Long-dead classic cars seem poised for comeback
The Ford Bronco. The Chevrolet Trailblazer. The Toyota Supra. The Land Rover Defender.
Those vehicles are among the many long-gone models that automakers have recently revived, breathing new life into nameplates that died decades ago.
With the enormous buzz surrounding the release of the Bronco and, now, the newly revealed and revived Jeep Wagoneer SUV, automakers are expected to continue looking into their past to determine their future.
What else could come back? How about the Cadillac Eldorado? The Chevrolet El Camino? The Dodge Dakota?
Because it’s much easier to attract car buyers to a vehicle that already has name recognition, the temptation to bring the dead back to life is palpable.
What’s tougher to figure out is which dormant nameplate to revive, and when to do it.
“It comes down to how long it’s been gone, whether it was allowed to fade off into the sunset or what was really happening when they stopped,” said Stephanie Brinley, principal automotive analyst for research firm IHS Markit.
It doesn’t always work. Ford revived the Lincoln Continental to critical acclaim in 2017. But the large car never clicked with buyers, mostly because big sedans have fallen out of favor as SUVs surge in popularity.
General Motors is going beyond bringing back old nameplates by reviving an entirely defunct brand as a new lineup of vehicles. The company is resurrecting Hummer, once known for its gas-guzzling ways, as an electric pickup and SUV under the GMC brand.
Could other automakers revive longgone brands, too?
Here’s a list of vehicle names that seem like the best fit to make a grand comeback:
Cadillac Eldorado
Rumors have circulated for years that GM was considering reviving this luxury car name, which was originally a stately two-door ride but was discontinued about two decades ago.
“Eldorado could be interesting in some ways, but it would have to speak to what people remember from the last Eldorado,” Brinley said.
Asked by USA TODAY in 2019 whether Cadillac would resurrect any of the brand’s historical names, such as the Eldorado or the Fleetwood, then-Cadillac President Steve Carlisle smiled and said he was “very open-minded” about it.
Barracuda
This two-door muscle car, gone since the 1970s, was originally a Plymouth brand pony car. Plymouth is long gone, but the company that controls the brand, Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, could choose to revive the Barracuda under a different brand.
How about, say, the Dodge Barracuda or Dodge Cuda?
“To me, that’s an obvious big one that’s been sitting around there for a while, and there’s been rumors that it’s going to come back,” said Karl Brauer, an analyst with car-buying site iSeeCars. “There’s a lot of enthusiast energy around the term Barracuda.”
Chevrolet El Camino
This combination pickup-car made mostly in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s has one of the cooler names you can imagine on a vehicle. For that reason alone, you can imagine it coming back.
But is its extended-bed body style necessary in an era defined by larger pickups with more utility?
“The idea of bringing El Camino back has never really gone away,” Brinley said. “We’ve been talking about that one, off and on, for 10 to 15 years..”
Dodge Dakota
Stellantis owns the Dodge and Ram brands, as well as Jeep. Ram has the 1500 full-size pickup, and Jeep has the mid-size Gladiator pickup.
But Dodge doesn’t have one. Could the word’s Native American origins prove problematic at a time when Jeep is under scrutiny for using the Cherokee name?
“I think they’re struggling with whether or not they’re going to do the midsize (pickup) and whether or not to use the name,” Brinley said.