Classic cars and their modern counterparts

It might be your favourite family hatchback, born in the 1970s and now into its eighth generation. Or it could be an iconic design from the 1950s that got a cute modern reinterpretation for the 21st Century.

Whichever way it happens, many classic cars have modern counterparts, and comparing and contrasting the old and the new can be quite informative (and also great fun).

Here are a few of our favourite classic and modern pairings. The classics in this list are all prime candidates for specialist classic car insurance – and we think that many of their modern equivalents will also make that grade before too long.

Bentley Mulsanne (1980-92 / 2011-present)

Producers at the very summit of the car market – such as Rolls Royce and Bentley – don't seem to feel the need to adapt and evolve quite as fast as the various marques beneath them in the pecking order.

After all, these top-end brands can call on a very select and loyal customer base, whose heads won't be turned by the latest little design detail – they just want big, luxurious cars that do everything as well as they have ever done. And, as they say, class is timeless.

For that reason, today's Bentley Mulsanne isn't all that big a leap forward from its predecessor, which entered production just over four decades ago. In fact, the biggest difference we'd point to is in the look of the car – we'd say that Bentley has traded some of the stately square lines of the original for a more bulbous, muscular shape. Where the original Mulsanne looked most at home outside a large stately home, the modern equivalent looks better suited to the glitz and glamour of Knightsbridge or Mayfair.

The 1980 Mulsanne was a badge-engineered Rolls Royce Silver Spirit, renamed by Bentley after the famous straight section of the Le Mans circuit, where race cars can get up a decent head of steam. As the name suggests, the Bentley had a sportier profile than its Rolls Royce sibling, with sports seats and – from 1982 – a potent Turbo version. The entry-level Bentley Eight, meanwhile, featured a mesh radiator grille instead of the usual vertical silver bars, plus cloth seats and steel wheels – and was available for the same price as a range-topping Mercedes-Benz. Not something you can say of today's Mulsanne.

The two generations do have a fair bit in common, though – such as their 6.75-litre V8 engines, and an ability to waft you along both extremely quietly and exceedingly quickly. Should you decide that a classic Bentley Mulsanne is the way you wish to go, we'll be very pleased to provide you with the right level of.

Honda Civic (Mk1 / Mk10)

Some car model names have simply gone through enough generations to make their latest iteration look light years from its original. And here, we had a few choices – the VW Golf, the BMW 3 Series, the Vauxhall Astra. However, the car that's gone through the most comprehensive changes while still retaining the same name might be the 10-generations-and-counting Honda Civic.

The Civic has, unsurprisingly, evolved in many ways since its first generation entered the market back in 1972. You can almost trace the development in waves. The first two generations were cute little bubble-shaped hatchbacks that resembled the other small, efficient Japanese machines flooding the market after 1973's oil crisis. Generations three and four, through the 1980s, looked nicely boxy and space age.

Five, six and seven, from the 1990s, were – dare we say it – just a little dull (although seven had a cooking Type R that's still a recognised classic today). Eight zoomed in from the outer limits of the cosmos in 2005, a genuinely futuristic-looking car (the European model at least – the US model was more conservative).

Nine and 10 dialled back some of those otherworldly looks – a shame, in our view – but kept enough pizzazz to make the Civic stand out from the rest of the small family car crowd. In particular, the 10th generation has grown – it's the biggest and heaviest Civic yet, at around 4.5 metres and weighing 1,300kg. Compare that with the first generation's 3.5 metres and 600-790kg. In fact, today's Honda Jazz, the car that sits below the Civic in the Honda family tree, is now significantly bigger than that first Civic.

Mercedes 300SL 'Gullwing' / SLS AMG

This is less a case of direct replacement, more of a spiritual successor. When Mercedes brought out their aggressive-looking, gullwing-doored SLS AMG in 2010, with design input from racing driver David Coulthard, they acknowledged that the car bore some influences from their legendary 300SL 'Gullwing' car.

Of course, those doors are the most obvious point of reference, but other visual cues have carried through as well. The long, low, wide stance, for one thing. As to the doors themselves, those on the original 300SL were opened and closed manually: its modern counterpart has adapted this formula somewhat. The SLS AMG's doors open upwards on gas struts, but have to be closed manually as an auto-closing system would have added an undesirable 41kg of extra weight, robbing the car of some of its awesome speed and agility.

Interestingly, the 300SL's iconic doors were, in fact, a design necessity rather than a piece of cosmetic window-dressing. The cabin was narrower than the front and rear of the car (aerodynamics, again), making standard doors impracticable and necessitating the extraordinary, roof-hinged 'gullwings'.

The original 300SL could manage a top speed of up to 263km/h (163 mph), and became both a racing champion and the fastest production car of its time. The SLS AMG also had a distinguished racing career – notably as the safety car for Formula One's 2010 and 2011 seasons, although it also won events as a competitor, including the 2013 24 Hours of Spa race.

Fiat 500 (1957-75 / 2007-present)

When you think of a classic car that's been given a faithful and successful update for the modern world, it's quite likely that it's the Fiat 500 that will pop into your head.

