25 endangered classics

The BMW E30, the first-gen Mazda MX-5, the Mini: all classic cars from decades past that you will still see in decent numbers on the roads today. Some old cars just survive well like this, whether it's thanks to a cult following (the E30), doing something extremely well (the MX-5) or just being chock full of charm and character (the Mini).

Other classics, however, aren't so lucky. Perhaps they are not maintained with the same loving care and attention as these much-loved models above; perhaps a propensity for rust, or engine failure, called time on their working lives too soon. Whatever the causes, many classic cars, many of whom shipped millions in their day, are now incredibly rare on Britain's roads.

Cars from the 1980s are often particularly vulnerable here – often because they haven’t yet made the jump to 'classic' status, so owners aren't motivated to look after them in the same way they would a classic from an earlier decade. But we think some of the endangered cars we're mentioning here will soon attain classic status.

If you own, or have your eye on, any of the cars in our list, be sure to protect them with some specialist classic car insurance to make sure they’re protected for the generations to come.

Renault 5

Renault's cheekily styled 5 was a hugely important entry in the supermini class. Sold across two generations and including several variants, the 5 was France’s favourite car from 1972 to 1986, and didn't do badly here either. If you're the proud owner of one of these inimitable Gallic pocket rockets, we'd recommend joining the Renault Owners Club so you can really learn everything you can about these extraordinary cars.

Remembered for: How about the chase scene in the 1983 Bond flick Never Say Never Again, in which Connery's Bond leaps on a Yamaha bike to pursue the dastardly Fatima Blush in her cherry-red R5 Turbo?

Austin Allegro

British Leyland had a difficult 1970s, and those problems were crystallised in two cars: the Morris Marina (which we'll come to in a while) and the Austin Allegro.

The latter's slightly awkward looks didn't help its cause; the bouncy Hydragas suspension, questionable reliability and poor build quality sealed its fate as an also-ran in the small family car market. Some 643,350 were shipped between 1973 and 1982: fewer than 300 now remain.

Four decades from its launch, history is starting to treat the Allegro more kindly, and you could acquire one cheap now in the hope that you may be sitting on a future classic – or at least a very recognisable chapter in British motoring history. We think it's got enough about it to be considered a classic – and we can count the Allegro among the many models for which we've provided classic car insurance.

Remembered for: The sporty (!) Elite version. The closest the Allegro came to being really quite decent-looking.

Austin Montego

If you were a thrusting sales rep in the mid-1980s, you were probably choosing from three company cars: the Ford Sierra, the Vauxhall Cavalier… and the Austin Montego. A replacement for the unloved Marina, the Montego was actually a rather handsome car, and came – like any self-respecting repmobile – in a bewildering range of trim levels and power outputs.

Time wasn't kind to the Montego, however – perhaps because it was one of the last symbols of a struggling marque – and they quickly went from slick motorway cruisers to the kinds of cars you saw being broken up for parts.

Remembered for: Those extraordinary car-park antics in this 1988 TV advert. Yes, the Montego also looks handsome at an angle of 45 degrees!

Citroën CX

Thanks to its unique looks as much as its relative popularity, the big, low and handsome CX was one of the most instantly recognisable cars of its era. It was also, thanks to Citroën’s pillowy, self-levelling suspension, as comfortable to sit in as it was captivating to look at.
Sad to learn, then, that now only 143 CXs remain either on the road or subject to a SORN here in the UK.

Remembered for: The CX was a popular car among heads of state in the 1970s and 1980s. French president Jacques Chirac and Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet were among the car's owners.

Princess

The Princess was a rather handsome car, and should have performed better than it did. Like some other cars in our list, it was hamstrung by industrial unrest at British Leyland during the 1980s: a reputation for less-than-optimal build quality further hampered its success.

Look back at it now, though, and it seems deserving of success – or certainly of something better than the obscurity into which it has faded, with just 121 remaining here in the UK from the very nearly 225,000 Princesses originally built.

Remembered for: Terry & June was an iconic 1980s sitcom, and it tells you a lot about the Princess' status in the market that the sensible, middle-class Terry gets a metallic Tara Green Princess as his company car at the start of the second series.

