Future Classics?

By Colin Date

Are there true “future classic” cars being manufactured today? I mean other than Corvettes and Camaros? Sure, the Blue Oval has their Mustang and the on-again-off-again Ford GT, Dodge has their Challenger (and to a lesser extent, the Charger). But since we’re a Chevy magazine, let’s concentrate on our brand.

Do you think, like I do, that future classics have slowly slipped away over the past few decades? It’s been gradual, for sure. It seems like the advent of front-wheel drive spelled the beginning of the end (for me, anyway). How about the demise of the traditional 2-door hardtop? Forget the true hardtop (with the rear side windows that rolled down, creating a pillar-less “coupe”), how about just the 2-door without frames around the side glass? I’m going from my sometimes cloudy memory here, but wasn’t it the 1980s G-Bodied Monte Carlo? That car line faded to black after the 1988 model year, only to be replaced with the front-wheel drive, frame-around-the-windows Lumina. Heck, even the Lumina came in a 2-door version. And yes, I can’t forget the last generation Monte Carlo– the one that disappeared after 2008. It was also front-wheel drive, but at least it was a somewhat stylish 2-door sedan. Nowadays? 4-doors, like it or not!