In an era dominated by touchscreens, generic design and copy-and-paste styling cues (another lightbar, anyone?), there’s a growing appeal to cars that look to the past for inspiration.
Retro-designed vehicles tap into nostalgia, emotion, and classic proportions while still delivering the performance you’d expect from a modern car, along with five-star safety and cutting-edge technology.
South African buyers are surprisingly spoiled for choice when it comes to cars that balance old-school charm with contemporary engineering. From compact city runabouts to serious off-road icons (and even a sports car), these are some of the standout retro-inspired models you can buy today.
Fiat 500
Few cars are as effortlessly stylish as the Fiat 500. Admittedly ancient (the 500 first debuted in 2007), the Italian city car remains on sale in SA, for the surprisingly steep price of R351,900.
For your money, you get a 1.2l four-cylinder engine that develops 51kW and 102Nm of torque. While it doesn’t deliver rapid performance, it does skip past the fuel pumps with an average fuel-use figure of 4.8l/100km. What’s more, the compact dimensions and quick steering make it a hoot to drive around the city.
Despite being nearly 20 years old, the 500 still cuts a stylish figure and doesn’t look old at all, thanks to its classy detailing, fun paint colours (like Rugiada Green and Passione Red), and an interior that is full of quirky detailing.
That being said, it can only fit four people at a pinch (provided the rear passengers are really small children), and it’s not great for long-distance driving. But for those looking for a stylish city car that looks good parked anywhere, it remains unbeaten.
Mini Cooper
Unless, of course, your budget can stretch to the Mini Cooper. When the brand was reborn in 2001 under the BMW Group, people across the world went crazy for the amazing design, with one eye on the original ‘50s model and the other firmly fixed on the future. Now in its fourth generation, the “new” Mini is actually smaller than the previous generation, bringing it even closer to the original 1959 vision of Alec Issigonis.
Available in petrol and electric, the new Cooper carries through iconic design elements such as the floating roof, contrasting mirrors, and the signature grille. Personalisation is virtually endless, with multiple packages to choose from, along with a wide range of paint colours and wheel designs.
Oliver Heilmer, head of Mini Design, referred to the brand’s new design language as “charismatic simplicity”, which focuses on a reduced design language that emphasises “the essentials of the brand”.
iCAUR V23 and 03T
While not yet available in South Africa, the iCAUR V23 and 03T electric SUVs are scheduled to debut locally in May. The two models introduce a design epoch that combines modern EV packaging with clear retro-inspired styling elements.
Both SUVs feature bold proportions and a boxy aesthetic that references earlier vehicle design trends, while incorporating contemporary finishes and technology. iCAUR has also indicated that the V23 and 03T will be offered with a wide range of customisation options, including various accessories intended to allow buyers to personalise their vehicles.
This approach echoes earlier eras of vehicle ownership, when manufacturers offered a broader selection of dealer-fit accessories. The V23 adopts a more rugged visual theme, with accessories such as modular roof racks and side-mounted storage boxes designed to be interchangeable.
Local pricing has not yet been confirmed, but given the competitive positioning of many China-built electric vehicles, the V23 and 03T are expected to be priced aggressively relative to established rivals.
Ford Mustang
If off-roaders and compact hatchbacks are not your forte, the Ford Mustang is one of the few retro-styled sports cars available on the South African market. Its muscle car heritage — which stretches back more than six decades — never goes out of style, and even the previous S550 generation still cuts a stylish figure on our roads (especially when equipped with a mellifluous V8).
The new S650 is available as a 5.0 GT fastback or the high-performance Dark Horse model, the latter producing a heady 334kW and 540Nm of torque, allowing it to prance to 100 km/h in 4.4 seconds.
The Mustang’s upper grille shape was inspired by the original model from the 1960s, while the roofline, muscular stance, and shortened overhangs at the rear also hark back to the proportions of the first model. Prices start from a lofty R1,340,000.
Land Rover Defender
When the new Land Rover Defender debuted in 2020, purists were enraged. “It’s not as good as the original,” they barked, saddened that the old warhorse, available since 1983, had been put out to pasture.
The L663 blended the best of old and new, with Land Rover giving it the off-road capability and ruggedness of the old model and the luxury features and refinement typically associated with Discovery and Range Rover models.
While controversial (and still hated by many Land Rover purists), the new Defender has a strong following, with the SUV even winning World Car Design of the Year in 2021.
Speaking to Gear Patrol in 2021, designer Gerry McGovern said he thinks the Defender recognises its roots by incorporating references from the original but executing them in a modern manner.
“It’s in the details, not in the overall essence of it. People say … this is an evolution of the original? Well, no, of course it’s not.”
It doesn’t hurt that, like the Mini and the forthcoming iCAUR SUVs, customisation is a big part of the Defender experience, allowing consumers to personalise vehicles to their preferred tastes.
Mercedes-Benz G-Class
You cannot speak about retro car design without referring to the Mercedes-Benz G-Class. Before the second generation’s debut in 2018, the G-Class went virtually unchanged (design-wise, at least) for nearly 40 years.
Sure, the Gelandewagen slowly morphed from a purpose-built military vehicle into a leather-lined, V8-powered chariot for the Kardashians, but the overall style remained the same until the W463 generation was introduced.
While it maintains the iconic styling of the original, the new G-Class is actually 121mm wider and 53mm longer, with design changes done to improve crash safety, overall comfort and driving stability. Yet the delightful design cues that have made it so desirable across the world remain, with exposed hinges, an upright windscreen, and that iconic square body still turning heads wherever a G-Class drives by.
Of course, all this style, exclusivity, and capability do not come cheap, with a base model G400d retailing for a hefty R3,557,169, and the all-electric G580 EQ Edition One retailing for an eye-watering R4,647,456.
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