Going, Going…1980s cars will soon be gone

The 1980s may have enjoyed a fashion and pop revival but cars from that decade are some of the most endangered cars on British roads today. New research into the top British family cars by consumer motoring champion HonestJohn.co.uk reveals that many of UK's once-popular family cars are on the verge of disappearing completely.

The Austin Metro is typical. It was once a common sight on British roads and enjoyed celebrity status as Princess Diana’s car when she married Charles in July 1981. It was also the driving school car of choice for BSM, and everyone knew someone who had one – and now, there’s a mere 823 taxed or SORN’d Austin Metros, from an original production run of 1.5 million between 1981-1991.

The once-derided Austin Allegro has suffered the largest decline of all, with just 291 remaining in the UK (taxed and SORN) at the end of 2011, from a total production run of 640,000 between 1973 and 1982.

The Ford Cortina is another model on the list that may raise a few eyebrows – after all it was Britain’s best-selling car between 1973 and 1980. Many people will know the Cortina, because once upon a time, it was the darling of a million sales reps – but it most recently had its moment of fame as the star of 2006-’07 TV drama, Life on Mars. Just 5,411 remain registered in the UK, from more than four million built. Other endangered former street furniture classics include the Ford Sierra and Rover SD1.

All the top 20 cars on the Most Endangered List have a survival rate of less than 1 per cent. At the other end of the scale, some classic cars had impressive survival rates such as the Lotus Elan, which is the UK’s most popular classic car with 38 per cent of its pre-1995 models (3,361) still surviving today with an astonishing 24 per cent (2,151) still on the road.

Keith Adams, Editor of Honest John Classics, said: “This list of endangered cars is fascinating – pretty much all of them littered the UK roads as recently as 10 years ago and now you’ll be lucky to spot them at a classic car meeting. The low survival rate for these models is shocking. 1980s cars are particularly vulnerable – because their passage into popular classic status is yet to happen and their disappearance has been hastened by needless scrappage and artificially low market values in recent years.”

The ‘Top 20 Endangered Cars’ research by Honestjohn.co.uk involved examining DVLA records of classic cars (those cars registered between 1950 and 1995) to find out how many were still registered today (both on the road and SORN) compared to the amount originally built. The results are published at classics.honestjohn.co.uk – a newly launched site that contains a wealth of research and information about classic cars.