Retro vs Neo-Classic

By now, we all should know the term “retro”, described as a modern car that is designed to emulate the body style of a much older car, but with the emphasis being on emulating, i.e. the car still has to look modern, the 2008 Dodge Challenger immediately comes to mind. But back in the 80s, a different term was used for a similar type of car.

Neo-classics are modern cars that are designed to fully embody a much older car from the golden age of yesteryear, specially ones from the 30s or 40s. Unlike retro cars that are designed to look stylistically reminiscent of an older vehicle, neo-classics are designed to look like they actually came straight out of that time-period.

The Zimmer Golden Spirit (top left) looks like it came out of the 1930s, but it was actually produced in 2002, same can be said for the Mitsuoka Le Seyde (top middle) which was based off the Zimmer. Even the original manufacturers are experimenting with the style, as the Morgan 3-wheeler was meant to look just like the original Morgan 3-wheelers of the 20s. Although the Shelby Cobra falls in a different class as a “kit car”, some of them can be considered as neo-classics due to the fact that the body’s design hasn’t changed at all since it was originally produced in the 60s, meaning a modern-day Cobra still looks like it’s from the 60s.

Some neo-classics are even becoming movie stars in their own right. A modified Panther De Ville (bottom middle) was recruited as the main car of the Disney villainess Cruella de Vil for the 1996 live-action remake of the animated film One Hundred and One Dalmatians. In the original film (released in 1961), Cruella drives a 1930s-esque Rolls-Royce, as the animated car wasn’t based on any specific real one. But when the producers of the live-action remake went looking for a classic 1930s Rolls-Royce, they came up short due to the fact that those cars are extremely rare today, as well as extremely valuable. The producers then stumbled upon Panther Westwinds, who specialized in producing neo-classic cars since the 70s. The Panther De Ville might not be a carbon-copy of the original animated car, but it was the closest thing to a real car they could find, plus when they realized the car itself shared it’s name with the iconic villainess, they knew they had to have it. Two Panther De Villes where modified for the film, the original car was a 4-door sedan, but the producers required it to be a 2-door coupe, as it was in the animated film.

The Eagle Speedster is considered to be a rebirth of the Jaguar E-Type, every single part is brand new, but the body is nearly identical to the E-Type from the 60s. It has some modern-touches, but mostly it’s all old-school.