. Pontiac as the GM performance brand. We build excitement!

Agreed. No SUVs, no Crossovers. Just performance sedans & Trans Ams.

Pontiac, for a new Fiero. Gen 2 was ready for production when canceled by GM. Make it light with one of the general’s turbo 4s with a manual option, and mid engined. Some of the Pontiacs were handsome cars, it would be nice to bring them back, but that won’t ever happen.

GM needs to learn the lessons of too many divisions – not every vehicle they build will need a Pontiac-branded equivalent. Pontiac gets to be part of the Buick GMC dealer network. There’s a Firebird based on whatever becomes the new Camaro, a Grand Prix or Bonneville based on if there’s a RWD sedan spun off that same platform (and maybe if they do this, no Chevy version). Nothing else. No plans for anything else. If it turns out to be a hit, no ramping up to build a zillion of them and then having to backtrack once the big initial rush is over. No quick rebadge of an Equinox or Colorado to take advantage. And, like Scourge of Richland says, a Fiero too. Done correctly and without wildly optimistic sales projections.

Pontiac! Bring back excitement! Resurrect the G8-ST concept as the first product. Offer it with a 3.6 V6 and a manual transmission to start, then go all the way up to the 6.2L V8 for those who wanted the extra hp and torque. I’d be at the stealership with cash in hand for a manual-transmission 2-door truck like one of those.

Pontiac. Not a General Motors fan for some time but they definitely made to coolest cars of the brand. Just please don’t overload everything with plastic cladding. Everyone needs a little T/A in their life.

Pontiac. Dodge went rogue and lost the charm. We need the real american sports brand. Use all GM platforms like CT4/5, Vette, some EV to make cheap performance version. Delete all that fancy features from Caddy and Vette. Make bone stock basic only performance focused cars.

Pontiac as a “retro” brand. Same 1964-1972 bodies. All new stuff and mandated safety features. Make pontiac- specific engines because another LS platform would be boring and sound like a new Camaro.

Pontiac and only making niche muscle cars. Get some designers that want to make retro looking Firebirds (Trans Am’s), Tempest’s (GTO’s), Grand Prix’s, and two door Bonneville’s. A Fiero with a turbocharged V6 would sell like crazy, I believe. That would be awesome.

Pontiac as an enthusiast brand! NO minivans. NO SUV’s. NO interference from the bean counters. This would be like GM’s version of NISMO or AMG. My idea lineup: Solstice, Firebird/Firehawk (if Trans Am is not available anymore), GTO, G8 (now called the Tempest)

Submitted by: JaredOfLondon, Chad Steiner, Mr Pike, Scoure of Richland, DungBeetle62, Anonymous Person, Bruno, J12 J34, BananaHammock, Sean Dos Santos, ArchAngel Smith

I’m not at all surprised that this was the most popular answer — I didn’t even include all of them!

Bring back Saab by resuming production of the Saab 96… as a restomod, with modern power, brakes, interior, wheels & tires. The 96 weighed 2000 lbs. full of fluids. They can replace its nostalgic but heavy 65 horsepower V4, the weak transaxle, and the fuel tank with a 120-hp electric motor (on each axle?) and batteries without adding much to the total weight. It has one of the strongest passenger compartments ever built, so it should be relatively easy to meet safety standards.

Saab needs another go as they always had something innovative and safe to offer.

SAAB but please keep Mary Barra and GM away. Maybe Geely needs another Swedish brand.

Saab! The answer is always going to be Saab.

Submitted by: Tom Seaview, George Z, Sugar Shack, Saabster

This was almost my original example, and another unsurprisingly popular answer.

Tucker … A truly innovative car for its time.

Submitted by: IB007

I’d love this.

Bring back Saturn and make it a dedicated EV division of GM.

Submitted by: Paul Moscarella

It really is a shame that Saturn died before this could happen. You could say it would be the industry’s… Saturn return.

Packard. I think America needs a true luxury car maker. I’m not talking your Tahoe with nicer plastic. Something more like a Rolls Royce competitor and maybe even a hypercar to compete with Pagani and Koenigsegg.

