Which Current Car Model Would You Kill To Resurrect An Old One?

Autopian Asks Sacrifice
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Once again we turn to you, the most learned and dare we say attractive readers of the interwebs, for your answers to a piping-hot question fresh from the collective pizza oven of of our minds. As you know (but here’s a hyperlink if you don’t), GM just killed the Chevy Bolt. Yes, the Bolt arrived with some teething pains, but The General got the affordable EV sorted and it’s been a popular choice for budget-conscious buyers looking to electric power. So obviously, it had to die. Other vehicles that were more deserving of the Bolt’s fate quickly came to mind when we heard the news, which brought us to today’s question:

Which current car model would you sacrifice so a previously-offed car could live again–and which defunct model would you bring back?

We’ll see you in the comments! And now, let’s take a look at trends and choice replies from last week’s Autopian Asks, which asked for your opinions on optimal infotainment screen size and configration:
Autopian Answers Transp

Most of you focused on screen size, and a common refrain was that bigger is not better. About eight inches seemed to be the sweet spot for screen size, and more than a few of you wished for double-DIN standardization. Eggsalad says he’s fine with a mere 20 x 60mm (0.8 x 2.4″) screen. Yours truly remembers when having a digital clock in the dash seemed like futuristic stuff, so I get it.

8 Inch Crew 2

Hugh Crawford (we’re giving you capital letters, Hugh) definitely makes a solid point about the frustrating screen-darkening effect polarized lenses have on infotainment visuals, and we bet a bunch of you are also in the take-off-your-sunglasses-to-see-the-backup-camera-view club. Very annoying. But not as annoying as a too-bright, un-dimmable screen at night, as DDRDAN experienced in a Mercedes C-class. As someone who chooses dark-mode for every app that supports it, I would find a vivid white screen to be intolerable. Thankfully, I’m approximately all of the dollars away from owning a C-class, so it’s all good.

Polarized Too Bright

Now get to commenting, and tell us which meh cars must die so good ones gone to soon may live again!

Images: Exited guy: khosrork/stock.adobe.com; Chevy Bolt: GM; BMW XM: BMW

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147 thoughts on “Which Current Car Model Would You Kill To Resurrect An Old One?”

  3. Not exactly kill, but I can come up with a long list of mainstream car and truck models that should be downsized to what they were 20+ years ago. For instance early 90’s Civic/Accord were the right size for their respective classes.

    As for totally kill (with fire), VW Taos, bring back the Golf to NA.

  4. Kill the Corolla Cross, bring back the Tercel Wagon.
    But on a serious note, I think they are missing out on what the Tercel could be today, a serious Outback competitor.
    Kill off the Lexus LX and bring us the 300 series Land Cruiser.

  5. Kill the Buick Enclave, bring back the Buick Roadmaster and Roadmaster Estate – smoother ride, more comfortable seats, more cargo space, better towing capacity (7,000lbs instead of 5,000), 1 extra seat in the wagon, only 1 less in the sedan, standard V8, and somehow exactly the same fuel economy as the Enclave’s troublesome V6.

    Make Buick Buick again, like when they sold 427,000 vehicles in this country a year instead of barely 103,000.

  7. All of them. I may be an old boomer but nothing i have seen on the dealers lots i drive by excites me except maybe a Miata. But I liked the Fiata better but couldnt find a standard in a good colour.

  8. I would kill any number of (up to and including all) vehicles currently produced by Jaguar, Land Rover, BMW, Acura, Volvo, Honda, Tesla, Nissan, Mini, Buick, Infiniti, or VW if it meant the Dodge Viper could return.

    1. Meh. I thought the Viper was cool when I was like 9. Sure it is still cool, but I’m at the age where I basically don’t care.

      I just want things that work. Comfortable clothes with good pockets. Shoes that look decent and can handle a few years of walking my dog. I’ll take a little style too, but mostly style acquired through standing the test of time. I want Chuck Taylors in vehicle form.

      I’d kill past Vipers to keep the charming little cars like the Honda Fit.
      I’d kill past ‘Vettes for ongoing generations of the Camry wagon or Accord wagon.
      I’d kill all high performance pickups to bring back Caprice wagons.

      I’m tired of dumb toys for rich people. Give me basic shit at decent quality.

        1. Sorry, best they can do is the incredibly heavy Silverado EV.

          (I’m with you, though. The LUV would be great, and the market could definitely support more small pickups.)

          1. I keep getting emails from smythkitcars, which sells kits to convert ordinary cars, such as a New Beetle, into a pickup. I would do it if there were a kit for my V70! More to the point, there would certainly be a market for a new Chevy LUV or 1st generation Hilux today.

