Are there too many retro EVs?
Everyone wants a piece of the Renault 5's secret sauce, if a bumper Paris Motor Show is anything to go by...
It’s been quite some time since a motor show has given us something to get excited about. That’s exactly what we’ve got from this year’s Paris show, much of it coming from the many, many brands under the Stellantis umbrella. These weren’t a bunch of pie-in-the-sky studies that’ll never see the light of day, either, save for the Vauxhall STX concept, which is explicitly a preview of the firm’s new design language. Trouble is, a good chunk of what’s been shown follows the same philosophy that’s proved so successful for Renault: reimagining a bunch of retro icons as electric cars. It’s easy to see why, given the success of the R5, but with so many manufacturers now following suit, could we soon see EV throwback fatigue set in? That’s one for this week’s episode of The Gassing Station podcast.
Arguably the most exciting of the lot is Peugeot’s e-T16 concept, which, you guessed it, is an all-electric reboot of the firm’s legendary Group B special. It’s a carbon-bodied, 816hp hyper hatch that may very well go up against the Renault 5 Turbo 3E if production gets the green light. And even if it doesn’t, we should see some bits and pieces from the e-T16 make their way over to the next e-208, which would be no bad thing. What has been given the green light, though, is the new electric 2CV. While there’s more than a hint of Little Tikes about the red concept car with its white wheels, the production version is slated to cost less than £15,000, making it a more jovial alternative to the electric Panda, which is itself a throwback to the '80s original.
And it doesn’t stop there. Peugeot has revived the RCZ name with an all-electric, two-door coupé concept, featuring the same silhouette and double-bubble roofline as the original, while Alpine’s new A310 Vision is a striking homage to its old 2+2. Alfa Romeo, meanwhile, has something different to offer with its Cuorerosso, which previews the looks of the Giulia’s successor. Not only that, but it’ll be offered with a hybrid V6, meaning it should sound just as good as it looks. So while there’s no shortage of retro electric concepts in Paris, the future isn’t entirely anchored in '80s nostalgia.
Amid all the Paris news, PHer Fred Smith is looking for the best daily performance car to fit some “very specific circumstances”. You can see the full criteria here, but they’re essentially looking for an array of fun daily cars to fit various budgets. For the £5k option, Sam has wisely chosen this 2003 Toyota MR2, while I’ve gone for this very lovely Alfa Romeo GTV. The sub-£40k category includes my immaculate E46 BMW M3 and a Renaultsport Megane R26.R for Sam, and the top £70k budget gets Sam an original NSX while I’ve gone for a TVR Tuscan S. Who needs electric throwbacks when you can buy the real deal, anyway?
It's called sentimental blackmailing. To make consumers swallow easily their devoid of driving character electric cars and their limitations.
If they were so generous why no retro before, when there were combustion engines only.
The second reason is a lack of inspiration for new appealing designs. Pretty much all was already tried. Some attepted other directions(design languages) but the results are appaling, not to say horrifying. Look at Bmw, they are in nomansland.
I can't think of a single Chinese EV I 'desire' - they all look very dull and appliance-like. For many consumers, that just isn't an issue, and the cheap price / running cost is the main selling point. I get that, but the European OEMs will struggle to compete solely on price, so have to look at the back catalogue.
Hence the number of retro designs that are intended to make you remember what you / your parents / uncles / first lover used to drive.
They will make the roads a much brighter place than an endless procession of MGs and Jaecoos.
I can't think of a single Chinese EV I 'desire' - they all look very dull and appliance-like. For many consumers, that just isn't an issue, and the cheap price / running cost is the main selling point. I get that, but the European OEMs will struggle to compete solely on price, so have to look at the back catalogue.
Hence the number of retro designs that are intended to make you remember what you / your parents / uncles / first lover used to drive.
They will make the roads a much brighter place than an endless procession of MGs and Jaecoos.
I find it strange that it's taken them so long to catch on, and some still haven't. Take VW as a prime example, they churn out loads of "id" models yet have 50 years of the Golf name they aren't really leveraging. The Tourag/Tiguan have been around for a couple of decades yet I have no idea which "id" model is the electric equivalent of any of these.
t, Sherlock! 
By and large, modern cars are not "appliance-like", they are appliances. That's not a flaw, it's exactly what mainstream cars are designed to be.
I can't think of a single Chinese EV I 'desire' - they all look very dull and appliance-like. For many consumers, that just isn't an issue, and the cheap price / running cost is the main selling point. I get that, but the European OEMs will struggle to compete solely on price, so have to look at the back catalogue.
Hence the number of retro designs that are intended to make you remember what you / your parents / uncles / first lover used to drive.
They will make the roads a much brighter place than an endless procession of MGs and Jaecoos.
And judging on the amount they sold everyone else thought the same!
In a world built on consumerism we're at that point where leaning into peoples memories and "the good old days" with a modern twist sells. Nostalgia is powerful.
It's the same reason we're seeing remakes of films, reboots of TV shows, retro games consoles, vinyl records, and even web versions of Championship Manager 97/98 and Quake
I mean we all miss pushing cars to start then waiting 15 mins to warm up and de mist sitting in our coats,hats and gloves shivering then doing it all again in the evening.
The Mini
The Fiat 500 and 600
The Renault 5 and Twingo
The new Citroen 2CV thing
The VW ID Buzz
I'm sure there are others!
The Mini
The Fiat 500 and 600
The Renault 5 and Twingo
The new Citroen 2CV thing
The VW ID Buzz
I'm sure there are others!
I mean we all miss pushing cars to start then waiting 15 mins to warm up and de mist sitting in our coats,hats and gloves shivering then doing it all again in the evening.
To my mind those three cars were the epitome of cynical retro styling which kicked off the whole thing. I don't think the transition from "modern" to "retro" is anything particularly to do with EVs or the pressure European manufacturers are under from Chinese companies; it's a cyclical thing we've been through before and will go through again.
ETA: Admittedly this particular transition from futuristic to retro does seem a bit more wide-spread than previous ones.
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