• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Trivia: Oldest car design still in production

Status
Not open for further replies.

Jamesrob637

Established Member
Joined
12 Aug 2016
Messages
5,207
With cars, is the Punto design from 2006 still in production?

Trabants as most know it ran from the early-mid 60s until the start of the 90s with only minor changes. Ladas likewise, though I think these received more comprehensive updates during their production run. Plus the Lada was a FIAT design from even earlier.
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Journeyman

Established Member
Joined
16 Apr 2014
Messages
6,295
With cars, is the Punto design from 2006 still in production?

Trabants as most know it ran from the early-mid 60s until the start of the 90s with only minor changes. Ladas likewise, though I think these received more comprehensive updates during their production run. Plus the Lada was a FIAT design from even earlier.
The original Mini was in production for 41 years (1959 to 2000).
 

Doomotron

Member
Joined
25 Jun 2018
Messages
1,173
Location
Kent
The Fiat 124 and Lada Riva was constructed from 1966 until 2012, a period of 46 years.
 

507021

Established Member
Joined
19 Feb 2015
Messages
4,670
Location
Chester
In respect of cars, I think the Renault 4 deserves a mention.

Not as long lived as the Beetle, Mini or 2CV, but over eight million cars built over 33 years is an outstanding production run.
 

Western Lord

Member
Joined
17 Mar 2014
Messages
782
And the original Volkswagen Beetle from 1938 to 2003; around 65 years.
However, I would bet that virtually nothing from a 1938 Beetle (or Kdf-wagen) would fit on a 2003 Beetle, whereas quite a bit from a 1959 Mini would fit on a 2000 one.
 

TheEdge

Established Member
Joined
29 Nov 2012
Messages
4,489
Location
Norwich
Do we get to include the Land Rover Series and Defender as continuations of the same design?

The Series Land Rovers were in production from 1948 - 1985. The Defender was in production from 1983 - 2016. And the first Defender was a very close development of the last Series III. So I propose Series Land Rover/Defender 1948 - 2016.
 

Cowley

Forum Staff
Staff Member
Global Moderator
Joined
15 Apr 2016
Messages
15,686
Location
Devon
However, I would bet that virtually nothing from a 1938 Beetle (or Kdf-wagen) would fit on a 2003 Beetle, whereas quite a bit from a 1959 Mini would fit on a 2000 one.

I think that’s quite an interesting point. Having worked on various Beetles that were built across a time gap of 20 or so years, I’d agree that there weren’t many interchangeable parts between the older ones and the newer ones despite them looking very similar. 1303 with a curved windscreen, plastic dash and coil springs at the front anyone?
 

Journeyman

Established Member
Joined
16 Apr 2014
Messages
6,295
However, I would bet that virtually nothing from a 1938 Beetle (or Kdf-wagen) would fit on a 2003 Beetle, whereas quite a bit from a 1959 Mini would fit on a 2000 one.
Not sure about the Mini either. Although they were basically the same, quite a lot changed over the years - wheel size, lights, radiator grille, interior fittings including dashboard layout, original ones had sliding rather than winding windows, early ones had 800cc engines or thereabouts, final ones all had 1.3 litre etc etc...
 

507021

Established Member
Joined
19 Feb 2015
Messages
4,670
Location
Chester
Not a car, but a motorcycle.

The Honda Super Cub has been in continuous production since 1958, with over 100 million produced.
 

pdq

Member
Joined
7 Oct 2010
Messages
800
Caterham 7 and Morgan Plus 4 both trace back to the 50s.
 

Peter Sarf

Established Member
Joined
12 Oct 2010
Messages
5,631
Location
Croydon
The VW campervan with a rear engine started just at the end of WW2 iirc so 1946. This (T2 iirc) was still in production in Brazil into this century. And a lot have survived.
 

Snow1964

Established Member
Joined
7 Oct 2019
Messages
6,024
Location
West Wiltshire
The Morris Oxford series III of 1956 continued being made in India as Hindustan Ambassador until 2014, so same basic vehicle for 58 years
 

Non Multi

Member
Joined
11 Dec 2017
Messages
1,117
The Peugeot 405 (launched in 1987) is still in production in Azerbaijan. The Pininfarina design obviously still 'takes their breath away'...

Nigerian production of the Peugeot 504 (1968) ceased in 2006.

The Iranian made Paykan saloon and pick up, originally derived from the 1966 Hillman Hunter/Rootes Arrow saloon ('66-'79). Paykan saloon production ceased in 2005, pick ups in 2015.

The Mk1 VW Golf (1974) was still assembled in South Africa as recently as 2009, sold as the low-cost Citi Golf.

VW MK2 Passat (1981) was made in China between 1983-2012 as the VW Santana.

The Leyland Sherpa van (1974) continued in production until 2006 with various minor facelifts/name changes along the way, eventually becoming the LDV Pilot.
 