Hillman Avenger

Also known, later in life, as a Chrysler Avenger and, finally, a Talbot Avenger, the big Hillman was a good-looking car, with its subtle Coke-bottle styling. It was also quite good to drive, with some smooth engines and a well-calibrated suspension system.

The Avenger was, though, hampered by the need to have its body shell components manufactured at Linwood, in the Scottish lowlands, and then transported south to Ryton in Warwickshire for completion.

Remembered for: Being the support car for Scotland at the 1978 World Cup. That was a disappointing one for the Scots, who were sent home after the first round. Arguably, the Avenger didn't quite live up to its potential either.

Vauxhall Viva

The Viva was a very decent performer for Vauxhall throughout the 1960s and 1970s, keeping its Ellesmere Port factory near Liverpool busy until 1980, when the first-generation Astra arrived on the scene.

Good to drive, cheap to run and easy to service, the Viva was a regular in the UK sales charts over the 15 years from 1964. It was well liked, in short, but perhaps not (yet) attaining classic status. Which explains why, of the one and a half million Vivas made, just over 1,000 are still on the road or SORN in the UK.

Remembered for: In the 1970s sitcom The Likely Lads, Bob and his wife Thelma move from their working-class roots into respectable, middle-class suburbia. The symbol of their success? A brand new Viva.

Morris Marina

The Marina typically rivals its close stablemate, the Austin Allegro, as the symbol of all that was wrong with British Leyland in the 1970s. And yet it really wasn't as bad a car as it's popularly held up to be. Marketed at fleet managers, the sensible and understatedly attractive Marina was probably just guilty of staying around a little too long. In fact, from its launch in 1971 until around 1977, the Marina sold strongly in the UK, often sitting just behind Ford's Cortina and Escort in the sales league.

Remembered for: Although Sid James' upwardly mobile manager owned one in Carry On at Your Convenience, the Marina is probably, and sadly, best remembered for Top Gear's ongoing teasing of the vehicle, culminating in a Marina being crushed by a flying piano.

Austin Maxi

Here was another sensible BL car from the 1970s that deserved to do relatively well. And, to be fair, the Maxi's legacy looks somewhat safer than the Allegro's or the Marina's.

Front-wheel drive, with a five-speed gearbox and boasting plenty of room inside, the Maxi could do a great job as a family car. Its looks, though, were perhaps a little plain. Some 472,000 were built, of which as few as 184 may still be around in the UK.

Remembered for: Basil and Sybil owning a red Maxi in Fawlty Towers. Well, the boot would have been big enough for Sybil's golf clubs.

Morris Ital

We mentioned that the Morris Marina had passed its sell-by date by the end of its run in 1980. Unfortunately, a close successor, the Morris Ital, didn't really move the game on all that far. Next to the likes of the Vauxhall Cavalier and (from 1982) the Ford Sierra, the neat but conservative Ital looked a bit behind the times.

The name 'Ital' came from Italdesign, the Italian design house that had had some input into the look of the car. Like its Marina predecessor, the Ital is now vanishingly rare.

Remembered for: That 1980 advert when it zoomed out of the showroom, almost managing to look more desirable than the scarlet Maserati Merak parked outside.

Rover SD1

There was so much that was good about the Rover SD1 that – given a more rigorous quality control process and better industrial relations – it could have been the defining car of its era. Certainly, on launch in 1976, there was little else out there to touch the car's good looks, fine driving dynamics and range of punchy engines.

However, build quality turned out to be unreliable, and SD1s weren't maintained as lovingly as they might have been. Today, it makes for a great classic: car parts availability is good, and you'll find plenty of support in the form of owners' clubs, specialists and more.

Remembered for: SD1s are probably best remembered as 'jam sandwich' police cars during the 80s, especially useful in high-speed motorway chases.

Reliant Robin

The three-wheel, fibre-glass runabout from Reliant earned itself cult status, despite (or partly because of?) its awkward driving dynamics, low power and, shall we say, less than bombproof build quality. No, it was not without its faults, and yet the Robin is now fondly remembered – not least for a certain key TV role, which we'll get to in a moment.

