Some disturbing news this week in the motoring news ...Lots of famous high volume cars of the past.. are now on the brink of extinction.!
These stats are from Auto-Express (weekly magazine & re-printed in the'Sun' daily paper from 31/8/06)
R.I.P: the top 10 vanishing cars:- (DVLA) number of
MAKE----MODEL-------YEAR--------SOLD-----cars still registered
1- Morris...Marina.....(1971-80)....807,000.....745
2- Ford..Cortina MK.IV/V(1976-82)..1,065,682...2,010
3- Renault 18..........(1979-86)....131,241.....317
4- Renault 5 MK.I......(1972-83)....216,199.....499
5- Skoda Estelle.......(1977-92)....102,105.....612
6- Vauxhall Cavalier mk.II(81-89)...807,624....6,343
7- Austin/rover Metro..(1980-94)..1,370,000...21,468
8- Austin/rover Montego(1984-95)....436,000....8,988
9- Austin/rover Maestro(1983-95)....440,000...11,574
10- Fiat Uno mk.I......(1983-89)....190,000....5,179

For comparison ..Not all cars have faired so badly (here's their examples) :-
Nissan Micra mk.I......(1983-92)....340,000+...96,000
Ford Granada Mk.III/IV..............265,640....40,000+

The best car they found (least casualties.!) was the 1952-55 Bentley
R-type Continental ..with 102 sold ..still 100 on the road.!

Yeah, Fiat Uno, I have had one. It's still on the road, but I'm glad I'm not driving it anymore. (Rusty)...

Interesting. I guess that for the Renault 5 the main dead cause is the rust

few data for Belgium:
http://www.febiac.be/public/statistics.aspx?FID=23&lang=FR
interesting for example for the number of cars remaining from each year:
http://www.febiac.be/statistiques/Parc20voitures20ann20deE8re%20immatriculation.- xls
1887 1
1895 1
1897 3
1898 1
1899 1
1900 6
1901 4
1902 3
1903 9
1904 10
1905 7
1906 3
1907 8
1908 13
1909 11
1910 15
[etc.]
2004 420.357
2005 435.049

wtf is skoda estelle?? btw it is really interesting how some particular models end.. what about old volvos? still quite common in Uk I believe

by make, in Belgium:
http://www.febiac.be/statistiques/Parc20voitures20marque2031-12.xls
Volvo is 13th (but that is not only for old ones)

Uk name for the 120.!
http://mclellansautomotive.com/photos/B31001.jpg
..Yes I see lots of old Volvo's around (..not so many 343 ..after the 'run-away' car problems.!! )

Sad.....I wonder what the U.S. specs for cars like the Series 64 and Plymouth Belveder are?

Estelle - LOL - shouldn't then be these renamed on the site?? those in UK movies / series..

Someone thinks getting rid of a Marina is a sad thing? Perplexing.
What's sad is seeing the prices on Barret-Jackson of cars I got for hundreds selling for hundreds of thousands.... since I don't have them anymore.

..I'm not a great fan of Marina's ...but still think it's sad ..that a car that sold close to a million vehicles ...has only 745 examples left on the road.!
BTW..There were a couple of reasonable looking cars (..Not saying they were reliable ..or well built.!)...but looked okay...and alot better than the revised version Itals.!!
http://www.austin-rover.co.uk/images/memberburgess_01.jpg
http://www.amrwr.nl/marina.JPG

That's because those cars were worth keeping, the rest of these cars, not so much.

Oh, why the Morris Marina? It was a little lovely car

I`m suprised but quite pleased theres a few of my faves not appearing there...
Vauxhall Viva
Fiat 131 Mirafiori
Fiat 127/128
Lancia Beta
Austin Princess

They were all pretty big sellers & all renound for being severe tinworm sufferers!

In fact I`m suprised there arent any Japanese motors there 70`s & 80`s ones, Datsun & Honda especially, tended to rust alot worse than anything european..

120y`s/Cherrys/Sunnys/Violets/Bluebirds & early Civics & Accords all sold in high numbers, you couldnt find a street anywhere in the UK without finding at least 2 of those in the 80`s & all would have rotten sills & arches at 5 years old, yet they arent shown here?

I dont think this was particulary scientifically done...

That's quite disturbing seeing the amount of old cars dissapeaaring, take the Marina, lots and lots were sold, but 499 left?

How come there are more Willys' than Buicks???

Good question... Maybe army vehicles?
One strange thing: check the number in the 2003 column: there were more than twice the number of Buicks than what was in 2005! Were did they all go?

I guess they were sold out to enthusiasts accross Europe... Given that Belgium was the site of Buick assembly back in the good old days, I'd suppose (and you can confirm or deny that) that there was a small group of "regular" Buick customers (i.e. not American car freaks that would import a 1955) that slowly vanished since the ParkAve bowed goodbye. I guess once the people who bought new Buicks ran their cars to the end of their intended ownership and went elsewhere for their comfy sedans, the ownership dwindled to the "enthusiasts" group, while many of the second-hand cars found home outside of Belgium...

I would find that normal on long-term, but in 2 years!?

I wonder why when i go into Holland, there are loads of old American cars, Like Chargers, Impalas, Fairlanes etc.