The retro-ride breakthrough – it’s here

"Retro" vehicles have been in vogue for the past several years with some manufacturers banking on the popularity of old favorites -- usually decades old -- to sell new vehicles. They love to tug on our nostalgia heartstrings. Just look at the current Ford Mustang, the Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger. All take styling cues from the past and thread them into modern platforms.

The question has always been, where do we go once we've done the retro thing?

It seems that a few diligent aftermarket companies, and not new-vehicle manufacturers, have answered the question.

If you really want the look of a 1967 Mustang, why not go out and buy a new one? It seems a little absurd, but Dynacorn Classic Bodies Inc., based in Oxnard, Calif. (dynacorn.com), for one, has forged ahead to offer new, original-style bodies of the '67 Mustang, the 1967-'69 Camaro and full cabs of the 1947-'50 and 1952-'54 Chevrolet pickups. Several other companies, such as sheetmetal specialists Goodmark Industries (goodmarkindustries.com), have a variation on the theme.

Certainly a bare shell is by no means a finished car, but you can see, plain as day, where this is all headed: Someone will begin offering "new" muscle cars that exactly replicate the originals.

We've written about these companies before, but Dynacorn has Ford in its corner, eliminating some obvious legal questions about legitimacy: The raw 1967 Mustang body, without its suspension, drivetrain and various bolt-on parts is a Ford-licensed replacement part ... a big replacement part, that is. The intention might be to help wayward Mustang enthusiasts replace the rotten carcasses of their originals, but who else out there sees a complete new car being offered at some point?

Dynacorn hammering out a deal with Ford means that the floodgates will likely open for others. Forget questions and debate about new versus original and the value system of the collector-car market being thrown out of whack. Originals will always be original. The fact that this type of "part" is being produced means that the muscle cars of our choosing could live on forever ... as long as we want to build them.

How likely is the idea of strolling down to the car lot to pick up a complete reproduction 1967-'69 Camaro as your next daily driver? Maybe not in the next five years, but many aftermarket companies offer complete modern suspension packages for this platform as well as modern power train conversions. I'll guarantee you that the required companies are already trying to pull it all together.

In that sense, it makes you wonder to some extent why the automakers that built the original vehicles aren't running the show and putting exact replicas on the road. In the 1967 Mustang's case, how difficult would it be to re-engineer the basic structure with crumple zones, side-impact protection and air bags? Moreover, how tough would it be to wrap a 1967 body on a modern platform? Talk about the ultimate retro.

For years we've suggested that manufacturers would sell a worthwhile number of old favorites if they were merely re-engineered and brought back to life, exactly as they were, but completely modernized: 1968 Dodge Charger; 1965 Mustang fastback; 1971 Plymouth 'Cuda; 1966 Olds Toronado; and the 1963 "split-window" Corvette coupe to name a few. Can you imagine buying them new, today, from the manufacturer?

The thing is that we're so close already. One of the vehicles in the Wheelbase project garage is a garden-variety 1970 Plymouth Satellite, basically the same thing as a Road Runner or GTX from the same year, that's in the midst of getting the makeover of its life.

New York-based XV Motorsports (xvmotorsports.com) recently developed modern suspension and driveline packages to bring this car and others up to what it calls modern "supercar" standards. The company has developed new-style "Hemi" engines for use and has completely re-engineered the suspension using the same technology used to build new cars for prestige automakers, such as Aston Martin. Even the chassis structures have been reworked to be as stiff as that of modern sports cars. Big-brake systems were developed along with special wheel/tire packages and then XV dialed in all the modern creature comforts inside, from leather to high-end audio systems and DVD navigation. XV can modernize your Chrysler product or the company can sell you -- and this is the point -- a turnkey vehicle that you can actually use as a daily driver ... and there it is.

So, is a showroom-new 1967 Mustang really a far-fetched notion? XV proves that where there's a will, there's a way, while companies such as Dynacorn are willing to build brand-new bodies. We just need more individuals to pull it all together.

Rhonda Wheeler is a journalist with Wheelbase Media, a worldwide supplier of automotive news, features and reviews. You can email her by logging on to www.wheelbasemedia.com and clicking the contact link.