It may be recalled affectionately, but the Robin has not generally been well maintained, and a sighting is a rare event these days.

Remembered for: That would be the Trotters' dirty yellow van in Only Fools and Horses (actually a Reliant Regal Supervan, but we'll let it pass).

Vauxhall Victor

From 1961 to 1978, some 827,000 of the Viva's bigger siblings were built: fewer than 1,000 remain in the UK now. Hardly surprising, perhaps, but a shame nonetheless, as Vauxhall's large family saloon was something of a looker – especially in its fourth, 'FD' generation.

Remembered for: Mike Pratt, as Randall, drives a white Victor in the brilliant 1969-70 detective series Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased).

Austin Metro

It seems strange that, given its ubiquity on Britain's city streets in the 1980s, the Austin Metro (later MG and Rover Metro) should even feature on our list of endangered classics. Yet the statistics are there for all to see: of the 1,518,932 originally built, around 1,050 are still here in the UK.

The Metro enjoyed a few years at the top of its class before arguably more capable cars such as the Fiat Uno and Peugeot 205 came along. Another factor in its rapid decline may be the fact that the car's engine could be removed and put into a (more desirable) Mini.

Remembered for: Diana Spencer owning a red Metro, MPB 909W, before her marriage to the Prince of Wales in 1981. That car is now at the Coventry Motor Museum – one of our very favourite places for soaking up car culture. Find our full list of great petrolhead destinations in this article.

Ford Cortina

Like the Metro above, the Cortina is another car whose all-pervasive popularity during its heyday makes it an unlikely candidate for protected status now. However, it turns out that, of the 4,155,000 Cortina’s built across its two decades and five generations, only 5,000 or so are still registered today. Perhaps the big Ford lacked that last bit of glamour – it was, after all, the universal dad's car at the time – that's necessary for owners to cherish and maintain their classics. Now, though, Cortina’s are sufficiently rare and symbolic of a certain time to be considered cast-iron classics.

Remembered for: The Mk3 Cortina is a 1970s icon. Ironically, that's largely the work of the 2005 cop drama Life on Mars, whose DCI Gene Hunt drove one in a lovely 1970s brown.

Austin Maestro

The website How Many Left tells us that there are now just 356 Maestros still in existence in the UK. That's a tiny fraction of the 605,410 built across a decade. It's also a very low retention rate for a car on which, back in 1983, British Leyland pinned many of its hopes. In fact, the Maestro didn't quite meet expectations, losing out to more capable compact family cars such as the Mk2 Golf and the all-conquering Mk3 Escort.

Remembered for: Margaret Thatcher driving a Maestro up Downing Street on the car's launch day – 1st March 1983.

Vauxhall Chevette

We're huge fans of Vauxhall's supermini, as we made clear in our article 15 reasons why we love the Vauxhall Chevette. Essentially an Opel Kadett with Vauxhall's new 'droop snot' nose, the Chevette was right at the vanguard – alongside the Renault 5, Ford Fiesta and Fiat 127 – of the 1970s supermini hatchback movement. Not many left now (269, How Many Left tells us), although some of those that are will be in much-coveted sporty HSR guise.

Remembered for: Chevettes are perhaps best remembered now as the fleet car for Radio Rentals. Armies of these liveried hatchbacks negotiated Britain's streets in the 1970s and 1980s, with video recorders and later satellite equipment stacked in the back.

Hillman Imp

It's strange to consider, when you look at how few of them are left now (well under 1,000, to be precise), the Hillman Imp could, at one point, have beaten the Mini to the crown of Britain's best-loved economy car. But, as we saw in our article 27 fast facts about the Hillman Imp, the car ran into a few problems – not least the fact that construction had to be split between two factories some 300 miles apart.

Remembered for: The Imp is arguably most fondly remembered for its racing and rallying exploits – including three successive British Saloon Car Championship wins, from 1970 to 1972.

