Longest Production Runs Without Major Changes

The most extreme changes thread got me thinking about the longest runs with no or only superficial/cosmetic changes.  As in, you could directly swap a door or hood without cutting metal.  All the examples I can think of are British.  I'm not sure anything could beat the Series/Defender Land Rover (1958-2016) or real Mini (1959-2000).  Initially I considered the MGB or Spridget, but they only lasted for around 20 years.

Volkswagen Type I: 1938-2003

Lada. From beginning of time to present. 

Hard to beat those, but vans have some staying power for domestics.  Chevy's Chevy Van Series 3 lasted 1971 - 1995 and the Express Van lasted 1995 to present.   The E-Series from Ford lasted 1975 - 1991 then 1992 - 2014.  Dodge's B-Series went 1979 - 1993. 

How about some more (relatively) modern stuff?

B13 Sentra was from 1992 to 2017 in Mexico

VW Scirocco was from 1974 to 1992 and only two generations, both on the A1 chassis.

VW Fox (Gol) was relatively unchanged from 1980-1994, all years are considered first generation.

Heck, even the good ol GMT400 was from 1988-2000 and the Superduty was from 1999 to 2016.  The Superduty saw a lot of changes, but the GMT400 stayed pretty consistent.  

Of course, Checker Cabs were around forever as well.  

Jaguar XJS 1975-1996

Checker cab.

Lockheed C-130: first produced in 1954, STILL in production:

(The most noticeable change was going from 3 to 4 propellors after the first version)

Beachcraft Bonanza:  First build in 1947, STILL in production.

(Most obvious change is the loss of the V tail.  It's also been continually stretched and up engined)

In reply to pinchvalve :

The B-series van went through some moderate updates, but didn't really change a whole lot between 1971 and 2003.

Dodge trucks.

1972

til 1993

mtn said:

Volkswagen Type I: 1938-2003

There were actually some pretty significant styling changes over the years.

The postwar VW engineers found that doing practically any change at all would require a disproportionately large amount of sheetmetal.  The original KdF-Wagen was rather well designed to stretch the least amount of steel over the volume as possible.

I know the Fiat 124 spider went essentially unchanged from 66 to 85 1/2. That is almost 20 years with swappable body panels.

mtn said:

Volkswagen Type I: 1938-2003

I came in here to say the exact same thing.

GM pickup's from 1973-1987. Commercial cab and chassis along with the Suburban and Blazer continued the paltform to 1992.

Ford C series cab over. 1957-1990

D40 Nissan frontier has to be some kind of modern record.  2004-present at least 2019.  The replacement overseas is getting old and will probably be replaced before we get a replacement.  

Caterham?  (Annually bringing you the Lotus Seven series 3)

Morgan? 

I wonder when AvtoVAZ stopped making the "Classic".

The 2107 is still being produced in Egypt.

Citroen 2CV , last ones in Portugal , 

Fiat 600 , last ones in Spain and Argentina

Honda 50cc stepthru , still being built

Not sure if the BMW or Zundapp ww2 copies are still being made in Russia or China

nocones said:

D40 Nissan frontier has to be some kind of modern record.  2004-present at least 2019.  The replacement overseas is getting old and will probably be replaced before we get a replacement.  

Sadly, yup. I have a 2012 crew cab pro4x. Short of some very minor changes in interior or wheels, slight grill changes, you cant really tell a 2004 from now.  The extremely thin total piece of E36 M3 paint is going to be faded terribly on the older ones. My 2012 has paint falling the rain gutters and a few other blems. Ive been a total nissan fan but i dont think id buy another. Im kinda glad they didnt redesign it yet, they will probably ruin it like they did the titan. Hideous. 

pinchvalve said:

Hard to beat those, but vans have some staying power for domestics.  Chevy's Chevy Van Series 3 lasted 1971 - 1995 and the Express Van lasted 1995 to present.   The E-Series from Ford lasted 1975 - 1991 then 1992 - 2014.  Dodge's B-Series went 1979 - 1993. 

Hawt.

Mid 60’s F100/150 until they actually changed the damn thing for the 97 model yr....

Most everything across those yrs is easily swapable forwards and backwards. That’s on top of being able to swap other models over for even better parts.

The RTS was made from 1977 to 2003 by three different manufacturers  

Hindustan Ambassador  1958 to 2014

First flight 1955. Still making them. Over 44,000 produced. The most successful aircraft (as far as numbers sold) in history. Skyhawks forever.

Ranger50 said:

Mid 60’s F100/150 until they actually changed the damn thing for the 97 model yr....

Most everything across those yrs is easily swapable forwards and backwards. That’s on top of being able to swap other models over for even better parts.

I knew I was doing it wrong... Got the newest (read: most boring) body on the very tail end of the lack of mechanical advancement...