[Steve Carlton]

I used to sell PT Cruisers when they came out. Most of the dealers in the area were $5,000 over MSRP. We were at $3,000 and sold almost all of them before they came in. As the fleet manager, I go more than my fair share (I ordered them, too). Nice little $1,700 commissions for 2001-2002. Then Chrysler figured out how to make too many and that thing suddenly was being sold for $2,000 below invoice. It cooled off fast. The looks were different and fun, but they got old fast. I heard the nickname for the HHR internally at GM was the "Me too cruiser." We tried to sell our first Prowler for around $99,000. It sat and we got $60-something.

I like the nose of the SSR the best. To me, it's a factory restomod. I think if the tops of the fenders were more rounded it would look a lot better.

The New Beetle was a huge success and put VW dealers in the black big time.

Retro cars are cool when done right. Less severe examples include the Mustang, Challenger, and Camaro. Braver examples were the Fiat 500, Ford GT, BMW Z8 maybe. I'm sure there's lots more. I wish BMW would do a modern take on a 2002.