Rover 200

A product of the new Honda-Rover partnership, the original 200 was based on the Honda Ballade. Smart in a boxy kind of way, the 200 actually outsold its more aggressively marketed stablemate, the Maestro. Few, though, are left today.

Remembered for: Hyacinth and Richard Bucket, the very epitome of small-time English snobbery, drive a 200 in the BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances.

Citroën BX

In a list dominated by British Leyland cars, the BX has the distinction of being the only car here to have been penned by the revered Italian designer, Marcello Gandini. Yes, the man behind the Lamborghini Countach created this boxy family car, which became a relatively common sight on our road networks during the 1980s and 1990s. Its angular looks and space-age self-levelling suspension should have earmarked it for classic status. In fact, very few remain today – just 243, according to How Many Left.

Remembered for: The brilliant advert in which the actual Marcello Gandini chooses a BX over a Countach to get to work in.

Ford Anglia

There were quite a few Ford Anglia generations produced between 1939 and 1967: we're focused, here, on the 105E Anglia, built from 1959 to 1967. A million of these attractive small saloons were sold: just 2,700 remain, in either on-road or SORN condition, here in the UK.

Remembered for: Many years after it was introduced, the Anglia got its biggest moment as the Weasley family's flying car in the Harry Potter film series.

Triumph Acclaim

You probably know the key Acclaim facts by now – we've discussed this hugely significant car on our blog a few times. Essentially, come 1980, BL needed a stopgap between the Marina and Maxi duo, and their as-yet-unready replacements, the Maestro and Montego. Enter the Acclaim, essentially a rebadged Honda Ballade manufactured here in the UK.

Its place as the last mass-produced Triumph car, not to mention its crucial role in proving that UK factories could build cars just as sturdily as Japan, has made the Acclaim an admired, but rarely seen classic. If you're lucky enough to get hold of one, make sure you protect it with some insurance for a classic car.

Remembered for: Being the last Triumph.

Ford Sierra

The Ford Sierra is still present in larger numbers – well into the thousands, in fact – than some of the cars on our list. However, when compared to the huge numbers in which it originally sold (almost three and a half million), that is a small enough percentage of survivors to classify this '80s motorway staple car as 'endangered'.

Will it eventually acquire classic status, meaning that numbers stabilise as Sierra owners start to look after their assets? We hope so. Those bold 'jelly mould' looks might have been too much for some at the time, but we think they have aged rather well.

Remembered for: In the excellent early '90s police drama Spender, Jimmy Nail's eponymous cop hoons a Sierra Sapphire RS Cosworth around the Tyneside road network.

Citroen 2CV

The distinctive little 2CV was once a familiar sight on our roads, but relatively few still survive today. That may be because the cars tended to be worked hard – either, because of their affordability, by students and young families or, in keeping with their rugged underpinnings, by the nation's farmers.

Remembered for: A bright yellow 2CV does an astonishingly good job of evading two sinister black Peugeot 504s during the 1981 Bond classic, For Your Eyes Only.

Peugeot 205

In GTI guise, the Peugeot 205 was one of the most desirable cars of the 1980s – especially if you were young, image-conscious, in need of some motoring thrills – but not yet able to afford a Golf GTI. Small wonder, then, that the beautiful and hugely entertaining GTI now forms a large proportion of those 205s that still survive – although there are not all that many left.

Remembered for: Peugeot launched the legendary GTI variant with a Bond-style advert. A red 205 GTI showed truly remarkable grip and handling as it raced down a snow-clad mountain, with a missile-hurling fighter plane in hot pursuit.

Classic car insurance: for all your cherished survivors

The cars we've discussed above are now around in tiny numbers, compared to those of their 1970s and 1980s heydays. But we'll bet that those cars that do still survive are beautifully looked after. And a key part of that careful maintenance will be some dedicated classic motor insurance.

Contact us to arrange your own quote for classic car insurance today.

Policy benefits, features and discounts offered may very between insurance schemes or cover selected and are subject to underwriting criteria. Information contained within this article is accurate at the time of publishing but may be subject to change.