Submitted by: RC350F

A Packard supercar? Now we’re talking.

Triumph! Give me a British built inline-6 roadster with a 4 speed.

Ages ago just after BMW did the Z3 they wondered out loud about doing a Z2 at a lower price point. Never happened. What should’ve happened is they should’ve badged it as a Triumph or Sunbeam or MG or some other disused Brit brand (heck, they might already have rights to one) and sold them at the Mini dealer to give them something that wasn’t yet another rearrangement of a Cooper.

Submitted by: BNonymous, DungBeetle62

This could be pretty cool.

I say this just because of my family’s ties to them in South Bend, Studebaker. When he got home after the war, my grandfather went right to work at Studebaker as an engineer. He mainly designed braking systems, which came in helpful when Studebaker closed as he went to Bendix a few miles away. Of the American car companies at that time, Studebaker was considered some of the most advanced and stylish cars, until that sad day in 1963 when manufacturing in South Bend took a major hit. They were never the largest car company, they had a fraction of the money that Ford, GM, and Chrysler had, but they had that scrappy, punch way above your weight class attitude that is needed in the auto industry. It’s what Tesla could have been if they didn’t have a borderline nutcase leading the show who has destroyed the Tesla name for a large number of potential buyers.

Submitted by: Xavier96

I bet modern Studebaker designs would be amazing, as long as they don’t do a retro Avanti.

Bring back the oldest American brand killed by GM… Oldsmobile. We need a new Vista Cruiser, a new 442, a new 98 luxury sedan!

Yes. Obvious bias aside, make a good middle class Oldsmobile. Something comfortable, reliable, and available with options. Not option packages, options lists. You want power locks and manual windows? Sure. Dual exhaust on your V6? No problem. A 6 speed manual sedan? Can do.

Submitted by: Old_SLAAB_Guy, Drg84

This one I’m not so sure about.

Scion. I think the time is ripe for cheap economy cars that focus on fun. Even as a sub-brand of Toyota, it could be their test bed for their global offerings without having to build up a whole dealer network again.

Submitted by: MrMcGeeIn3D

It’s really a shame that Toyota killed Scion before it could do anything really fun.

Checker. We need another iconic taxicab.

Submitted by: Giantsgiants

Yes, please, especially if the wild eight-door ones come back too.

Since crossovers are the dominant vehicles sold today, I propose that the AMC Eagle line makes a comeback.

AMC should make a comeback. Famously reliable engines and a knack for innovation while keeping costs low is exactly the kind of company we need. Also they made some fun cars even if they went unappreciated in their time. Spirit AMX and Eagle 4×4 I’m lookin at you.

Submitted by: Radar Lover Gone, Emoroffle

I’ve been wanting a reborn Eagle for so long.

Mercury should come back.

Hear me out…

Ford has been releasing more and more luxurious vehicles under their own name since discontinuing Mercury. At this point everything other than the “XL” work trucks is fairly luxurious.

Instead of being premium Fords, bring back Mercury as a budget line.

Make a lineup of affordable cars, with actual buttons and switches, fewer options, and no subscriptions. Have an old fart model with the Grand Marquis name, a cutesy model with the Cougar name marketed towards women in their 30s-50s, a sporty model with the Capri name, a Maverick twin with the name Monarch or Comet, and a compact SUV to revive either Mariner or Mountaineer (Mariner if going FWD, Mountaineer if it’s going to share the AWD system of the Bronco Sport).

Submitted by: MustangIIMatt

Mercury would be more interesting than Ford, I think.

I would love Auburn, Cord, and/or Duesenburg. I fear what we will get is Trump Motors, which will be a Cybertruck, repowered to run on coal fired steam and featuring red, white, blue and gold graphics, and a giant fake machine gun. It will be priced $1,776,457 and feature a “signature” of the current president that is 3 feet tall on each side.

Duesenberg, Bizzarini, Jensen, Packard, Cord

DeSoto. Honor the legacy Stellanis!

Submitted by: hoser68, BenNope, Omaz