You know what’s an endlessly amusing category of car that’s somehow, improbably, still around? Neoclassic cars. I think the term originated with Virgil Exner’s attempts to revive the Stutz and Duesenberg marques in the 1960s, and then popularized with the Excalibur soon afterwards. Neoclassical cars are, essentially, modern cars (well, modern for whatever era they were built) but re-bodied to look like dramatic cars from the 1920s and 1930s. Generally, they tend to go for long and low and big, swooping fenders and side pipes and lots of chrome and jewelry and are wildly showy things. Generally, if you’re the sort of person who is willing to wear a gold chain that would be substantial enough to secure a schooner to the dock, then maybe a neoclassic car is for you.
The thing about most neoclassic cars is that they tend to be built by small, low-volume carmakers who don’t have the ability to produce entirely new bodies. As a result, most neoclassic cars, as transformed as they are, still maintain some hints of what their original donor cars were. It’s kind of fun to see if you can spot these details, which is what this little quiz is all about!
I have 14 neoclassic cars listed below: see if you can tell, just by looking, no Googling now, what the original donor cars were! Stick your answers in the comments, and then, only after that, you can click the answers link below.
Oh, and don’t be fooled by the VW Beetle turn inidicators; a surprising number of these cars use them, yet only one is based on a VW Beetle body (and not the drivetrain; how did they buy new just-bodies from VW?). This’ll be fun, I promise! Off you go!
Some were easy, some were pretty tricky, right? Okay, put your guesses in the comments, then come back here and see how you did! There’s no prize, just like so much of life, but I’ll respect that you did it.
(thanks to The Bishop for a crapload of research and image hunting!)
The Mitsuoka answer photo is incorrect. It was based on the S13 chassis, not the S14 chassis shown in the photo.
No, he’s correct. The earliest Le-Seydes were S13 Silvia based but the later ones (including the one in the photo) is S15 Silvia based.
Huh, fair enough. I had no idea they made them on multiple chassis! I stand corrected.
Can we also get a shout out for the Impreza Casa Blanca? Its a FACTORY Subaru Neo-Classic.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Subaru_Impreza_Casa_Blanca_001.JPG
The Clenet is mislabeled, the picture shows a Series II, which is VW based. The,Clenet Series I used an MGB body.
Weren’t they based on the MG Midget, not MGB?
You’re right, a second look shows more Spridget than B
Many pulled-from-my-ass guesses…
Eh, 9/14. That’s passing, right? Or do I only get 1/2 credit for Beetle vs. Super Beetle (yeah, I should have caught the curved windshield!)
Got all of them except #3. I recognized the doors as British, though.
Ever since The Grand Tour featured a Mitsuoka LeSeyde in their latest special, whenever a neoclassic car of any type gets posted in a social media group there are now several replies that it must be a LeSeyde. I can’t help but be annoyed that somehow those people missed like 30 years of fairly well-known American neoclassics that existed like Zimmers, Excaliburs, etc. and think this level of tackiness is a recent Japanese invention.
I got 5….not proud but not ashamed. Just happy I knew the Silvia.
If you’re having trouble, here’s a good strategy when you’re trying to recognize any weird rebody:
Look at the doors first.
The doors are often the easiest giveaway, though sometimes it can be the side glass – which is next to the door.
Oy vey, they’re all awful, although an argument could be made that the Panther is actually an improvement on the donor car. In comparison to the rest, it’s almost tasteful.
I am sure I won’t have them all correct but my no research guesses
1 C3 Corvette
2 VW Beetle
3
4 Nissan 240SX (silvia)
5 Opel GT
6 Mercury Cougar
7 Firebird/Camaro
8 Mustang
9
10 Lincoln Town Car
11 Ford Mustang
12 Fiero
13
14 Oldsmobile Cutlass, Buick Regal – 80s
By my generous self-marking that gives me a 10.5/14. Not bad I’d say. (I got 4 half right)
I have a better question, which donor cars did these conversions actually improve?
I don’t know what any of the answers are, I’m just happy to have totally bonkers off-the-wall Torchininsky let loose while DT’s away! We need more of this!
Disappointed by the lack of a Leata Cabalero.
That’s also how I feel about my back yard.
What they have in common is that each was a better car before the sawzall.
1- C3 Corvette
2- VW Bug?
3- BMC Landcrab?
4- Lexus SC?
5- Opel 1900
6- ’83 Mercury Cougar
7- Camaro/Trans Am
8- Ford LTD / Crown Vic
9- Nissan 300 ZX
10- Lincoln Town Car
11- Mustang
12- Olds Toronado/Trofeo
13- Fiat 124 Spider
14- Chevy MonteCarlo
I got 4, 10, 11, and 14 right away. I had to get back to work so that’s the best I was going to do.
P.S. I hate all of these.
Only the doors on the Panther De Ville come from the BMC 1800. The running gear including engine were Jaguar sourced.
Well, if we’re going that route, Clenet only used the doors and cowl of the Super Beetle, with a custom chassis and GM drivetrain
1) C3 Corvette
2) VW Beetle
3) Volvo 240
4) 4th Gen Prelude
5) Is an abomination Porsche 911
6) 83-86 Mercury Cougar
7) 3rd Gen Camaro
8) 5th Gen Thunderbird
9) 1st Gen 300ZX
10) Maybe a Buick Park Avenue
11) 5th Gen Mustang
12) I’ve seen this one before but it’s heavily modified so I can’t place it.
13) First Gen FIAT Spider
14) 5th Gen Olds Cutlass
“12) I’ve seen this one before but it’s heavily modified so I can’t place it.”
Fiero
I got 5 of 14, but 2 of those were really easy, the other 2 easy if recognized the side rear windows, and the last one was a lucky/informed guess based off the glass roof panels.
1 C3Vette
2 Beetle
3 No Clue
4 Nissan 180?
5 OMG is that a 911?
6 Cougar
7 Fiero
8 No idea
9 300Z
10 Lincoln Town car
11 Edge Mustang
12 Fiero
13 Fiat 2000?
14 80’s Caddilac
Not that bad, I got 7 right, 3 partly right (I got the company, not the exact model right) 4 wrong or didn’t answer.
I was absolutely with you on #5. I could not IMAGINE who would do that to a 911, though.
I didn’t get any of them right <sad loser face>
BRB I’m going to go pour bleach in my eyes
I am sure my guesses are terrible but here goes. Where is the Stutz Blackhawk, BTW?
C3 CorvetteMustang IIFord GranadaNissan ZPorsche 911 (NOOOO!)Mercury CougarBuick RegalCadillac EldoradoCadillac Eldorado (maybe one will be right)Crown VicMustangT-birdFiat 2000
The sheer number of these abortions makes me wonder. Is there actually a market for these things or are there just random human mutations that make people want to make them?
I said 911 and Fiat 2000 as well, glad we were wrong about the 911, however there are probably way more of them than Opal GTs..
I don’t think I’ve seen the Zimmer Quicksilver before. If you told me this was a rejected design for the Lincoln Mark VIII, I’d believe you.
The Phillips was a Corvette, Clenet used a Super Beetle, Tiffany used a Cougar, Johnson was a Camaro, Zimmer used Mustangs for 2-doors and Town Cars for 4-doors in both incarnations of the company, edit – and a Fiero for the Quicksilver
Auburn? All of them?