Five cars we wish would make a comeback

Monday, 8 August 2016

With McLaren reportedly reinventing the legendary F1, we think it's time for some other manufacturers to revive legends from the past for modern consumption.

Sierra Cosworth

A four-pot 718 Boxster is fine, but what we really want is a minimalist successor to the 356 Speedster.

Okay, so Ford has proven it still knows how to make fantastic fast cars with the likes of the Focus RS and the new GT, but what it is missing now is a superbly bonkers re-invention of the legendary Sierra RS Cosworth.

Winding the brilliant 2.3-litre EcoBoost turbo engine up to insane levels would be a good start, as would slipping the Focus RS AWD system under the body. But going truly off the deep end and chucking a new body on it to remind us of the Sierra's fabulous shape would be awesome.

Modern Ferraris are not monstrous enough. Bring back the Testarossa.

Porsche 356

The new 718 Boxster may be a thoroughly triumphant return to four-cylinder glory for the German manufacturer, but it's still a fairly pricey, full-fat modern car.

Light might be right for Lotus, but there's no reason we can't have a bit of supercar excitement as well.

Take that brilliant new engine and jam it into a shortened version of the Boxster's platform (or save massive money by using a VW/Audi platform), drape it in a sleek, minimalist body and offer a no-frills interior. Suddenly, we'd have a low-cost, lightweight Porsche that would be perfect for track days. It would also have to be called the 356.

Ferrari Testarossa

Only one of these is a properly mini-Mini. But we'd love to see another.

Modern Ferraris are curvy, showy monstrosities that are ridiculously fast, but also ridiculously easy to drive. So how about a Ferrari return-to-form: a monster that seems to want to kill you?

Before the V12 engine dies in a flurry of environmental concern, jam one in a 458, grind away all of the curvy bits from the body and give us a brutal, angry wedge with a manual transmission that requires the driver to sign a waiver before they try it. Owners would also have have to possess at least one pastel-coloured suit (worn with a t-shirt).

Lotus Esprit

Okay Lotus, we get it: you're very good at building fast, lightweight cars that all look like the Elise.

But how about bringing back the supercar glory days of the Esprit? If you can't afford to build a new platform, then have a chat to that Musk bloke who used to jam electric motors into Elises. Things seem to have worked out okay for him so far.

A Lotus-designed and engineered modern-day Esprit with Tesla underpinnings and electric technology would excellent.

Mini

Yes, yes, we know there actually is a current Mini, but what would really excite us is a proper mini-Mini.

The sort of thing BMW has teased us with before - a tiny city car dripping with Mini design cues. Except this time it could be built out of modern, high-strength materials, making it small and light. Fit an electric drivetrain low in the tiny body to ensure superb handling and run the whole interior off a smartphone app so that it's also superbly minimalist inside.

Make the design relentlessly modern, but with enough Mini design cues to keep everyone happy. Job done.