8 defunct car brands we wish would return | GRR

1. Holden

One very dear to my heart is the long-serving Australian marque Holden. The adoptive child of General Motors for almost a century, Holden started life as a Saddlery manufacturer. But throughout the era of the motorcar, Holden became a household name and a point of pride in Australian engineering and manufacturing. From the racetrack to the road, its high-performance sports saloons and coupes offered American-style muscle and attitude in a right-hand drive flavour, often with a bit more of a sophisticated driving experience, certainly during its latter years. All the while, from the same dealers and based on the same platforms, Holden offered rugged Utes that could contend with the rigours of Aussie work life.

Those who know Holden’s history well know it struggled for the last couple of decades of its life, but we’d still love to see it return, perhaps with a new Monaro/GTO twin with Alpha platform underpinnings and an LT V8.

2. Pontiac

Pontiac never quite found its footing in a crowded General Motors family among GMC, Chevrolet, Saturn, Buick and Cadillac. Always a proprietor of lusty and iconic muscle cars and sports saloons, it’s no wonder this was a brand that always struggled during times of austerity. It’s such a shame it fell victim to the financial crisis of 2008, as a new-generation GTO would have been a wonderful thing to see alongside the ‘new’ Camaro, which in turn proved to be a post-crisis lifeline for Chevrolet and GM at large.

What place could Pontiac have in today’s world? It’s difficult to say, especially in a world where even the Camaro is no longer around. The GTO, while always wonderful, was always an underdog and underdogs are risky business these days. Would we still love to see an all-new GTO, perhaps using the Alpha 2 Platform (Cadillac CT5) and the GM LT2 engine (Corvette C8)? Absolutely.

3. Duesenberg 

An altogether different proposition is Duesenberg, which if anything would have a greater chance of success in today’s era than Pontiac or Holden. Why? Because the market for ridiculously expensive, over-engineered opulence these days is weirdly huge. This is a world where Ferrari’s £400,000 SUV is sold out for multiple years, and where there are more million-pound hypercars on the market than there are affordable superminis.

So Duesenberg could very much return in the form that it left in 1937, producing money-no-object machines of pure status. Even today, those old monsters are blue chip collector gold with Duesenberg still being a name that carries caché, almost a century on from when it was dissolved. As for what a Duesenberg revival would look like? We’re envisioning Pagani meets Rolls-Royce for the ultimate in artisanal craftsmanship-led luxury.

4. Lagonda

It’s a similar story for Lagonda, which until recently was on track to be revived. And we liked the idea of what Aston Martin had planned, with Lagonda set to be the more luxurious side of the coin compared to Aston’s sportier identity.

Indeed in the post-war David Brown-owned years, Lagonda was exactly that, with stately saloons using underpinnings borrowed from Aston Martin’s DB sportscars. As with Duesenberg, it could be a success, with appetite for opulence at an all-time high. Quite how the two could retain a sense of identity in a rapidly electrifying motoring world is quite another question.

5. Matra

Electrification rather puts paid to what we’d have in mind for French staple Matra. Long gone are the days of the Djet and Matra’s magnificent F1 and endurance racing exploits, but there’s definitely potential there for a more soulful, more stylish, more French McLaren-esque sportscar company. Imagine a new Matra hypercar with a screaming V12, aping the stunning Matra Sports Le Mans winners of the early 1970s.

6. Saab

Saab is a difficult one. Known for innovation, intrigue and style, does that not sound like Saab should have a place in today’s motoring world, among the other disruptors and innovators? The remains of what was Saab, NEVS, created an incredible, very Saab-looking EV called the Emily GT, which used an innovative motor-in-wheel powertrain.

So yes, that badged as a Saab, competing directly with the likes of Tesla and BYD, sounds about right to us. Saab fans will tell you its bright light was stifled by meddling owners General Motors, so maybe independence is what this brand needs.  Regardless, its legacy will live on in the Emily GT given Canadian startup EV Electra has bought in. Power to them.

7. Avions Voisin

Perhaps the most obscure name on this list is Voisin. Primarily in the business of aircraft, it got into the luxury and racing car business in the years after the_ First World War, going to battle with Bugatti and establishing itself as force of style and engineering in equal measure. Especially in its later years, Voisin’s cars were striking innovators, particularly in their construction, powertrains and aerodynamics. The design genius behind these cars, Andre Lefebvre, went on to design cars like the Citroen Traction Avant, 2CV and even the DS, all of which were incredibly innovative cars.

Style, engineering, innovation: all are as important in a rapidly evolving 2024 motoring world, as they were in 1924. What on Earth a reborn Voisin would get up to almost a century on from its heyday is up for debate. But whoever took it on, if they were true to what made the originals so compelling, would come up with something special.

8. Rover

From romantic memories of cars a century by-gone to a bitter taste that still lingers in the metaphorical mouth. Rover, which disassembled in spectacular and devastating fashion in the mid-2000s, was once a brand that had huge caché in the UK. From the ministerial P5s, through the supercar-aping SD1s and the little Metro, right through to the glorious 75, these aren’t cars people struggle to form opinions on.

They are quite old and quite English, in all the ways that feel a little stale in 2024, so how and where it would return in an effective fashion that’s also true to its past, we’re not sure. Perhaps not in the way it departed, with an American V8 engine shoehorned into a stately saloon…