Car Buffs May Have Reason To Celebrate

Car buffs may have something to smile about as two old nameplates may be making a comeback.  Studebaker is a name that you have seen if you happen on a classic car show and now, a man in Colorado is planning on bringing it back to the present day.

In addition to that, Nissan is reportedly thinking about bringing the Datsun name off the dust-pile of automotive history and re-instating it for a line of cars that they would sell in "emerging markets."

I come from a legacy of car buffs.  My father was a lover of fine automobiles all his life.  He had everything from a Thunderbird to a Crestliner to a classic Mustang over the years, so you can imagine my being forced to go to car show after car show in my formative years.  It took a little while for the car bug to bite me, but bite me it did and suddenly, they no longer forced me to go, I wanted to.

For those that have spent even part of their lives going to car shows and drooling over some of the classic rides that collectors are so privileged to own, things like this are good news.  So often, these days, we hear about the demise of nameplates rather than one being revived.  Gone are such stalwarts like Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Eagle, Plymouth, Duesenberg and others.  In their place are certainly serviceable vehicles, but nothing fun.

Now before we all get excited that we might get to see some great new versions of things like the Datsun 280Z or the Studebaker Hawk, we need to take a pause.  The man in question that has the rights to the Studebaker name has talked about making hybrid vehicles and using the old nameplates.  Will they look as classy?  He claims they will, but lets face it, some new versions of older cars work, like the Mustang, while others just don't seem to get any traction at all, like the new Ford Thunderbird.

In the area of the new Datsun, its said that Nissan is considering the nameplate for a low priced line of cars that would be known, and wouldn't tarnish the image of Nissan and being a company that sells "cheap cars."

Regardless of all of this, its nice to have some old friends on the road potentially returning.  My personal wish would be to see some of the best of the Pontiac line return to the roads.  Names like the Firebird, the Fiero and even the more recent Solstice would be a welcome return.

Still, for now I will keep on drooling over the Chevy Camaro and the Ford Mustang.  I would even take a Dodge Challenger if you had one to hand out.  Regardless, something fun on the roads is an experience you just can't beat.