1. AMC Gremlin
You can’t fool us, Budget Direct. That’s not an AMC Gremlin … it’s a Hyundai Veloster. Actually, we sort-of dig this car that everyone loves to hate (the Gremlin, not the Veloster), right down to the vintage '70's white stripe on the side. The front clip looks a bit awkward, but then again, so was the original Gremlin.
2. DeLorean DMC-12
Actually, you can buy a new DeLorean DMC-12 in 2018. Well, sort-of at least. The DeLorean Motor Company was reformed from the ashes of the original, and announced a couple years ago that very limited production would begin on “new” '80's vintage DMC-12 models in 2017. Per the company’s website that hasn’t happened yet, but we hope it does because the classic style looks better to us than this modern take, which kind-of resembles an Audi S3.
3. Oldsmobile Cutlass
The feels are strong with this one. The Cutlass name can refer to a legendary 1960s rear-wheel drive muscle car, a 1970s NASCAR racer, a suave-ish 1980s rear-wheel drive two-door sedan, or a front-wheel drive abomination that heralded the death of Oldsmobile. Fortunately we see shades of the earlier Cutlass models from the 1960s and 1970s in the modern take, wrapped in an appropriate shade of gold. All it needs are stripes and 4-4-2 badges.
4. Rover 75
You’re probably expecting us to make fun of this car, but you’d be wrong. Yes, the entire front end is almost completely devoid of curves, but any Rover fan will gaze upon that grille with a smile. As for the rest of the car, it looks well-proportioned and ready to take on the best that BMW and Audi can offer, which is sort-of what the Rover 75 was trying to do back in the day. As for the face, give it some time and you’ll start to like it.
5. Tatra JK 2500
What the heck is a Tatra JK 2500? It was a one-off sports car built back in the 1950s that had an air-cooled V8, oddly large tires, and a very elegant shape considering it was born in Cold-War era Eastern Europe by a company that built military vehicles. This render copies the JK 2500’s color scheme, and while not being unattractive, it just doesn’t command attention like the original did.
6. Plymouth Barracuda
Spoiler alert – you can buy a brand new Plymouth Barracuda. These days it’s called the Dodge Challenger of course, but back in the Barracuda’s glory days it was clone close to its Dodge stablemate. That doesn’t stop us from liking the vintage Hemi stripe on the rear quarter panel of this render, but the squared off front end looks more like a late 1970s Pontiac Firebird funny car. Sorry Budget Direct – we’d still take the Challenger.
7. Saab PhoeniX
It goes without saying that, of all the manufacturers on this list, Saab could be the one most missed. We get why the PhoeniX concept car was chosen for this group – in 2011 it was Saab’s physical manifestation of rising from the ashes after a near bankruptcy, and this curious compact render does capture the essence of that car quite well. Of course, Saab didn’t actually rise from the ashes, and if it were to ever do so, we’d rather see a new 900 SPG than this neat-but-uninspiring hatchback.
