The oldest vehicle nameplates still on sale in Australia

There's a reason why some nameplates have been around for so long. Many are the pioneering vehicle's in their respective segments, still dominating sales as they did 50, 60, and in some cases, even 70 years ago.

But in an automotive world in the grips of a major technological transition, past sales history isn't necessarily a guarantee of future longevity. In an electrified future, some cars may simply no longer be able to perform the roles they were designed to do.

So, in light of that, let's take a moment to acknowledge the longest-surviving nameplates that are still with us today – many of which have a unique connection to the Australian car landscape – because they certainly won't all be forever.

Ford Mustang

Ford’s flagship two-door sports car was released back in 1964, and it immediately shattered a sales record for the company, selling 418,000 examples globally in its first year.

It has maintained a strong sales trajectory in the US ever since, while it was only sold in Australia for a brief period between 1964 and 1965.

It returned to the Australian market in 2015, at the beginning of what has been a decade-long run as the world's top-selling sports car.

Ford commemorated 60 years of continuous production in April this year, releasing a special anniversary edition to mark the occasion that paid homage to the original 1965 Mustang with a stack of design highlights. Fittingly, just 1965 examples were sold.

There's no plans to scrap the Mustang any time soon either, with Ford recently unveiling the Dark Horse this year, a 5.0-litre naturally aspirated V8 with a manual transmission and rear-wheel drive.

Controversially, Ford electrified the Mustang nameplate in 2020 with the release of the Mustang Mach-E, a four-door EV SUV.

Toyota Corolla

The greatest selling nameplate of all-time. Some 50 million Corollas have been sold since Toyota first introduced it as a compact sedan in 1966, with the signature “liftback” (hatchback) model following a decade later.

Australia has a particular affinity for the Corolla; 666,000 vehicles were built in Australia between 1968 and 1999 at Toyota’s Victorian, while more than 1 million have been sold domestically.

The global demand for Corollas shows no signs of slowing down, either, especially not in Australia where it is still far and away the most dominant vehicle in the small car segment. So far this year nearly 16,000 have been sold, representing a market share of 40.8 per cent.

To this day the Corolla is built at Toyota’s original Takaoka factory in Tokyo.

Toyota LandCruiser

Affectionately known as the bushy’s best friend, the LandCruiser has evolved considerably since the first model was first conceived all the way back in 1951.

It started life as the Toyota ‘Jeep’ BJ model, having been commissioned by the United States military to act as a competitor against the original Willys Jeep for deployment in the Korean War.

The BJ quickly proved itself as a capable performer, but soon found itself in the sights of the Willys’ legal team, who claimed ownership of the “Jeep” name and argued Toyota was infringing on its intellectual property.

The LandCruiser moniker was hence born in 1958, and the following year it debuted on sale in Australia, opening Toyota’s first official overseas export market. Several generations have followed since, but the iconic 5-door wagon that we now know today as the 300 series first debuted in 1967 as the J50, while the iconic 70 series, which is still on sale today, debuted in 1984.

Toyota's 300-Series LandCruiser – which was unveiled with a turbo-diesel V6 engine in 2021 – still remains Australia's most popular upper large SUV priced under $120,000 to date, selling 11,181 vehicles so far in 2024, more than double it's closest competitor, the Nissan Patrol.

The current V8 70 series ute continues to sell strongly, enjoying 8185 sales so far this year, for a 6.3 per cent share of the highly competitive ute segment.

Toyota has confirmed it has closed the order books forever on its iconic V8-powered 70 Series LandCruiser, but it will live on with a four-cylinder unit.

Porsche 911

Undoubtedly the three most important digits for the German automaker, the 911 debuted in 1964 as the successor to the 346 model, Porsche’s first ever production vehicle.

Initially known as the 901, Porsche was forced to abruptly change its name prior to the vehicle’s official release due to a legal challenge by Peugeot, which arguably proved a blessing in disguise.

60 years later, the 911 is still built at its original factory in Zuffenhausen, Germany, where more than 1 million examples have rolled off the assembly line.

It has very much stayed true to its heritage in terms of its design. It still sports the same rear-engine layout as the original two-door coupe did in 1964, while the iconic oval-shaped Porsche headlines have remained a consistent design marker.

Porsche has committed to making the 911 live on in the EV era through the use of synthetic fuel, which is designed to power internal combustion engines in a nearly carbon-neutral way. Porsche hopes to sell its eFuel, which it produces in Chile, on a commercial scale by the end of the decade.

Chevrolet Corvette

Widely regarded as America’s first ever mass-produced sports car, the Chevy Corvette first debuted back in 1953 as a concept vehicle, and was quickly rushed into production to capitalise on public interest.

Its dashing good looks didn’t translate into strong sales, and Chevrolet nearly cut the model entirely during its first few years of production until deciding to make the necessary changes. Clearly they worked because it's still here today, eight generations later.

One of the big changes that Chevy made was the implementation of a V8 engine in 1955, opposed to the clunky straight-six that was mated to a two-speed automatic transmission. A coupe body style was introduced in 1963.

It was never officially sold in Australia until 2021, when General Motors began producing the Corvette in right-hand drive for the Australian, UK and Japanese markets. GM products sold in Australia are typically converted to right-hand drive by GMSV in Melbourne, as is done with the Chevrolet Silverado.

70 years later, the current generation C8 is one of the most desirable sports cars on the market, still sporting a powerful American-made V8 that is all thanks to the generations before it.

Mercedes SL

The SL hit the market in 1954 and quickly earned a reputation as a racing car marvel.

Known as the “super leicht” in German, meaning “super light” in English, the first-generation gull-wing 300 SL certainly lived up to its name, being the fastest production car of its time. Its aluminium frame, coupled with its punchy 3.0-litre straight-six engine, sent the car on its way to a top-speed of 263km/h.

A roadster version arrived in 1957, and from that point onwards practically every version sold – bar the gull-winged SLS AMG – has been a roadster.

It still sells relatively strongly in Australia, selling 38 examples this year to date, more than the BMW 8 Series and Chevrolet Corvette Z06.

Ford F Series

Not a specific model per se, but the F-series pick up line dates back to 1948, with the first-generation F-1, F-2 and F-3 models.

The second-generation F-series was sold in Australia as the F-100 during the 1950s. Ford Australia even began manufacturing the sixth-generation F-100 domestically in 1973, until it was rebranded as the F-150 in 1975. Domestic production of the F-series wrapped up in Australia in 1993.

Ford Australia dealers sold a small range of F-250 and F-350 pickups for five years between 2006 and 2011, until Ford began reselling the fourteenth-generation F-150 model in Australia in 2023, where it is locally remanufactured into right-hand drive.

Ford has sold 1443 examples of the F-150 since it arrived in Australia last year, where it has climbed the pick-up segment, landing second to the RAM 1500. And with sales of the 1500 dwindling, it's only a matter of time until Ford claims another utility segment.

After all, it has been the best selling pick-up truck in America for 47 years.

Honourable mention: Chevrolet Suburban

The longest running nameplate in automotive history is sadly no longer sold in Australia.

Introduced to the American market all the way back in 1935, the Chevrolet Suburban adopted a moniker that was commonly used for passenger carrying cars built on truck frames in the early 20th century. It didn’t officially trademark the name until 1978, which by then it had passed through seven-generations, and millions of American hands.

It was sold in Australia for a short period of time in the 90s as the Holden Suburban, though it didn’t sell particularly well.

Today, the Chevrolet suburban is in its 12th generation, with no signs of slowing down yet. Last year it sold over 40,000 vehicles in the US, not bad for a 79-year-old car.