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2025 Car Mileage with the Best Gas MileageCritics’ Choice: Bring Back This Car!
Funky utes, sports cars from luxury car companies, and retro designs reimagined. These are the cars we want brought back.
Automotive Second Chances
Usually, the reason a vehicle gets the proverbial axe from a car company is the darn thing doesn’t sell well enough. If a car fails to resonate with the public or hews too closely to something else in the company’s lineup and proves redundant or parasitic, out it goes. The result is (ideally) increased profits for said company. The trouble is a lot of us car nuts love the endearingly oddball, the overly specific, the too-cool-for-school cognoscenti’s choice of vehicle that invariably find their way to the chopping block. To honor the nameplates we miss most, this month’s Critics’ Choice is devoted to the vehicles we’d most like to see companies give a mulligan to and bring back.
Chris Kaiser
2006 Subaru Baja
Short List:
2002 Toyota MR2 Spyder
2012 Toyota FJ Cruiser
1973 BMW 2002
For the vehicle I’d most like to see brought back, I knew it would combine the experiential and the aesthetic. In other words, it needed to be both fun and have a unique look that could be successfully reinterpreted in today’s automotive design language.
I first gravitated toward small sporty cars with loads of character. Two that instantly jumped to mind were the Toyota MR2 Spyder and the BMW 2002. Why the MR2 Spyder? Well, the third generation in particular is a striking car. The little mid-engine two-seat coupe is perfectly proportioned and looks great in factory green with tan interior. Rumor has it Toyota has plans to partner with Suzuki to actually bring back the MR2 (heck yeah!). It’s also rumored that it wouldn’t be released in North America (what the heck?!).
The BMW 2002 might have evolved into the 3-Series and BMW already has the 2-Series coupe, but what the 2002 has that those cars lack is a sense of style. The 2002 is just a charming car. It’s unrepentantly boxy with a jaunty forward rake to its grille and a properly proportioned kidney grille, and that hound’s tooth upholstery is to die for. BMW’s current design department could learn a lot from the classic 2002.
As much as I can’t wait to see the new MR2, even if it doesn’t come to the US, and I’d love to see a new BMW 2002. I wanted something even more unique. Enter the Toyota FJ Cruiser. This rugged and original off roader was gone before its time and has gained a new and committed fanbase in the secondary market. Toyota even revealed a cool new concept version of the FJ Cruiser last year, which rose hopes that they might bring it back. But those hopes were dashed when the company said they were planning to pursue other projects instead.
If the FJ Cruiser was not to be, it at least gave the idea for my eventual pick. I want Subaru to bring back the Baja, their ute aka an Outback with a truck bed. As we’ve recently seen, light pickup trucks have returned to the market and have proven to be a potent force, with Ford unable to meet demand for their popular new Maverick pickup.
I figure my new Baja will have to offer a hybrid powertrain option since the Maverick offers a hybrid version with nearly 40 mpg and Subaru has been distinctly behind the game when it comes to hybrid electrification. Which gives me the further idea that we could do a little partnering with Toyota, with whom Subaru already partners on the BRZ/GR86 and borrow the plug-in hybrid powertrain from the Toyota RAV4 Prime. That would lend our new Baja up to 42 miles of electric-only range and a swift 5.5-second sprint from zero to sixty.
With the powertrain accounted for, let us turn to the Baja’s distinctive characteristic, the bed. Originally just three and a half feet in length, the Baja’s bed could be extended with the tailgate down and the small pass through open to the cabin. A new design would endeavor expand the utility of the bed. This would mean basing the Baja not off the Outback/Forester but off the longer Ascent. This would allow the new Baja to sport a four-and-a-half-foot bed, just like the Maverick.
To top things off on our suggestions to Subaru, we’d like to see the new Baja with a Wilderness edition just like the Outback and Forester have gotten. The original Baja was a funky looking ute. The lift and cladding of the Wilderness Edition series could only serve to amplify what made the Baja compelling in the first place.
The old Baja and the earlier Brat are part of Subaru’s heritage. They’ve proven they can do small quirky utes before. So, why not capitalize on the hot light truck market with a new granola-crunching, plaid-wearing, pet-loving AWD Subie pickup? Bring back the Baja, Subaru!
Jesse McGraw
1987 Buick Grand National
Short List:
2015 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
2006 Honda S2000
2004 Dodge Ram 1500 SRT-10
2023 is shaping up to be the “Last Call” for strictly gasoline powered performance models. I mean Dodge has even gone as far as labelling all their Chargers and Challengers for this year as Last Call editions. It’s a sad change for the automotive industry that a lot of enthusiasts aren’t ready to accept, but the writings on the wall. Considering that unfortunate circumstance, I thought I’d pick a model that needs a “Last Hurrah” since this may be the last time we can ever get the chance to bring a model back with true gas-powered grit and not some hybridized or fully electric reimagining.
