My Yahoo!Great Automotive Comebacks
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The racy Ford (nyse: F - news - people ) was designed in tribute to the company's history. By looking like Ford's GT40 race cars of the 1960s and having a similar name, the GT is an example of an automotive comeback.
The slide show that follows documents the best recent automotive comebacks. Playing off name recognition and the nostalgia factor, reviving a brand name can be a good way to jump start revenues. Just ask DaimlerChrysler (nyse: DCX - news - people ), which has had several recent successes reviving moribund marques. In 2002 it brought the name "Maybach" back on the market after a 61-year hiatus and is now, according to Jürgen Hubbert, the Daimler board member who is responsible for Mercedes-Benz, making money off its ultra-luxury division. Even more impressive, its Chrysler subsidiary has enjoyed a banner sales year thanks in large part to the incredible success of its resurrected Hemi brand of engines (please see the slide show for more details).
Chrysler took a chance that the Hemi brand would gain name recognition again; it might not have, considering its glories are decades old. On the other hand, some companies leap at the chance to display their history. Ford's Jaguar subsidiary loses money, but the cars that it does sell, it sells in part on tradition. Hence the old-school looks of its vehicles--looks that don't change too much from generation to generation.
The Ford GT is all about capitalizing on past accolades--and Ford has every reason to consider the GT40 one of the high points of its history. Ferrari won the first six 24 Hours of Le Mans races in the 1960s. Then Ford broke the streak and won the last four, with GT40s finishing first and third in 1969. Ferrari has not won Le Mans since.
Why shouldn't Ford want to re-create such an illustrious past in the present? American automakers are losing market share, and analysts often say exciting cars are the only way to revive it. An auto industry saying goes, "It's nothing that a little bit of good product wouldn't cure."
Several of the comeback brands in the slide show--the GT, Bentley's Continental GT, Chrysler's 300 and Nissan's (nasdaq: NSANY - news - people ) "Z cars"--were resurrected in the interest of making their parent companies' lineups more exciting. In the case of BMW's Mini cars, reviving the brand gave the parent company an advantage over its competitors because the comeback brand was an icon, and has succeeded to a large degree because of its classic looks.
Comebacks don't always work. Witness Ford's modern-day Thunderbird convertible, which is headed for discontinuation. It failed because of wimpy driving dynamics and soft styling. For every successful automotive comeback, we can name you one that failed. You will notice that General Motors' (nyse: GM - news - people ) modern-day recreations of the Chevrolet Camaro, Pontiac Firebird and Buick Riviera are no longer on sale. F. Scott Fitzgerald's famous line about there being no second acts in American lives comes true quite often in the auto business.
Some of the comeback cars in the slide show could be doomed. The cars with which Maserati made its comeback, the Coupe and Spyder, are looking old--and don't have the most smooth driving dynamics. Ford will probably not bring the GT back for a second generation, but will replace the car with a different model.
However, car companies often stage comebacks of brand names because they often work. For a look at the successful side of automotive comebacks, please follow the link below.
Click here for the slide show.
Coming on April 18 to Vehicles: Coolest Concept Cars
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