The original 500, which enjoyed a long and successful production run from 1957 to 1975, was a much-loved, dinky little city car that somehow epitomised simple, graceful Italian style. When Fiat decided to revisit the 500 in 2007, they managed to dial in just enough of that original cuteness, and to resist the temptation to supersize the car. Result: the modern 500 is almost as eye-catchingly cute as the original.

The first Cinquecento had a 479 cc two-cylinder engine that put out just 13 horsepower. Well, Italian city streets are narrow and crowded, with mopeds, scooters, bikes and pedestrians darting this way and that, so you really don't need that much speed. The car also came, originally, with a fabric roof that folded backwards all the way to the C-pillars: later models folded just halfway. And, for the first four years of production only, the original 400 got those infamous 'suicide' doors, hinged at the rear rather than front.

Which of these little design features did the modern 500 adopt? Well, for one thing, it did offer a Cabrio guise, featuring a retractable canvas roof, very much like its predecessor. The car inevitably became bigger and heavier, as it had to – we all demand a bit more space and a few more creature comforts these days. The latter-day 500 is actually 57cm longer, 30cm wider and 17cm higher than its predecessor, and if you look at the two cars side by side the 2007 500 is very much the bigger sibling.

However, Fiat managed to retain enough of the original's compact charm, while making the car something that you could comfortably drive around town – and even down the odd motorway – without getting a sore backside and some amused looks. Indeed, today's 500 looks like a dead cert for becoming a modern classic within a few years. We'll be pleased to provide generations of future 500 owners with some classic car insurance.

Jaguar C-Type (1953 / 2021)

This really is a case of a legend reborn. The original Jaguar C-Type was the race-going equivalent of the Coventry company's popular XK-120 sports car, and it was built to a tight deadline, to allow it to compete in the 1951 Le Mans 24 Hour race.

There's a great story there: the conversion of the XK120C into the slippery, aerodynamic C-Type was spearheaded by one Malcolm Sayer, who'd formerly worked with the Bristol Aeroplane Company (some experience with aerodynamics, then) and who would go onto design Jaguar's E-Type.

The first three C-Types were designed, built and tested in just six months, giving engineers just enough time to jump in the cars and drive from Coventry to Le Mans for the start of the race. Drivers Peter Whitehead and Peter Walker won the event in the C-Type – and a racing superstar was born.

The C-Type also competed at the 1952 race, but the cars overheated. The following year they returned, with retuned engines, lighter body panels, and – a major innovation, this – disc brakes. The latter, which had originally been produced for use in aeroplanes, looked set to give Jaguar enough of an advantage for Le Mans to consider banning the marque from the race. However, no ban was issued, the C-Types won the day – and disc brakes started to gain some serious, er, traction in automotive engineering.

Now, Jaguar has started on a project to build 16 recreations of the 1953 Le Mans-winning C-Type. Before you get too excited and reach for the wallet, we should warn you that these cars are the very definition of 'exclusive', costing up to £2 million each.

Jaguar are setting about the task of recreation very faithfully, dusting down the original drawings as well as the car's engineering ledger, which lists the 2,000 parts required. Each replica will take around 1,000 hours to build – and will be a faithful reproduction of the iconic '53 race winner, barring a few minor modernisations such as enhanced brakes and racing harnesses, to meet modern historic racing requirements. Better still, each of the 16 will feature some original components – a rear-view mirror here, a fuse box cover there – that have been sourced from collectors and owners’ clubs.

Unfortunately, these new C-Types are not road legal, so they'll be for track days only. Which may make that near-£2-million price tag seem rather steep. If you bag yourself a classic C-Type call the specialists at Lancaster for some classic car insurance advice.

Mini (original / electric)

Our final choice isn't so much a modern counterpart, as a case of fitting a modern power source into a classic car… but it'll work for us here.

Yes, the good news has come from London Electric Cars (LEC), who have launched a conversion kit to adapt the iconic original Mini into an electric vehicle. Prices for the kit start from £25,000, and that excludes the cost of the 'donor' Mini.

Sounds expensive – until you compare it with the other electrified classic car options out there. For example, RBW will sell you an electric MGB, but it will cost you £108,000, while Lunaz are selling electrified Mk1 Range Rovers for a mere £245,000.

The LEC conversion loads a 20kWh battery pack into the Mini (it sits under the rear bench and occupies some boot space). That small battery keeps the conversion cost relatively low – but does give you a range of just 60-70 miles on the urban circuit. Larger 25kWh and 33kWh batteries are also available, at slightly higher prices, with 90- and 110-mile ranges respectively.

The batteries themselves are reclaimed from used Nissan Leafs. The Mini's electric motor has also been sourced from that car, and sits under the bonnet, occupying the same space as the old Mini petrol engine. The electric Mini will also have around 107bhp of power, roughly twice as much as its petrol predecessor. Should be a fun drive – just don't forget that range.

Keep vintage cars on the roads with classic car insurance

Whether it's an original Fiat 500 or an iconic Mercedes 'Gullwing' you've got your eye on, here at Lancaster we can provide classics insurance for a huge range of vintage vehicles.

Contact us to find out more.

Policy benefits, features and discounts offered may very between insurance schemes or cover selected and are subject to underwriting criteria. Information contained within this article is accurate at the time of publishing but may be subject to change.