Why don't car companies remake some of their classic car models if people like them so much?

Of course safety is in mind because everyone would freak out if they didn't have a seat belt and air bags in every inch of the car, but why can't some of the companies just remake their best selling car models? Dodge could remake their 1948 Sedan and Ford could remake their 1949 Custom. I could list more but I can't think of any more classics.

They do already Jaguar has produced 6 hand built replicas of the iconic E type Jaguar from copied moulds from 1960's but fully up to date in engineering like suspension breaks transmittion and engine.

Technically they could. But who would buy it?

People that buy new cars won't want it because it looks old.
People that like old classic cars won't buy it because it's new. Even if it looks the same it will have a new engine, with fuel injection and computers.
Regular folks won't buy it because the Front engine / rear drive is more expensive, less fuel efficient and leaves less space for passengers and luggage…

So who is your actual target market?

Sure they have redone the Mini and the Beetle, but those are now modern cars. They sell OK because the new designs are still practical, but they are only loosely based on the original designs. Mechanically they totally modern cars.

Well…

Emissions. Engine needs to be smogged out. Hard to get good mileage in a steel tank.

Safety. ABS, air bags, crumple zones. Those old boats were steel body on a steel frame. They killed the occupants in what could be considered a minor traffic accident today.

Look at the plastic looking Chargers, Mustangs, Cameros that they are putting out today, would you want them to do that to their iconic older cars?

Making exact replicas of classic cars may not be realistic due to different emissions and crash safety laws etc. Since they were first in production.
Plus the market is simply too small. While there are many car enthusiasts who love a particular car, unless the manufacturer can sell thousands of them, they won't make them. Making small numbers of cars is too expensive. You have tooling costs, type approval testing, production line set-up costs etc. It costs millions to get a car ready for production and those costs have to be recouped from sales.
Saying that, people do buy modern "interpretations" of classic cars. Cars like the new VW Beetle, Mini/Cooper, Fiat 500 etc are modern cars which take their styling cues and character from the classics.

In most cases getting them to pass modern safety and emissions regulations means they would be different cars.
This is not what most people want.

The market base (people who actually want to buy, and can afford to pay for) "classic" cars is so small that it would cost MILLIONS of dollars to build the few accurate replicas that any auto manufacturer could sell to the public. They would have to be hand-built from the ground up, and made to order for each customer. There have been a few attempts to factory build modern, updated vehicles that resemble "classic" style, like the Chevy SSR and Plymouth Prowler. They were major financial and marketing failures.

Because they don't meet current standards. And the companies won't make money on old designs with poor performance handling economy safety and reliability.

I agree with you, some companies are trying to make modern upgrades to classics, like the Challenger, the Camaro, (maybe the New Beetle,) and the Mustang.

I saw the 2015 Mustang was changing to look like a "world sports car" and bought a 2014. I don't think there's any production car that looks more like the original. But it drives better, the smallest available motor puts out 3X the horsepower of the original stock motor and probably twice the fuel mileage.

There aren't enough people to buy enough of them, even the stupidly popular ones like the '57 Chevy; you'd have to remake all the old tooling, at a price that doesn't give back much change from a billion.

If consumer would buy them them they would, but safety laws are very different now, most of those cars would not legal to sell. Like before 1972 seat belts were mostly optional, only used by sissies, lol. Oh have thing changed, right.