Fear of change and desecration of an icon are two different things. For those unaware, it seems Ford and Chevrolet are leaning towards producing four-door versions of the Mustang and Camaro within the next few years. I blame Dodge, who did this first when it reintroduced the Charger model as a four-door sedan.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Ford displayed a Mustang sedan at a dealer event and claimed the next-generation model would accelerate from 0-60 in under four seconds and have a starting price under $40,000. According to unnamed attendees of this event, it also will feature a hybrid powertrain, possibly with eight cylinders. As a reference, Ford may be inclined to build a four-door Mustang considering the Mustang Mach-E outsold its gas-powered pony car counterpart by nearly 14% in 2025. Nonetheless, nothing has been officially confirmed by Ford.

Additionally, Chevrolet has been talking about bringing back a Chevrolet Camaro in four-door form for 2029. It reportedly will offer a high-performance V-8 and the choice of automatic or manual transmission. This softens the blow a bit of the reimagining of one of the most iconic vehicles in American history.

Unfortunately, there’s precedent since the Dodge Charger returned for 2006 and has become an integral part of Dodge’s offering. The only real snag that has occurred is when Dodge decided to drop the Hemi V-8 for the redesigned 2025 Charger; in fact, the redesigned Charger debuted in EV guise and included what is basically an undercarriage-mounted sound bar to mimic the idle of a performance engine.

When you’ve had an established manner of doing things, making a drastic change can end poorly. We don’t even have to go far back into the past for an example — anybody remember when Cracker Barrel tried to change its logo in 2025? The backlash was so severe that the company had to reverse course and lost millions of dollars doing so. Why? A Forbes article points out consumers can have deep emotional attachments to brand logos. Their previous logo would jog memories of warm family dinners out, coming home with knickknacks from the store, delicious biscuits and gravy and, of course, those iconic peg games that sit at every table.

Usha Haley, an expert in business strategy and Barton Chair in International Business at Wichita State University, told Forbes that “Cracker Barrel’s rebranding offers a textbook case in how legacy brands can stumble and recover when modernizing their image. The company’s minimalist logo stripped away iconic symbols that had anchored its identity for decades. Its step toward modernization quickly sparked outrage that social media and conservative commentators fanned by labeling the rebrand as a cultural concession. Shortly after, the company’s stock slid, erasing millions in market value.”

If a company changing its logo can have that drastic of an effect, a radical change for the Mustang and Camaro may have the same result. Mustang and Camaro have been coupes and (sometimes) convertibles ever since their inception. Plus, whether it’s the modified 1967 Shelby Mustang named “Eleanor” from the 2000 film “Gone In 60 Seconds”or the 2009 Camaro known as “Bumblebee” from the 2007 film “Transformers,” these models have more than integrated themselves into pop culture.

Here’s what I propose to Ford and Chevrolet:

Revive a different nameplate, then cash in on nostalgia with the right marketing campaign. A comprehensive Nielsen Emotional Resonance Study that spanned 12 countries recently found that 79% of customers are more likely to buy when ads evoke nostalgia. Of those 12 countries, they found the United States had the highest rate at 82%.

If you’re Ford, there’s one clear-cut favorite nameplate to bring back: Galaxie. If you are going to promote cutting-edge technology in a futuristic-designed exterior, why not? Imagine if Ford brought back the hardtop like the above 1963½ Galaxie. Ford could even tap into the Galaxie’s racing background with a specific trim that pays homage to the car that racked up 48 victories in the 1965 NASCAR Grand National Series (for context, the 1965 season had 55 races).  

And Chevrolet? Maybe look at reviving Bel Air, Caprice, Biscayne or, dare I say, Chevelle. As you can see from the 1964 brochure, when the Chevelles debuted, there were four-door options available. Chevrolet can also tap into the muscle aesthetic for a performance model — imagine a 2029 Chevrolet Chevelle SS sedan with a 535-horsepower LS6 6.7-liter V-8, performance-enhanced suspension, a sporty but elegant spoiler, and Marina Blue paint. To me, that’s worthy of a manly grunt a la Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor from “Home Improvement.”  

This way, you can play into the nostalgia of the Galaxie and Chevelle nameplates while continuing with the authenticity of Mustang and Camaro as we know them.

Nonetheless, Chevrolet may have a little backlash on its hands by using the Chevelle name since most people’s first thoughts are not a 1964 Chevrolet Chevelle 300 4-door sedan. But at least Chevrolet will be able to point to the past and say, “We have done this before.”

What do you think? Is there a different nameplate you’d like to see Ford and/or Chevrolet use for a performance sedan? Tell us in the Comments section.