Top 10 Cars That Should Never Be Reborn as Crossovers
In January 2018, Ford teased its new Mach 1 electric vehicle.
The Mach 1 is described by Ford as a battery electric utility vehicle that pairs Mustang-inspired sport styling with a practical, high-riding body style. Such a product sounds well and good, but Mustang fans everywhere weren’t happy about the Mach 1 name being revived for something that wasn’t a Mustang. Let alone an electric crossover.
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This situation got us thinking: what are some other vehicles that should never be reborn as crossovers? There are some nameplates that are so well loved and have so many diehard fans that we’d actually be worried about the fallout if they were ever reintroduced as a crossover.
So without wasting any more time, let’s run down our list of car/crossover rebirths that should never, ever happen.
10. VW Beetle
The VW Beetle is soon set to be discontinued, and we really hope that’s the end of the line for the storied nameplate. With VW going all in on crossovers, it’s not far-fetched to think the Beetle could one day morph into a high-riding crossover. Let the Beetle go down in history as the cute and lovable car it deserves to, VW.
9. Ram
We aren’t against the idea of a body-on-frame Ram SUV, but a Ram-badged crossover might not be such a good idea. Ram has a reputation as a purveyor of tough-looking, gargantuan trucks, and seeing its big-lettered badge on a car-based crossover would probably be a bit upsetting for Ram fans. Then again, it’s already appeared on a minivan and some Fiat commercial vans.
8. Any Lotus
This is one is actually happening, which is exactly why we included it. We remain adamant that a crossover goes against everything Lotus stands for, but we suppose we’re living in a different world than company founder Colin Chapman was when he coined the term “simplify and add lightness.”
7. Toyota Celica
The Celica nameplate has been gone for quite awhile now. We could see Toyota reviving the name for a crossover in order to “evoke sportiness” or for some other similar marketing purpose, but we hope it never happens. It would be a far cry from the slickly styled MK1 Celica, wouldn’t it?
6. Honda S2000
Honda fans have been clamoring for a new S2000 for years now and the automaker isn’t entertaining them. There’s no new S2000 on the cards, but it’s hard to envision a turn of events that would make VTEC fanboys angrier than if the S2000 name finally did come back, only for the vehicle to be a crossover. What if it revved to 9,000 RPM? Would it be okay then?
5. Nissan Z
This is another one that may actually happen, with Nissan throwing the idea out there with the sweet looking Gripz Concept back in 2015. Despite the Gripz being kind of cool, we still think the Z name should be for sports coupes only, Nissan.
4. Mazda Miata
Do we need to say any more? Crossovers go against everything the Miata stands for. That said, if Mazda ever did do this, they’d certainly find a way to make it an absolute riot to drive. It’s what they do best.
3. VW Golf GTI
While the Golf has already been crossover-ized, we hope the GTI nameplate never appears on the Tiguan. We think it should be for the hatchback only, and thankfully, it seems as though VW is just as protective of the GTI badge as we are.
2. Chevrolet Camaro
A Camaro crossover? Chevy sort of showed us what such a product would look like with the cool looking FNR-X concept, although it didn’t have much in common with a Camaro apart from looking a bit like one. We don’t hate the idea of a Chevy performance crossover – just keep the Camaro badge away from it.
1. Ford Mustang
And we’re back to the vehicle that inspired this list in the first place. The Mach 1 is a bit of an inappropriate name for an electric crossover, so the Mustang name should also be off limits. It’s sad, but we could actually see Ford developing a Mustang crossover. After all, this is the brand that’s killing off its entire car portfolio save for the Mustang and crossover-like Focus Active so it can sell more SUVs.
Don’t be mad at Ford, though. It’s us consumers that make the buying decisions.
Sam McEachern holds a diploma in journalism from St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, and has been covering the automotive industry for over 5 years. He conducts reviews and writes AutoGuide's news content. He's a die-hard motorsports fan with a passion for performance cars of all sorts.
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The FNR-X is the sneak preview of the Next Generation Trax.
I really don't like it when automakers revive a car in a another bodystyle, if it was a suv then it should be a suv, if it was a sports coupe then it should be a sports coupe.