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Interesting! I don't have the time to look for it unfortunately, but I do remember Blumenthal writing about reviews being "lost" that he expected would eventually return. It had something to do with migrating systems and account coding. They were "lost" as in "misplaced with a chance of being found" as opposed to "on a mysterious deserted island for 7 seasons before you find out they were really dead all along."

That probably wasn't helpful. This may be...

• It is great that you are seeing content return, but I don't think this is a signal that Google has relaxed the positions that caused the TOU rewrite and subsequent loss of reviews for so many dealers in Dec of 2012. Those were certainly filtered not misplaced reviews.
• Old reviews are a little like a service visit on the vehicle history report. They show a good history but give no indication of present condition. Old reviews returning is great, but they don't take the place of recent reviews to build consumer trust and confidence in the retailer.