Last edited:

90019

Established Member
Joined
29 May 2008
Messages
6,823
Location
Featherstone, West Yorkshire
The original Lada Niva has been in production since 1977, and is still going strong today, having been rebranded the Niva Legend earlier this year.


The second generation Ford Transit was first produced in 1986 and continued up until 2003, but was reintroduced in the Chinese market as the snappily titled Ford Transit VJX6541DK-M where it continued until 2017, when it was given a nose job and rebranded as the JMC Teshun, which is still being produced and is quite clearly the same from the front wings back.


The FX4 taxi was first produced in 1958 and remained in production until 1997, with the body managing to stay almost unchanged despite having been through 3 different manufacturers and multiple drivetrain updates, with it finally being replaced by the TX1 some 30 years after it was originally intended to be replaced.
Incidentally, while the TX1 has a drastically improved body and interior, the chassis and drivetrain are identical to the last of the FX4s (the Nissan Fairway).
 

WatcherZero

Established Member
Joined
25 Feb 2010
Messages
10,272
The Morgan +4 had a pretty long production life with a few breaks.
1950-1969, 1985-2000 and 2005-2020. In 2020 they switched from wood to aluminium. Altogether thats 49 of the last 70 years.

The Morgan four seater was produced from 1937 to 2016 and was unchanged from the start until 1990's when the rear passenger seat was lowered to the same height as the drivers seat and in 2006 they made the doors wider.
The 4/4 was produced from 1936-2019 until it was discontinued due to engine emissions apart from a break of 1940-45 and 1951-1955.
 

pdq

Member
Joined
7 Oct 2010
Messages
800
Thinking about currently available mainstream cars (rather than the Morgan and Caterham previously mentioned), the VW Sharan/Ford Galaxy have been around since 1995. According to Wikipedia the last (and only) significant revision was in 2010. In modern car terms that is a pretty impressive run. It looks like the Sharan is no longer being manufactured with cars only available from stock, but the Galaxy is still on Ford's configurator page.
 

36270k

Member
Joined
7 Jan 2015
Messages
210
Location
Trimley
Another one for a long production run was the Porsche 911.
Air-cooled from 1965 to 1996 then water-cooled.
 

Jamesrob637

Established Member
Joined
12 Aug 2016
Messages
5,207
Thinking about currently available mainstream cars (rather than the Morgan and Caterham previously mentioned), the VW Sharan/Ford Galaxy have been around since 1995. According to Wikipedia the last (and only) significant revision was in 2010. In modern car terms that is a pretty impressive run. It looks like the Sharan is no longer being manufactured with cars only available from stock, but the Galaxy is still on Ford's configurator page.

The Galaxy was completely modernised in 2006. The VW Sharan and Seat Alhambra had to wait until 2011.
 

pdq

Member
Joined
7 Oct 2010
Messages
800
The Galaxy was completely modernised in 2006. The VW Sharan and Seat Alhambra had to wait until 2011.
So is the Galaxy pretty much a 15 year old car now, with probably an updated dashboard along the way? If so, that's getting on a bit, but also shows the strength of the design.
 

LOL The Irony

On Moderation
Joined
29 Jul 2017
Messages
5,335
Location
Chinatown, New York
The Toyota Land Cruiser J70 has been in production since 1984, outlasting the J100 and more recent J200 versions. It'll see in the brand new J300 as well and shows no signs of exiting production.

Staying with Toyota, the 1st generation Century was in production from 1967 to 1997.
 

Strathclyder

Established Member
Joined
12 Jun 2013
Messages
3,178
Location
Clydebank
The Citroën H-Van is another candidate from the van/light commercial vehicle side of things, being produced from 1947 to 1981: 34 years.
 

LOL The Irony

On Moderation
Joined
29 Jul 2017
Messages
5,335
Location
Chinatown, New York
So is the Galaxy pretty much a 15 year old car now, with probably an updated dashboard along the way? If so, that's getting on a bit, but also shows the strength of the design.
No, it got replaced with an all new car, it just looks like a facelift because Ford still use the "Kinetic" design language.
 

pdq

Member
Joined
7 Oct 2010
Messages
800
No, it got replaced with an all new car, it just looks like a facelift because Ford still use the "Kinetic" design language.
Ah, I wasn't aware of the 2015 3rd generation Galaxy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Galaxy#Third_generation_(CD390;_2015)
Nevertheless, the Sharan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Sharan#Second_generation_(Typ_7N;_2010) looks like it only got two generations plus a facelift.

Apologies for my somewhat pointless contribution to the thread - I looked up the VW wiki and assumed the Galaxy/Sharan/Alhambra continued being close siblings throughout; but given that Ford totally revamped in 2015 while VW only facelifted, it seems I was wrong. Should have Googled more thoroughly before posting:oops:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top