The top 50 longest-running car designs

To answer to my question of how many car model designs (such as this ’87 Volvo 240) have gone the distance by lasting 12 model years or more, I did some research. Findings are in the slideshow at the end of this article.

The Beetle had the number 1 longest-running automotive design.  But you may not guess what numbers 2 through 50 are…

If a car design is right from the start, it does not need to be changed for the sake of change because it will stand the test of time well on its own merits.

This subject came to mind when parking a 1991 Mercedes S-Class I own next to an identical-looking one.  Until a look at the registration tag in the window confirmed the other car was actually an ’81 model, I assumed it might be the same year as mine.  An easy mistake to make because all of the body panels on these two cars are 100 per cent identical and interchangeable.  Since the owner of the ’81 380SEL had fitted his car with ’86-style wheels and headlights, he fooled me into seeing his car as ten years newer.

The design of the 1980 – 1991 S Class the unknown stranger and I both owned ran a dozen model years without buyers tiring of it.  I recalled the design of another favorite car I had previously owned (a ’79 Cadillac Sedan de Ville) that had a lengthy design run of sixteen model years.  From 1977 to 1992, it only received two minor cosmetic updates.  That had to be some kind of record I figured.

I did some research into automotive history – ultimately finding the Cadillac’s 15 years and the Mercedes’ dozen years did not even approach the longest-duration vehicle designs.  I found only two designs originating in the last 20 years that made the list at all, squeaking onto the very bottom.

Younger generations may find this all difficult to believe, since we have grown used to car makers redesigning most models every five to seven years.  Fiercer competition than ever has left most automakers living in fear of somehow becoming stale.  Fear  has washed away the confidence to create original designs with clean, balanced, and elegant lines.  Swollen, awkward-looking shapes prevail.  No, automotive design is not the art form it once was.  Computers have streamlined things to a lower common denominator.

Here, I’ve attempted to consider various vehicles sold in markets around the world, because many of them on the list were sold in developing nations long after being offered in the United States or mainstream European countries.

SLIDE SHOW.  CLICK ON ANY OF THE PICTURES IN THE SLIDE SHOW BELOW TO EXPAND TO FULL SIZE.  USE ARROWS UNDERNEATH PICTURES TO SCROLL BACKWARD OR FORWARD.