Having spent a couple days in New York City attending the media preview of the New York International Auto Show, we couldn’t help but notice that automakers’ heritage has become a great branding tool, even for cars that aren’t blatantly “retro”-styled – although those that are seem to get an extra helping.
In a repeat of the Detroit show in January, the Chrysler Group brought two spanking new Fiat 500s to New York to test the water.
Because the opportunity is too good to miss, Fiat has created an entire line of heritage-branded and -inspired goods, some of which were on display.
Among those goodies were some truly vintage-inspired items, like the 1920s script jacket and late 1930s “Topolino” clock.
Completing the illusion is this very clever cover that was placed over one car when most of the journalists had left for the afternoon.
Notice anything unusual here?
A stone’s throw away was the Dodge stand, and the 2010 Challenger R/T was in all its “Furious Fuchsia” glory. Completing the Easter egg effect were R/Ts in “Plum Crazy” and “Detonator Yellow.”
Not to be left out, Dodge had its own wall of modern and retro-inspired swag…
Volkswagen’s first generation New Beetle, the design that truly kicked off the retro car craze, is on its way out, as seen by this very last “Final Edition” Convertible; 1500 “Final Edition” coupes have also been built. The German automaker is giving a deep bow to the original with its Aquarius Blue color (two-tone over Campanella White on Convertibles), a shade that echoes the 1950s-inspired pale blue of the last 3,000 2003 ”Última Edición” Sedans built in Mexico. Too bad the New Beetle didn’t also get a Wolfsburg crest…
Even automakers whose lineups don’t include retro-inspired cars are drawing on their heritage, as Saab shows…
And ultra-modern BMW filled a wall display with 1:18-scale versions of its famous Art Cars, dating back to the 1970s.
Andy Warhol Group 4 racing M1, 1979
David Hockney "x ray" 850 CSi, 1995
And as faithful readers saw in Dan’s posting from last week, Jaguar bypassed retro design altogether and simply brought a stunning 1938 SS Jaguar 100 3.5 Roadster to their stand in celebration of the brand’s 75th anniversary.
The NY Auto Show will run through Sunday, April 11, at the Javits Center, so stop by and get your new car and retro fix all under one roof!