Are you celebrating a major birthday in 2023? Some of the world’s best loved cars and brands are, including Honda, Lamborghini, Corvette and the Porsche 911.
A couple of the cars we’ve featured went out of production long ago, but most of the names are still alive and kicking even after 60 or 70 years in the limelight, which is some achievement. How many do you think will last another decade?
1. Chevrolet Corvette – 70 years
Let’s kick things off with a big one, the Chevrolet Corvette’s 70th anniversary. It’s fair to say that the Vette didn’t get off to the best start. GM came close to axing the whole project in the early years, yet in 2023 the now mid-engined Corvette is in arguably its best shape ever (if not actually the best-shaped Corvette ever). Demand for the base car is still massive, the Z06 is a real supercar killer, and there’s so much more to come, including hybrids, an EV, and allegedly a crossover.
2. Porsche 911 – 60 years
Related: Do You Know How The Iconic Porsche 911 Got Its Name?
The Porsche 911 didn’t officially go on sale until 1965, but the car made its global debut in the fall of 1963 as the 901. The name might have changed at Peugeot’s insistence, but even 60 years later the silhouette is almost exactly the same. And of course the engine is still slung out beyond the rear axle, though today’s 380 hp (385 PS) entry-level Carrera makes almost three times as much grunt as the 128 hp (130 PS) 2.0-liter original.
3. Honda – 60 years
Honda was founded in 1946, but it didn’t make its first automobile until 1963. And that was just a tiny T360 pickup truck built to meet Japanese kei microcar regulations – not exactly a harbinger of world domination. Yet by 1990 Honda’s Accord would be the best selling car in America and in 2021 the CR-V was the third-best selling car globally, racking up almost 900,000 sales.
4. Lamborghini – 60 years
You could reasonably argue that Lamborghini as we know it wasn’t born until the fully dressed mid-engined Miura chassis was first shown to the world at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show, but the company itself dates back to 1963 and the front-engined 350 GTV prototype. The GTV didn’t make it to production, but the engine – a 3.5-liter V12 with two overhead cams per bank to Ferrari’s one – did, and Lamborghini has been a thorn in Maranello’s side ever since.
5. Caterham – 50 years
The Seven sports car celebrated its 60th birthday in 2017 but this year marks its half century as the Caterham Seven. Colin Chapman sold the rights to Caterham in 1973 when he wanted to take Lotus upmarket, and even he’d be astonished to see how relevant and desired it remains today thanks to Caterham’s nurturing and the rightness of the original design.
6. Chrysler Minivans – 40 years
In today’s SUV-obsessed age it’s easy to forget what a massive deal minivans used to be – particularly the Chryslers that helped kick-start the craze. The Voyager was Plymouth’s version of the groundbreaking Chrysler S-series minivan that launched in late 1983, and while the Plymouth name died over 20 years ago, the Voyager badge and Chrysler’s minivan is still going strong. Today, the Chrysler-branded minivan goes by the Pacifica name, but fleet customers get a basic version sold as a Voyager.
7. Aston Martin DB5 – 60 years
The DB5 was only in production for a couple of years after its 1963 launch, and actually wasn’t much different from the DB4 Series V, the main upgrade being a straight-six enlarged from 3.7 to 4.0-liters. But it’s become such an icon thanks to its association with the James Bond franchise that you just know Aston will be planning some of its own 60th anniversary celebrations this year.
8. Cadillac Escalade – 25 years
Cadillac only got around to giving the Escalade the high performance V treatment last year, but the basic Escalade hits its quarter century in 2023. Needing a luxury rival to the new Lincoln Navigator, GM put lipstick on a GMC Yukon Denali, and 25 years later the current truck still shares its body-on-frame DNA with the Yukon and Chevy’s Tahoe/Suburban. And all of those vehicles are based on the same GMT1XX platform found under the Chevy Silverado, which also turns 25 this year.
9. Audi TT – 25 years
The TT better make the most of this birthday because it’ll be its last. Audi is replacing its stylish coupe and convertible sports cars with an EV, though that new “emotive model” will at least be in the same price range, the company assures us. But we’ll be amazed if the new car looks as fresh as the original TT does at 25 years old.
10. Ford Mustang II – 50 years
The Mustang everybody loves to hate was introduced in the fall of 1973, only two months before the first oil crisis. Little wonder then that sales of the drastically downsized pony car almost trebled to 386,000 despite the car’s distinct lack of performance – you couldn’t order it with a V8 that first year, and even the 5.0-liter ’78 King Cobra pictured couldn’t muster more than 139 hp (141 PS).