Extinct Manufacturers / Models / Trim Levels

[Levin]

Do you know of any vehicles gone totally extinct?

With millions of cars on UK roads, and millions more scrapped, it's highly likely that some have gone totally extinct. With some of the earliest survivors an 1875 Grenville steam carriage and an 1894 Santler, almost all of their contemporaries are long gone. I'd like to hear more about vehicles that no longer exist in physical form, whether extinct manufacturers, models, or even oddball trim levels.

How Many Left? is a popular resource for this kind of thing, but invariably information from within it is questioned or found to be faulty. Furthermore, it doesn't have any of the same knowledge PH does. This forum, time and time again, shows itself to be a wealth of incredibly obscure knowledge; naturally I want to read and see more of it.

I'll begin with an extreme example. The Aeroford. Seemingly built from 1920-25, the Aeroford was a Ford Model T with a modernised front intended to make the model more appealing to buyers. There are no known photographs of an Aeroford. If we agree there are extinct vehicles, the Aeroford is especially dead.

Any other examples don't have to be quite so nonexistent as the Aeroford but any examples at all are welcome - even, as I mentioned, trim levels.

[Massey135]

Ghia

The aspirational trim level for Fords
Velour, bronze tinted glass and a wee shield on the boot and front wings

Bring it back I say

[gamefreaks]

Most of the Renault 19's.

They used to be everywhere. I had 2 of them when I was younger.

I haven't seen one on the road for years.

A lot of the trim/engine levels are gone completely now.

[Nickbrapp]

Massey135 said:

Ghia

The aspirational trim level for Fords
Velour, bronze tinted glass and a wee shield on the boot and front wings

Bring it back I say

They did, with the vinlage range which is also a total flop.

Was quite good on the mondeo, had active noise canceling though the speakers like a Range Rover

[Nickbrapp]

There’s loads in this country now

Remember the old Mercedes range where called stuff like avangarde, luxury etc

Then they changed it to sport etc

Now you can’t get anything on a E class in the Uk except AMG line and several packages on top like premium plus

[Levin]

Nickbrapp said:

There’s loads in this country now

Remember the old Mercedes range where called stuff like avangarde, luxury etc

Then they changed it to sport etc

Now you can’t get anything on a E class in the Uk except AMG line and several packages on top like premium plus

I always remember Avantgarde as being the basic trim level too. The irony of the word's definition being coupled with a fairly basic spec car, generally in a sober finish befitting an older customer, was not lost on me. The inflation in badging over the years is really quite something, where every model needs to be a Sport / Sport Plus / Sport Ultra / Sport XTREME to sell. That being said, we're a ways off the Avantgardes of the world verging on gone. There are still a few knocking about. Even the W210, for all its rusting proclivities, soldiers on.

[Bobupndown]

Massey135 said:

Ghia

The aspirational trim level for Fords
Velour, bronze tinted glass and a wee shield on the boot and front wings

Bring it back I say

Being more of a BL/BMC than a Ford fan my high spec preference would be for a Vanden Plas, Riley or Wolseley.

[Alorotom]

Massey135 said:

Ghia

The aspirational trim level for Fords
Velour, bronze tinted glass and a wee shield on the boot and front wings

Bring it back I say

Vignale now isn’t it.

Remember the debate my parents had when ordering a fiesta in ‘87 whether to go with:
Popular
Popular Plus
Ghia
XR

The opted for Popular Plus.

[Muddle238]

Citroen made a V8 Traction Avant, known at the 22CV. I don’t think any originals survive, perhaps a couple of replicas built from “regular” Tractions.

I don’t think there’s a lot of Montego’s left nowadays, probably significantly rarer than Ghia Fords. I recall How Many Left suggested less than 10 or so, and that was a few years ago (although how accurate is anyones guess). I’d imagine they end up extinct before too long. My uncle had a few, dark green Countryman estates with the Perkins diesel. He said it wasn’t the mechanics that gave up, it was the body; one went in for rust repairs one day and in the search for solid metal, they ended up scrapping the car.

[eldar]

Alfa Arna, the car that took Italian build quality and merged it with Japanese dynamic driving design. The only offspring from the Alfa Nissan marriage.

There is one left, according to how many left. Can be seen going up and down the M69 if you are lucky.

[Draxindustries1]

Bobupndown said:

Massey135 said:

Ghia

The aspirational trim level for Fords
Velour, bronze tinted glass and a wee shield on the boot and front wings

Bring it back I say

Being more of a BL/BMC than a Ford fan my high spec preference would be for a Vanden Plas, Riley or Wolseley.

The Vandan Plas models were exceptional. We once bought from an old guy giving up driving his 4Litre Austin with the Rolls engine. The interior was just beautiful.

