These Are The Auto Companies You Wish Still Built Cars

These Are The Auto Companies You Wish Still Built Cars

Photo: Darren McCollester/Newsmakers (Getty Images)

I asked earlier this week which car companies readers wished still built cars. Responses spanned from the 1930s through the 1990s and 2000s, all the way to corporations that are currently producing vehicles. However, the general theme from most commenters was that they’re tired of the SUVs and crossovers being pumped out by automakers at the moment. Without further ado, here are the car companies you wished still built cars:

New and previously owned General Motors Saturn vehicles sit on the Fred Beans dealership lot in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, U.S., on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2009.

Photo: Bradley C. Bower/Bloomberg (Getty Images)

Oh, absolutely Saturn. Among other things, they were nice and lightweight – people talk about a “light” car at 3,500, and I’m thinking how my SW2 was 2,500. Granted, add in the last twenty years of safety advancements and it gets up there, but that idea is sorely missed. The dealer network in the 90s that was technically not owned by the company but that had strict no-haggle pricing is reminiscent of what people want out of Tesla-owned stores now. And it’s taken thirty years for me to see dealer waiting areas that rivaled the family-friendly, cozy area that my childhood dealer had.

The cars? Fine, affordable, did what they needed to. 90s Saturn as a company, an idea that inspired loyalty? That’s what I want back. I work at a Hyundai dealer and if I ever heard that Saturn was coming back with what made it so unique thirty years ago, I’d be scouring the news for the first one to open in my area so I could jump ship.

Submitted by: Boter

The Ford logo is displayed on a brand new Ford Focus car at Serramonte Ford on October 25, 2018 in Colma, California.

Photo: Justin Sullivan (Getty Images)

See also  1955 Ferrari 410 Sport Spider by Scaglietti raced by Carroll Shelby sells for $22 million

Aside from the Mustang, every vehicle FoMoCo offers in the US is a truck, SUV or crossover. Hell, Ford even stated they were no longer going to make ‘cars.’

Meanwhile, we are left to imagine how spectacular an EV FiST could have been, or how magnificent driving an EV Coach-door Lincoln Continental might be.

Submitted by: Earthbound Misfit I

Detail of corporate logo below the rear window on a 1970 AMC Javelin SST in white with 304 V8 and automatic

Photo: Christopher Ziemnowicz / Wikimedia Commons

Oh, without a doubt, AMC.

I feel like this company was just a little bit of cash and some quality control away from being an American Subaru. Imagine if Jeep never got sold off to chrysler, and Jeep elevated AMC up to good status. Do we need another Subaru? No, but imagine a modern AMC eagle Wagon, a Pacer EV with seating for 4 and that amazing greenhouse, newer versions of the AMX, etc. As a side note in my alternate-reality headcannon, Jeep could have went all in on SUVs and trucks, without the suits trying to protect the Dodge Truck lines.

Imagine the Commanche still alive as a Tacoma-style truck, and A J-10 and J-30 to go against Rams……But this is about the cars…

So yeah, AMC all day.

Submitted by: CircleGr33n

An Oldsmobile is parked at an Oldsmobile dealership December 14, 2000 in Wellesley MA.

Photo: Darren McCollester/Newsmakers (Getty Images)

Oldsmobile. Not just saying that because of my ‘68 4-4-2, either. Olds did a lot of crazy experimental fun throughout their life-cycle, from early aluminum engines to the Quad-4 speed record car. Gimme an Oldsmobile that has no fear again.

Submitted by: Sid Bridge

Vintage Checker cab in front of the Lucky Two Party Store, 308 East Michigan Avenue, Ypsilanti, Michigan.

Photo: Dwight Burdette / Wikimedia Commons

Checker Motors – this company was focused on building taxi cabs that stood the test of time. Not only were their cars iconic, but they were reportedly of very solid build, able to take a beating. There is something to be said for cars that are relatively inexpensive, built tough, easily serviced, and able to stand up to a lifetime of abuse.

See also  Honda Stuffed a 2024 IndyCar Engine in a CR-V to Create 'The HPD Beast'

Submitted by: ejp

Scion introduces the 2008 XB at the Chicago Auto Show February 8, 2007 in Chicago, Illinois.

Photo: Scott Olson (Getty Images)

We all lament the slow, agonizing death of the affordable car, and there was one company where that’s about all they made: Toyota’s Scion. You could get economical, reliable, and practical transportation for cheap, and those ubiquitous grey xB boxes you saw everywhere in the early aughts could have been the Toyota Hybrid/PHEV/BEV platform the cost-conscious among us deserve.

Submitted by: paradsecar

Image for article titled These Are The Auto Companies You Wish Still Built Cars

Photo: Mike Peel / Wikimedia Commons

Gurgel. The only 100% Brazilian car company, which built insanely quirky cars with whatever technology was available here.

João Gurgel’s dream was to build cheap, simple and efficient cars to motorize third world countries. I’d love to see how this could be achieved today.

Submitted by: edu-petrolhead

Saab, GM and Land Rover signage is seen at the Symes auto dealership lot, after it was announced that General Motors is selling Saab, on June 16, 2009 in Pasadena California.

Photo: David McNew (Getty Images)

There’s only one answer for me, and I’ve been bitter about it for years. I don’t want them to come back as some EV brand with another name. I want them to make those oddly awesome and quirky turbocharged sedans / wagons again. If a genie granted me 3 automotive wishes, I’d wish for the innovative SAAB to come back.

Submitted by: Da Car Guru – 15,000 RPM daily driver

A black 1936 Packard 1407 Twelve Convertible

Photo: Sicnag / Wikimedia Commons

Since SAAB has already been mentioned, I’m going with Packard. They produced some gorgeous cars back in the day. If we want to celebrate that old timey Americana, then Packard is the way to go. I would love to see what luxury goodness they could produce today.

Submitted by: skeffles

1954 Nash Metropolitan Convertible at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds

Photo: Greg Gjerdingen / Wikimedia Commons

See also  Not-For-Profit Best Practices for Board Orientation

I don’t think we need more luxury brands so I’m good without Packard, Franklin, Marmon,Ruxton, Stearns-Knight, Stutz, Duesenberg, and Pierce-Arrow. Now a new subcompact Nash Metropolitan I would be into. Or a Studebaker Lark, Avanti, Champion etc. I’m sure Studebaker would make some very stylish cars if they were still around today.

Submitted by: klone121

Automotive enthusiasts admire a stunning1929 Duesenberg Model J Murphy convertible sedan at the Meadow Brook Hall Concours D'elegance August 3, 2003 in Rochester Hills, Michigan.

Photo: Bill Pugliano (Getty Images)

Duesenberg to compete with Rolls Royce on opulence. GM has placed Cadillac a good couple tiers below Rolls for rolling grandeur.

Submitted by: Karl F

An aerial overhead view of cars packed into a parking lot

Photo: pa_YON (Getty Images)

All of them.

Not a joke or sarcasm, but all of them. I want to see that glorious rainbow spectrum of badges back on the road. I want to see all those design trends, and all those styles again. I’m sick of all the cars on the road looking all the same. The same box badge engineered, developed in a wind tunnel, by guys that all went to the same design school, it is everywhere. Lets have some plurality in the market again. And some real competition. And I don’t mean just the good cars. Lets see the clunker companies like Leyland [and all the pre-Leyland constituent companies too] and Edsel too. Bring them all back, I say.

Submitted by: plant_daily

We may earn a commission from links on this page.