The 5 Oldest New Cars You Can Buy Today
Some cars need a refresh or a redo every few years. Others don’t, or they simply sell well enough in their current forms that a manufacturer doesn’t want to spend the scratch to update a model. Shout out to the GMC Express van, for example, which has gone 20 years without any kind of redesign, or the ancient Grand Cherokee WK. But these five cars have all managed to last 10 to 15 years without any major revisions.
2023 Dodge Charger: All new in 2006
It’s hard to believe the charger has been around since the middle of the George W. Bush administration. The Dodge Charger is in the same boat as the Challenger, in that 2023 is the last year for this big bruiser of a sedan. Dodge has done a good job of keeping the Charger’s aging platform looking and feeling new, especially after its 2011 and then 2015 updates. It’s still the cheapest sedan with a V8 you can buy.
Fun fact: the Charger was launched when Mercedes owned the company and it uses the same five-link suspension as a 2006 Mercedes Benz E-Class. That’s one of the reasons these cars handle better than a giant car with massive horsepower has any right to.
2023 Dodge Challenger: All new in 2008
I owned a Challenger. It was a 2012 R/T with a Hemi V8, and I loved it. I pined after the newer versions made from 2016 on, which looked similar but had a much nicer interior. Regardless, the Challenger hasn’t changed much since its 2008 introduction, other than dozens of special RT, SRT, Hellcat, Scat Pack and other special editions that Dodge launched to spice up the car.
The Challenger goes away after the 2023 model year, however. There will likely never be a car like it ever again with a big V8, real seating for five people, rear-wheel drive and a hairiness that only Dodge could engineer in.
Nissan GTR: All new in 2008
Like the Dodge brothers, the current GTR disappears after the 2023 model year. But to our eyes the GTR still looks like a futuristic Godzilla and it’s lines, while controversial in 2009, have aged well. This car raised the bar so far in 2009 that other manufacturers are still struggling to catch up. Nissan made it look easy to extract 557 horsepower from its twin-turbo V6. Combined with its all-wheel drive and sophisticated launch control, it still holds its own on racetracks and dragstrips.
Rolls-Royce Ghost: All new in 2010
We get it, Rolls-Royce, you made the Ghost perfect in 2010 and there’s no need to replace it. This gigantic, and we mean huge, sedan weighs nearly 3 tons, and has a 6.75 twin-turbocharged V12 under its long hood. But its dramatic styling, nearly endless list of features and customization options, as well as its exclusivity make it something special. Rolls did update it for 2021 with new styling and a new Planar suspension system.
Despite the car’s exorbitant price, last year Rolls-Royce said it sold more than 6,000 cars, and the Ghost was most popular in Southeast Asia.
Nissan Altima: Last all new in 2013
The Altima name was launched in 1992, and it slotted in as Nissan’s midsize sedan between the spartan Sentra and massive Maxima. But the current car has been around for 10 years now, basically unchanged. Once Nissan settles on a design it’s hard to dissuade the company to change. The last Frontier pickup truck, for example, lasted an astonishing 23 years from 1997 to 2020 without many major changes, and we already mentioned the GTR. Despite that, it’s still Nissan’s best-selling car and we admit that with the V6 borrowed from the 350Z, it has more power than you’d expect. Most expect Nissan to redesign the Altima for 2025.
