2000s Car Models Split Readers; Cars From the 1940s to 1960s Win
Cars · Heart share by decade
hearts for car models from the 2000s, the only decade at or below 50/50; models from the 1940s to the 1960s drew 85–87%
Source: Statwren, The Classic Car Report (2026). Share of ❤️ votes on photos of 441 car models, pooled by the decade each model was sold, jalopytalk.com readers, Aug 31 to Oct 30, 2026. 2,751 votes on car-model photos with a known decade (6,717 votes from 1,526 readers in the full study).
Readers of a US classic-car publication voted on photos of 441 car models, from 1940s wagons to 2010s crossovers. Every decade but the 2000s drew more hearts than thumbs-downs, but not equally: models from the 1940s to the 1960s drew 85–87% hearts, and every later decade scores lower.
The 2000s are the low point at 49%; its lowest scorers include the SsangYong Rodius, Subaru B9 Tribeca and Pontiac Aztek. The pattern holds when each car is compared with the other cars in the same article, so it is not just a matter of which articles the older cars appeared in.
Body style tells a similar story. Station wagons (86%), muscle cars (85%) and concept cars (84%) lead, while SUVs and crossovers (47%) and minivans (44%) trail.
From the report
The full report ranks the car models, breaks them down by decade, body style and origin, shows why readers loved or rejected each car, and adds 15 car polls on eras, colours, chrome and what readers would rather own.
See the full report