Popular cars that have disappeared...

[white_goodman]

I was just thinking about cars that were quite popular in my youth the other day and that I haven't seen for a while (I'm only talking 20 years ago) and I wondered what had happend to them all. Why have they disappeared when other cars from the same era: BMWs, Mercedes, VWs, Saabs, Volvos, 205 GTis, Fords have survived. Is it just because they haven't been cherished or are there other reasons for their disappearence? A trawl through the classifieds seems to confirm my suspicions as to their disappearence! Here's a few examples of cars that I remember fondly but seem to be near extinction:

MG Metro/Maestro/Montego
Rover Montego Estate
Rover 416 GTi
Rover 827 Vitesse Fastback (as driven around the TT course by Tony Pond)
Ford Fiesta mk2
Ford Orion 1.6i Ghia
Ford Scorpio Cosworth 24v (the unhideous one!)
Vauxhall Astra GTE mk1
Vauxhall Cavalier SRi mk2?
Vauxhall Carlton GSi
Vauxhall Senator
Citroen AX GT
Citroen BX GTi 16v
Citroen ZX Volcane
Citroen XM (this one particularly puzzles me as they only stopped making them about 10 years ago)
Peugeot 309 GTi
Peugeot 405 Mi16
Peugeot 405/505 Estate
Renault 19 16v Phase 1
Honda Civic c. 1990
Nissan Primera eGT
Mazda 323F (the one with pop-up headlights)
VW Passat Estate mk1?

I know that none of these are really collectable but I remember them fondly and miss not seeing them around. Are there any more cars like that, that you miss and why do you think they have disappeared?

Edited by white_goodman on Tuesday 26th July 17:52

Edited by white_goodman on Tuesday 26th July 18:03

Edited by white_goodman on Tuesday 26th July 18:05

Edited by white_goodman on Tuesday 26th July 22:05

Edited by white_goodman on Wednesday 27th July 19:54

[Jollyclub]

Rust & Scrappage will have seen off most of those..

[MarJay]

Its rare to see a Ford Sierra these days, even though back in the day there were bloody thousands of them around.

[minimatt1967]

80's Vauxhall's have disappeared wholesale, MK2 Astra's, Cavaliers and Nova's. There must be so few left.

[chunkymonkey71]

Mk2 Fiestas are like hens teeth now. Used to be everywhere.

I've often thought about buying one (for nostaligc reasons... first car and all that) but they really were pretty crap.

Actually, now that I think of it, Mk3 Fiestas are really rare now too.

[Citman]

I saw a Citroen XM the other day, parked up at Glasgow University - the passenger door was a different colour from the rest of the car, and the bonnet was a different colour again! Cars with patchwork replacement doors and panels, now there's something I thought had been consigned to the past!

I also saw a MK II and MK III Fiesta in the same queue of traffic in Swindon the other week - remember thinking it had been a while since I'd seen either!

[Hudson]

Some relative of mine (i have hundreds >_>) has a ex police, manual vauxhall senator, and there's a few Primera GT's in the "Sheds" section

[VeeDub Geezer]

Jollyclub said:

Rust & Scrappage will have seen off most of those..

+1

[trickywoo]

white_goodman said:

Rover 827 Vitesse Fastback
Vauxhall Senator
mk1 VW Scirocco
W123 Mercedes E-Class
Audi 90 mk1
Nissan Primera eGT

I still see a fair number of these around. I reckon I could find all within a 2 mile radius today.

[attym3]

Jollyclub said:

Rust & Rust would have Rusted most of them off by now...

ETA.

Mark

[kamilb1998]

Jollyclub said:

Rust & Scrappage will have seen off most of those..

This.

[CoolC]

Citroen XM's had very flakey electrics and if anything did go wrong cost a fortune to fix, so a lot ended up being scrapped because of it.

[TeaNoSugar]

How about the Bedford Rascal/Suzuki Supercarry? Ok, so there were never millions about, but they were always popular with people who needed to carry stuff on a budget (i'm referring to the original 900cc version with the flat front and the engine under the front seats. My dad had 2 of them for his work, the load space was amazing for the size of the van, and with the revvy little engine and rwd they were a laugh to drive around in, i you could red-line the engine away from the lights through 1st 2nd 3rd and 4th and still only be doing about 50mph!
Try finding one for sale now. Virtually none left. I knew a lad who used to have about 4 or 5 at any one time. He bought them to do up and export to places like thailand and malaysia. Shame they've disappeared really as they make even more sense now than they did 15 years ago. It could be re-released with a little modern engine like the toyota 1.0 3cyl and it would sell well i'd imagine.

[jsg612]

All rotton old sheds now.

[LayZ]

Still lots of Audi 80s and 90s around due to galvanizing.

[Chicane-UK]

trickywoo said:

I still see a fair number of these around. I reckon I could find all within a 2 mile radius today.

Really? I don't think I've EVER seen a MK1 Scirocco that wasn't at some kind of VW meet or on the way to one. I've never seen one just out, driving around.

[Acehood]

I saw a brown Montego estate recently. It looked brand new and the guy driving it looked very proud of his car. Reminded me of old times. I almost wanted to buy it off him and fit some ridiculous engine/running gear in it and have myself a nice sleeper.

Hardly see any 'normal' old cars any more though

[Rawwr]

white_goodman said:

Rover 827 Vitesse Fastback (as driven around the TT course by Tony Pond... and Alan Partridge in his christmas special)

[Renquist]

I saw an origiona Fordl Siera a few months ago and it looked like something from a sic-fi movie, shockingly different, made me realise how they have just disappeared.

[curlie467]

trickywoo said:

white_goodman said:

Rover 827 Vitesse Fastback
Vauxhall Senator
mk1 VW Scirocco
W123 Mercedes E-Class
Audi 90 mk1
Nissan Primera eGT

I still see a fair number of these around. I reckon I could find all within a 2 mile radius today.

I would actually challenge you to that.

As said, mk1 sciroccos are very rare now, you would maybe see the merc but i would be very surprised about the rest. Christ, i havent even seen a senator for a good while, havent seen a mk1 audi 90 for a long long time, same with the vitesse and the eGT!