    1. I’d kill a half dozen current SUVs to retore Accord wagons. Especially if it was squared-off like the last Accord wagons (in the early 2000s) instead of having steeply sloping sides and rears like current designs.

  14. I’m gonna donsome controversy-

    Kill off the wrangler unlimited.

    Kill off the gladiator.

    Kill off the compass.

    Bring back the jeepster commando to replace the unlimited

    Bring back the comanche & J10 to replace the gladiator

    Bring back the willy wagon to replace the compass.

  15. I was here to say the Fiat 500. I rented one at some point and it’s the most awful pile of shit I’ve ever driven (and I’ve driven a long list of hated cars, including Aveo’s, CVT Altima’s, and Prizm’s). But Fiat already killed it.

    Let’s kill a random Tesla model – I don’t care which, I’m just tired of hearing about them – and replace it with a modern lithium-powered EV1.

      1. The EV1 was a 2-seater correct? Not close to any current Tesla or Hyundai EV. I wouldn’t mind seeing it back though. If it was priced like a Bolt I would strongly consider it.

  17. This is an easy one for me, and it is all David Tracy’s fault. I’d kill off any Tesla to bring back the BMW i3. In fact, a local dealer has a 2014 model on the lot, and I’m about to go look up the BMW Canada battery warranty.

    I mostly just do around town driving, and I love hatchbacks. The i3 is the perfect electric car for my needs.

  19. Bring back the Honda Element and kill the current Honda Passport. The Passport has sucked both times they made it. You can bring Joe Isuzu back if you want.

    1. This is a really good one. The Element always struck as just slightly ahead of its time…I can imagine a refreshed version would do hugely well now.

    2. Element was one of the first models that came to mind reading the prompt for me. Honda was targeting unemployed youths when they came out, so I wasn’t far off from the target demo, I just needed to be driving age too.

    3. A few people really seem to live their Elements. Can somebody tell me exactly what an Element brings to the table that a CRV doesn’t? How many tall Civics do you need?

      1. Well, the CR-V did bring the table too at the time. /s

        While CR-Vs at the time were more practical over comfort focused like they’ve been every subsequent generation, and so they had a pretty flat and low cargo area already, the Element was shorter in length, taller in height, and the floor lower, so it had more of the whole boxy/tall/square cargo area thing going on. That did mean it didn’t have a lot of ground clearance, but did make for a low step in and easy loading (even won some award as a great dog carrier car). Seats could be folded flat into a lumpy bed, or up out of the way in back like a Previa or old Land Cruiser. The floor was an easy clean rubber material (not hose-able like many say). I do remember one gripe about it being the payload capacity wasn’t very great.

        So it was exceedingly practical and utilitarian, and nowadays to get anything like that it seems to come with a whole pseudo-overlanding image.

        1. “I do remember one gripe about it being the payload capacity wasn’t very great.”

          Hey, tell that to the guy I saw outside the contractor entrance at Home Depot about fifteen years ago, who was loading so many cinder blocks into the back of his Element that the rear wheels were going bowlegged. He looked like he had all the capacity he needed.

          (Note: I left before seeing him attempt to drive away, but I’m sure it was fine, just fine.)

    2. I actually like the looks of the Atlas for some reason (the squat-but-wide proportions do well for it I think), but I miss the Scirocco even more. Corrado as second choice.

  22. I’d sacrifice the Trax to bring back the Volt. Chevy has the Trailblazer which is almost the same size, and only about 10% higher in price than the Trax, but much nicer. There’s not much need for both of them.

      1. Thank. I didn’t realize there was a new Trax, but I watched a review on it last night. It does look much so much better. It’s still a bit odd to be that both this, and the Trailblazer exist though. They seem so similar.

    3. It is strange they kept both the old Trax/Encore in the lineup so closely priced to the newer Trailblazer/Encore GX. I would expect with the new Trax out, they might squeeze the Trailblazer up a little bit in price for 2024 – at Buick, the Trax equivalent Envista is priced a couple grand less than the existing Encore GX.

        1. I’m not sure we ever figured out what “GX” really meant for Buick. I guess at it’s at least something that they didn’t name the older one Encore Classic or Sport or Limited or something when they rolled out the GX.

  23. Kill a Ford SUV (I’m looking at you Expedition), replace it with a new Galaxie 500, a big but sleek sedan.

    Make it an EV if you want (great name from one IMO), but come on Ford, could you offer another car besides the Mustang?

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