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 readers split on; models from the 1940s to the 1960s drew 83 to 87%
Source: Statwren, The Classic Car Report (2026). Share of ❤️ votes on photos of 527 car models, pooled by the decade each model was sold, jalopytalk.com readers, Aug 31 to Oct 30, 2026. 6,717 votes from 1,526 readers.
Readers of a US classic-car publication voted on photos of 527 car models, from 1940s wagons to 2010s crossovers. They liked cars from every era, but not equally: models from the 1940s to the 1960s drew 83 to 87% hearts, and from the 1970s on the scores fall.
The 2000s are the low point at 49%, largely crossovers, retro experiments and badge-engineered sedans. 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 the same story. Muscle cars (86%) and sports cars (81%) lead, while SUVs and crossovers (47%) and minivans (48%) trail.
From the report
The full report ranks all 527 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