[Marc p]

Nickbrapp said:

There’s loads in this country now

Remember the old Mercedes range where called stuff like avangarde, luxury etc

Then they changed it to sport etc

Now you can’t get anything on a E class in the Uk except AMG line and several packages on top like premium plus

Slightly off topic, I had a 2015 E220 ‘AMG’ on lease a few years ago and (ignoring how much I hated that car) I was amazed at how much AMG badging was on that car, it really did demonstrate how diluted manufacturers performance models had become. Even though I shouldn’t care, I still get annoyed by how many people say they have an AMG when they just have an A180, E220, etc, I’m then just sat there trying not to shout ‘it’s not an AMG, it’s just a trim level!)

Unfortunately I’m too young to have been driving in the glory days when the trim levels held so much weight, but my dad remembers them fondly. When I was a young, he had a ‘92 Cavalier GSi as a company car and tells how he used to love the admiring or envious glances it got from the other company car drivers at motorway services

[Dapster]

Marc p said:

Unfortunately I’m too young to have been driving in the glory days when the trim levels held so much weight

It absolutely was! You may think this is a "The Office" type parody, but anyone of a certain age who was either on the company car ladder or whose mum or dad was in the 80s and 90s will know, this is absolutely genuine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQsMFQZa8os

[Marc p]

Dapster said:

Marc p said:

Unfortunately I’m too young to have been driving in the glory days when the trim levels held so much weight

It absolutely was! You may think this is a "The Office" type parody, but anyone of a certain age who was either on the company car ladder or whose mum or dad was in the 80s and 90s will know, this is absolutely genuine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQsMFQZa8os

Ah yes, I know that video well, it’s what sparked my conversation with my dad about his company cars! Such a great watch that i have viewed many times
My favourite bit have to be the Cavalier guy with his ‘ain’t nobody coming past in a base’ comment and the guy who actually cried along with his wife at being given a Maestro

[craigjm]

eldar said:

Alfa Arna, the car that took Italian build quality and merged it with Japanese dynamic driving design. The only offspring from the Alfa Nissan marriage.

There is one left, according to how many left. Can be seen going up and down the M69 if you are lucky.

There is also one Cherry Europe left

[Chubbyross]

Dapster said:

Marc p said:

Unfortunately I’m too young to have been driving in the glory days when the trim levels held so much weight

It absolutely was! You may think this is a "The Office" type parody, but anyone of a certain age who was either on the company car ladder or whose mum or dad was in the 80s and 90s will know, this is absolutely genuine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQsMFQZa8os

Wow, just wow! Thanks for posting that. “i means important”. I must remember that.

[Jader1973]

Levin said:

I always remember Avantgarde as being the basic trim level too. The irony of the word's definition being coupled with a fairly basic spec car, generally in a sober finish befitting an older customer, was not lost on me. The inflation in badging over the years is really quite something, where every model needs to be a Sport / Sport Plus / Sport Ultra / Sport XTREME to sell. That being said, we're a ways off the Avantgardes of the world verging on gone. There are still a few knocking about. Even the W210, for all its rusting proclivities, soldiers on.

W210 E Class had Avantgarde as the top spec. It went Classic, Elegance, Avantgarde. Classic had steel wheels, Elegance had ugly alloys, and Avantgarde had lowered suspension and wheels that looked a bit AMG ish.

The W202 C Class had Classic, Elegance, and Esprit. It also added Sport which had tartan trim, lowered suspension and smaller diameter AMG wheels.

[PSRG]

Jader1973 said:

Levin said:

I always remember Avantgarde as being the basic trim level too. The irony of the word's definition being coupled with a fairly basic spec car, generally in a sober finish befitting an older customer, was not lost on me. The inflation in badging over the years is really quite something, where every model needs to be a Sport / Sport Plus / Sport Ultra / Sport XTREME to sell. That being said, we're a ways off the Avantgardes of the world verging on gone. There are still a few knocking about. Even the W210, for all its rusting proclivities, soldiers on.

W210 E Class had Avantgarde as the top spec. It went Classic, Elegance, Avantgarde. Classic had steel wheels, Elegance had ugly alloys, and Avantgarde had lowered suspension and wheels that looked a bit AMG ish.

The W202 C Class had Classic, Elegance, and Esprit. It also added Sport which had tartan trim, lowered suspension and smaller diameter AMG wheels.

And on the 211 E Class the early ones came in classic, elegance and avantgarde. Élégance and avantgarde were the same price, but avantarfde had a more ‘modern’ look (at the time!) - black ash wood rather than brown, blue tinted glass rather than green, ‘sportier’ alloys, half leather rather than full leather and, importantly (for me) xenon headlamps. Was a very nice car to cover the miles in.

[craigjm]

The Avantguard blue tinted glass always looked cool

[Dynion Araf Uchaf]

VW Golf’s with the range being something like
N
C
CL
L
GL
Driver
Match
GTi

Rover S, SE, linked to engine size. That doesn’t see to be a thing anymore either. Audi have the 40 45 etc bs!

Peugeot and XR XL

Astra Encore

FIAT mirafiori

Loads of stuff not around anymore.

I think I’d like a VW iD4 2.3 GL