My thoughts went back to the 2000’s automotive renaissance when we saw performance cars become a priority for auto manufacturers rather than how many different SUVs they could churn out. Vehicles like the Honda S2000, Mazda RX-7, Dodge Ram 1500 SRT-10, and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution all came to mind. But then I took notice of a car sitting in the background of a Mitsubishi listing I found on Carsforsale.com. A black, unassuming classic that went against the wishes of its parent company to become an American muscle car icon. What I’m suggesting here is a one year (or more if possible) return of the Buick Grand National.
Buick has been dwindling in the automotive market in comparison to other GM brands. There are plans to make it an electric vehicle brand in the coming years, as seen with their Wildcat concept, but who knows if they’ll last long enough to see that come to fruition. The brand has been an afterthought it seems with a lineup of just three SUVs for 2023. So, if Buick is looking at its possible last days, why not bring back its most iconic model?
The question then is, how do we make a modern Buick Grand National? The answer there is pretty much to repeat history and make General Motors upset at them for beating their champion Chevrolet Corvette in terms of performance. To do that we need to take that 670 horsepower naturally aspirated 5.5L V8 out of the C8 Corvette Z06, turbocharge it to bump up those numbers, and drop it into a Camaro chassis. The Camaro already has all the necessary parts available to hook up to that powerplant and has the 1LE performance package to keep this monster of a Buick on the road.
Only thing left to do is update the exterior of that power-packed Camaro body to differentiate itself as a Buick. Start by replacing those front and rear bumpers with something modern that represents Buick while also bringing back some of the looks that the Grand National carried. Quad headlights, that Darth Vader grille, and long taillight assemblies. Speaking of those classic looks, that hood is going to need to be reworked to feature a flatter design with that prominent “power bulge” similar to the original. Plus, forget about coupe or convertible options the Camaro has, bring back the T-top for this limited return. Last but not least, make it black on black inside and out.
With all that we’d have a modern Buick Grand National that’d probably steal eyes away from the Ford Mustang and Dodge’s Last Call models… and maybe away from the Corvette and Camaro too. But Buick deserves to be in the limelight one last time with a model like this. It’s only right that GM gives us enthusiasts this kind of car before they completely resort to plug-in electric lineups.
Jesse Batson
2004 Chrysler PT Cruiser
Short List:
2017 Dodge Viper
2015 Nissan Xtrerra
1969 Pontiac Firebird
Which model would I bring back? That’s tough. There are so many models that were discontinued, for one reason or another, that I wouldn’t mind seeing make a grand return.
The Dodge Viper is definitely on the list. There really hasn’t been a bad design on a Dodge Viper, unlike some competitors such as the Corvette (sorry, but the C8s just don’t live up to the designs of previous generations). Even though Viper production ended just five years ago, it’s too good to lay dormant. If not being able to get curtain airbags into the Viper was an issue, it seems like someone should be able to complete a redesign that is compliant.
Nonetheless, the Viper isn’t my first choice. Neither is the Nissan Xterra (with improved fuel economy), or the Pontiac Firebird (with classic design elements but under better management than before). The car I’d like to see make a return is the PT Cruiser. Okay, okay, some of you may not like that, but hear me out here.
I do have a soft spot for the PT Cruiser. Maybe that’s clouding my judgment, but I loved the design of the vehicle. The throwback styling of the cars of the 1930s caught my attention. Despite giving a nod to the past, the PT Cruiser was also modern enough to belong in the present, too. The retro-styled high-roof look of the PT Cruiser was definitely a win in my book. There were even PT Cruisers with wood side paneling like the Woodies of old.
The unique vehicle was available as two-door or four-door hatchback wagons and convertibles. Being available as a convertible was a nice option, but the roll bar was intrusive and didn’t look particularly cool.
Most PT Cruiser owners noted how comfortable the seat positioning was, how much cargo room they had, and decent gas mileage in its class for the time. Another positive? The PT Cruiser did have several different engine options available. One of them was a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine with 230 horsepower and 245 lb-ft of torque.
Of course, the PT Cruiser also gained a reputation for having mechanical issues. Engine and transmission problems plagued the car. There were reports of the engine shutting off while people were driving PT Cruiser on highways and Interstates at high speeds. Not good.
Problem number one was that the PT Cruiser would break down. Problem number two: the vehicle was expensive to maintain. All of those issues would need to be fixed if any kind of comeback were remotely possible.
The new and improved PT Cruise that I’m proposing has got to be made well. No more faulty spark plugs. It’s also got to match the fuel efficiency of today’s SUVs, probably available as hybrid and fully electric versions, too.
A YouTuber made a digital sketch in 2019 giving the PT Cruiser a modern design while still maintaining some of the favorite features of the divisive car. That’s the key. You can update it (especially when it comes to quality parts), but you’ve got to keep the look.
Volkswagen successfully used nostalgia for the New Beetle. Dodge is using it right now with its 2023 Last Call models. Ford is mixing the old with the new, too, updating the seventh-generation Mustang without eliminating signature elements. If done correctly, I think Stellantis could do it again with the PT Cruiser.
