Why the rise of zombie car names can't be stopped, no matter how you feel
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04.06.24 – 13 7320:54Опубликовано 9 октября 2025, 22:01
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More and more, automakers are reviving iconic names from their past... and putting them on the completely wrong cars. It's grim. And it says a lot about where the industry is today.
We started thinking about this when Acura announced the return of the RSX earlier this year. The original RSX from the early 2000s was the follow-up to the legendary Integra: a fun, compact sport coupe with great handling and loads of personality. The new one? It's an electric crossover.
The outrage from fans and enthusiasts was immediate and understandable. It feels like bait designed to make people angry. And Acura is far from alone—Ford, Chevy, Dodge, GMC, Mitsubishi, and others have all done it in recent years. It's a trend that isn't slowing down.
Why? The reasons are complicated and interconnected. It's hard to stand out in today's fractured media landscape, and reusing an old name is a shortcut to getting attention with the general public, even if there's blowback from loyalists. The process of trademarking a name in the US and globally is another factor—a lot of the good ones have been taken unless you make up a completely new word, and then you're stuck trying to get people to care about something they've never heard of. And automakers see that when they do get a revival right, it can make a new car an overnight success, so they're incentivized to keep trying.
It's especially hard with electric vehicles. They're mechanically simpler, which means there's less room for companies to differentiate themselves with engineering like they have in building unique engines for gas cars. So they need gimmicks to sell them—and slapping a recognizable name on them is one of the easiest tricks.
Produced by → instagram.com/joeyrassool
Hosted by → instagram.com/kylecheromcha
Previous episode → youtube.com/watch?v=WlTm4tN5N1...
The Drive covers automotive industry news, car culture, and other stories you actually want to read. → thedrive.com
FOLLOW US!
Instagram → instagram.com/thedrive
Facebook → facebook.com/thedrive
TikTok → tiktok.com/@thedrive_official
WORK WITH US → youtube@thedrive.com
More and more, automakers are reviving iconic names from their past... and putting them on the completely wrong cars. It's grim. And it says a lot about where the industry is today.
We started thinking about this when Acura announced the return of the RSX earlier this year. The original RSX from the early 2000s was the follow-up to the legendary Integra: a fun, compact sport coupe with great handling and loads of personality. The new one? It's an electric crossover.
The outrage from fans and enthusiasts was immediate and understandable. It feels like bait designed to make people angry. And Acura is far from alone—Ford, Chevy, Dodge, GMC, Mitsubishi, and others have all done it in recent years. It's a trend that isn't slowing down.
Why? The reasons are complicated and interconnected. It's hard to stand out in today's fractured media landscape, and reusing an old name is a shortcut to getting attention with the general public, even if there's blowback from loyalists. The process of trademarking a name in the US and globally is another factor—a lot of the good ones have been taken unless you make up a completely new word, and then you're stuck trying to get people to care about something they've never heard of. And automakers see that when they do get a revival right, it can make a new car an overnight success, so they're incentivized to keep trying.
It's especially hard with electric vehicles. They're mechanically simpler, which means there's less room for companies to differentiate themselves with engineering like they have in building unique engines for gas cars. So they need gimmicks to sell them—and slapping a recognizable name on them is one of the easiest tricks.
Produced by → instagram.com/joeyrassool
Hosted by → instagram.com/kylecheromcha
Previous episode → youtube.com/watch?v=WlTm4tN5N1...
The Drive covers automotive industry news, car culture, and other stories you actually want to read. → thedrive.com
FOLLOW US!
Instagram → instagram.com/thedrive
Facebook → facebook.com/thedrive
TikTok → tiktok.com/@thedrive_official
WORK WITH US → youtube@thedrive.com
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