Journalists and enthusiasts sometimes complain about cars that have been in production forever. The Nissan GT-R and the Dodge Challenger are great examples, as are work vans like the Chevrolet Express and the Ford E-Series. I’ll remind you that the Express has been in production since 1996 and is still in its first generation. But, maybe that’s not so bad?
Tesla and BYD have mastered the art of making money from EVs when it seems so many others struggle. We won’t even talk about electric motorcycle manufacturers, who have seemingly mastered the art of burning money. But, why? Why does Tesla swim while the others sink? V10omous has an interesting theory:
As EVs, I think they get a pass despite being “old”. The Dodge Charger is “ancient” because it is a big RWD sedan with a V-8. Might as well be from 1968 (which was half the point when they rolled it out).
The Model S is still fairly futuristic to most people despite being a decade old car.
Something to note about this is that while Tesla uses the same bodies forever, the interiors and the technology evolve around them. It’s a similar deal for that Chevy Express I mentioned earlier. GM has given that van upgrades over the years.
This morning, Matt wrote about how trouble is brewing at Nissan, and then he asked about your favorite model. I’m right with My Goat Ate My Homework here, it’s definitely the CrossCabriolet:
The Murano CrossCabriolet. I just saw another one on the road this weekend and it’s just remarkable… in a “they made what?!” kind of way.
David is getting married soon, which means in typical David fashion he’s going to try to get a dilapidated Jeep running again. Look, David didn’t mention this, but I saw that Willys CJ-3B a few days ago and it smells like gear oil and it looks like it hasn’t run since the Clinton administration. It’s also been sitting outside for who knows how long. Either way, Fire Ball is on point here:
We all knew this post was coming.
Finally, Rivers pointed out a 1.66-acre property for sale in Tygh Valley, Oregon. Sadly, it doesn’t come with the 87 Merkurs owned by the Rapido Group, but it is willing to sell you some cars. Canopysaurus had a perfect response:
I’m getting old and looking for a place to settle down and eventually pass on, but I’m not ready to meet my Merkur just yet.
Well, that’s where all of those Merkurs went! Have a great evening, everyone!
It worked for VW. Then they dumped water on it and it all went to …
Of course writers don’t want to write about cars that don’t change very much because there’s not much to write about.
Maybe if car reviewers would get excited about things like improved metallurgy or oh gosh, the suspension got the way of the oil filter, but we fixed that this year instead of talking about fucking infotainment screens the world would be a better place.
What’s the headline that would make me seriously interested in a new car?
“Fewer crappy features that you’ll never use and will break anyway! Easier to repair! Built with the same old cheap parts we’ve been using for 20 years.! We hate our dealers as much as you do so we’ll sell the shop manual at a reasonable price! “ There is probably a more delicate way to put that last item that you get the idea.
Frankly I don’t want a car that changed too much.
Volvos before Ford turned them into deluxe Mazdas were paragons of deliberate and incremental improvement.
You can get the Express in bright red, with an L8T (400 hp, 400 ft-lbs!), with an 8-speed auto!
Get me an extended-body, high-roof, snazzy interior conversion one of those and that’s roughly a third of my dream garage.
Yeah it always annoyed me when journos complain about a car just because it’s “old”. An old design is not inherently a bad thing and platform longevity is usually great for enthusiasts, owner knowledge , and the aftermarket. If a car is old and bad (Dodge Journey for example was terrible when new…) then call it bad, if it’s old and good call it good, but there no need to make it “all new” just for the sake of it, especially since half the time the all new models are just a tweaked body on the same engineering platform anyway. A lot of great cars have been replaced by much worse ones for no good reason when they had plenty of life still in them.
Lots of cars make incremental updates that add up. The Charger/Challenger being one. They looked the same and had the same shape but there were a lot of updates that added.
It’s also interesting how Dodge got beat with their cars being old, but Toyota got a pass because when they did it, it was sticking with what is reliable.
If we want cheaper cars then we have to be comfortable with platforms sticking around longer with incremental updates because retooling for a whole new model is extremely expensive.
I guess Dodge woilda gotten a pass if they were reliable…
Look at Toyota and Honda now, they changed it up and got themselves a flood of recall notices and a tarnished reputation with their newest models.
Ya but being old doesn’t even make them any cheaper lol look at 4runners, Wranglers, etc. As others have said, at least the Toyota was reliable and old.