Darren L
Egalitarian
BMW re-imagined the Mini and called it MINI.
To my eyes ( and the eyes of many others ) it is an appalling thing.
Yep, I'm sure that's true, I quite like the original mini. I'm sure the new Mini has its fans too.
Where people like myself will choose to own and maintain a classic bike or classic car there's evidently a lot of people who like to buy new products with a retro or classic styling, should that be cars, fridges, food mixers, etc. Obviously this preference is filtering through to Hifi and other audio products and has been for some time, kitchen table top radios, etc.
Harley Davidson was saved by its Heritage and Fatboy Evo bikes in the early 90's, bikes that were styled to mimic the classic Harley's of the 50's and 60's and earlier in the case of the springer models and have continued to do so, same with Triumph and the launch of the Bonneville range, the styling echoing Triumphs best bikes from the late sixties.
So while opinion may be divided on aesthetics, country of origin or manufacture, along with everything else, it may be a popular and successful product.