These are the cars TG readers most want to see revived in the future

The car world is going through a huge change right now, which partly explains why so many want to see familiar names make a return. Be it a Seventies British roadster, an Eighties German saloon or a Nineties Japanese underdog, we asked you lot about this in our latest QOTW round. And, as usual, the comments section delivered.

Let’s start with a quartet of Japanese choices, beginning with Loty’s vote: “The S2000, that little thing is sublime and we need another small, rear-wheel drive Honda. Any powertrain will make me happy, whether it throws in a K20A four-cylinder or the new Prelude’s hybrid powertrain.”

Up next is TBP’s suggestion of a car we very much appreciate: “I would like to see Nissan revive the Stagea. Take the GT-R and turn it into a monster of an estate, just like it did with Skylines of old.”

Japan’s third nominee comes from Pikkle: “A car that’s begging to be resurrected is the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. Think about it; the Evo’s roots lie in tech-laden, all-wheel drive, four-cylinder turbo saloons. Bar the latter, this layout is plentiful. Pair that with some nostalgic styling, an optional manual gearbox and a sub-£50k starting price and we may finally have the car the entire community has been longing for.”

Drawing this section to a close is Taysir, with a car that Toyota has strongly suggested is on the way: “I would like to see a new Toyota MR2. Maybe it could be a rebadged Lotus Emira with the supercharged Toyota V6 and an option of a manual transmission.”

Time to free-fall through Europe now, and where better to start than in Italy? Peter Mann’s got the right idea: “The Lancia Beta Montecarlo spider. Properly made with minimal panel gaps, decent reliability and parts which don't wear out as quickly as on the original. Oh, and brilliant braking (unlike the original), superior rustproofing (unlike the original) and powered by a sensibly poky combustion engine mated to a six-speed manual.”

Let’s stick to God’s racetrack for a bit longer with Unicyclist: “I’d like to see the (proper) Alfa Spider return. Smallish, lightish, rear-wheel drive only, manual. Relatively advanced for its era, but only in service of performance and handling. Slightly too expensive for what it is, because of development costs, and beautiful. A car for people who understand. Maybe another candidate for that TFG?”

You’re spot on about that TFG candidacy shout, friend. Let’s head further west to… Britain. The Sin Eater (how about that for a username?) says: “I would very much like to see the previous generation of Land Rover Defender again. I know, I know, it will steal some customers for the current one, but still... off-road enthusiasts will agree with me. A proper off-roader with a ladder frame, that’s decent on the road, and, most importantly, not considered too posh for mud, rocks, branches and all.”

How about a slightly more left-field option? Vonblade’s got the right idea: “The Rover SD1. A four-seater take on the Ferrari Daytona (if you squint really hard), but primarily the car that ensured a constant supply of 3.5-litre V8 engines for every single built-in-a-shed-car of the next 30 years.”

Britain’s made some pretty fast cars over the years, so maybe one of those is the way to go. El Fungote agrees: “How about the Jaguar XJ220? I know the reflex reaction is to add the V12 it should have always had, but I have another idea: pull an NSX and do a V6 hybrid. Bonus points for something F1-like.”

And on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, here’s Andrew Robinson’s suggestion: “Aston Martin Cygnet. OK, the original was an unmitigated disaster (with the one-off V8 being the exception that proves the rule), but I think the time might be right for the tiny luxury car's return.

“Think about it: EVs have tear-your-face-off acceleration but are blighted by penny-pinching haptics, and Aston is finally making a car with a truly premium interior. Put those two facts together and what do you get? A high-end badge city car with all the performance you can eat, a luxurious interior and the unique ability to actually fit into city centre parking places. A recipe for success if you ask me.”

Smart thinking, that. And even more intellect has been wired across to us by Sunny Worthing: “Smart Roadster with a fizzy turbo three-pot, please. Or, if they can remember that less is more, an electric powertrain - but with just enough battery for 175 miles and just enough power to make the rear wheels liven up a damp Tuesday commute.”

Right, we’ll drop the imaginary geography lines now and just get on with the final three, which do make sense. Alex Last says: “I’d like to see the Ford Falcon return, but as a high-performance (preferably Mustang-based) sports saloon to rival the likes of the BMW M5 and the Mercedes-AMG E63. I’d also like XR8 and GT versions, the latter with at least 600bhp from a supercharged V8, with the option of a turbo six-cylinder with twin-turbo EcoBoost technology.”

And here’s another logical vote from James, who gets minus one point for the Team Rocket Pokémon picture. Anyway, they said: “How about the Hyundai Tiburon? I always thought the first gen from the '90s looked smart. Now that Hyundai's no longer the butt of everyone's joke, maybe it can pull a sporty coupe off even better than before. It's not like it doesn't have form on this one, just look at the Genesis coupe from the 2010s.”

We’ll end off this week’s result post with Peterson’s comment, which, as much as we’d like to disagree, is a harsh but fair one: “I would rather not. Given the current track record of brands bringing out dead cars and giving them SUV shapes, let's keep history history. Don't revive what's been killed.”