Bring back the Frisky!

I was surprised and delighted to learn from Matt Burt's blog that Datsun is coming back. It won’t mean reincarnated 240Z, Laurel or Bluebirds, sadly, but it will be a well-thought-out branding exercise by the people in marketing.

I do wonder though whether any car buyers, outside of the 'Autocar anorak faction' really care. Punters just want either a cheap car or a posh one with BMW/Mercedes/Audi badge on it.

So on the basis that we actually care, how about reviving some long-forgotten names from our illustrious past and sticking them on something boring?

For that reason, the Frisky with a bike engine and plastic body is overdue for revival I reckon. The Autocar Frisky has a nice ring to it and we could stick one of the buzzy Suzuki engines in it and get Hilton Holloway to design the body.

Gilbern: that was a classy little Welsh thing wasn’t? Surely they could make another in the valleys? The Tourette was not a syndrome but an egg-like three-wheeler built in Surrey. The Scootacar was pretty much the same but built in Leeds. Talking of Yorkshire, what about their friendly neighbours in Lancashire? The Rochdale Olympic, a great name, especially this year.

The more you delve into British car industry, the better the names get. I’d love a Powerdrive, which was a 1950s, slighty pre-Mini economy car. So much more sexy than the Nissan Leaf.

So which marque or model names do you want to bring back and what would they be?