Almost extinct...

[skinnylew]

Ok so this is unashamedly stolen from the Top Gear site via Facebook but it's interesting none the less

Ever wondered what our country’s rarest cars are? Last Tuesday we did, and being in our usual industrious mood we contacted car-fact gatekeepers, the Society of Motoring Manufacturers and Traders.

They sent over immense screeds of data which revealed, after a bit of maths, how many cars of every model and type are taxed, MoT’d and driving around the country. There may be more out there festering in barns or midway through a restoration, but in terms of road legal vehicles, this list is gospel.

So we've picked out some of our highlights, from just twenty running models left, to just one. Click forth to reveal some of the rarest cars in Britain right now...

20: Reliant Rebel - 20

19: Maserati Indy - 19

18: Fiat 125 - 18

17: Honda Z600 - 17

16: Volvo 262C - 16

15: Colt Sapporo - 15

14: Skoda Estelle - 14

13: Daihatsu Charmant - 13

12: Porsche 914 - 12

11: Datsun Skyline - 11

10: Simca Matra Bagheera - 10

9: Vauxhall Viceroy - 9

8: Lada 1500 - 8

7: Daf 55 - 7

6: BMW M1 - 6

5: Renault 15 - 5

4: Ferrari 212 - 4

3: Aston Martin DB1 - 3

2: Alfa Romeo 6 - 2

1: Maserati Mistral - 1



I tried to get a pic with an UK plate so that they are DVLA verifiable but google sometimes threw up little for me to work with lol

I'm not sure I believe half of the ones up there but I guess we all know of ones off the road as well.

Tim

[bmcnut]

The only one that really suprises me is the Skoda Estelle. I really would have thought there were more of them. And the count of Lada 1500's doesnt include 2105's etc does it?

[BenzBoy]

That's interesting!

May 26, 2011 21:27:22 GMT skinnylew said:

I'm not sure I believe half of the ones up there but I guess we all know of ones off the road as well.

Hmm, me too - 14 Skoda Estelle's left? Surely there are more than that. I wonder if differences between model types has skewed the figures?

I'd never heard of a Maserati Indy before, they look really nice.

Quite shocking about the Volvo 262C figures too, if they're accurate!

[fatbaldbloke]

What a surprise that there are only a handful of cars registered in this country of types that either weren't officially sold here or that were made in tiny numbers. The only things on that list that ever really sold in noticable numbers here are the Lada and Skoda and a lot of those were re-exported when the iron curtain came down.

I'd be surprised if there have ever been more than about half a dozen M1s in the UK.

Aston Martin DB1. 15 built 1948-1950.

Ferrari 212. 82 built,, many of which would have been raced and many more re-numbered when they had engine changes early in life.

Still, first rule of journalism, never get the truth get in the way of a good story.

[elmotheewokking]

May 26, 2011 22:32:28 GMT fatbaldbloke said:

What a surprise that there are only a handful of cars registered in this country of types that either weren't officially sold here or that were made in tiny numbers. The only things on that list that ever really sold in noticable numbers here are the Lada and Skoda and a lot of those were re-exported when the iron curtain came down.

I'd be surprised if there have ever been more than about half a dozen M1s in the UK.

Aston Martin DB1. 15 built 1948-1950.

Ferrari 212. 82 built,, many of which would have been raced and many more re-numbered when they had engine changes early in life.

Still, first rule of journalism, never get the truth get in the way of a good story.

I have a picture of at least a 3rd of the Uks M1 population in that case.

Still explains why I can't find a Z600 in my price range though!
Also apparently the Rebel figures are definitely wrong, so says the former keeper of the orange car in that pic.

[Davenger]

Those figures are for taxed roadworthy vehicles.
How many of us have cars that don't fit those criteria?

[ettorebugatti]

I think there are more Mistral out there, perhaps they were sold on 3500GT chassisnumbers?

[Diabolu]

May 26, 2011 22:46:45 GMT Davenger said:

Those figures are for taxed roadworthy vehicles.
How many of us have cars that don't fit those criteria?

Wonder how many Galant GTO's are left taxed and MOT'd... I might have the only one ... if there are only 15 Sapporo's

Tis an interesting little find. I can't imagine there being many of quite a number of the cars on this site in the UK.

[awoo]

theres got to be more skoda estelles than 14 on the road surely? isnt there a skoda owners forum kicking around - must be more than 14 road worthy members.

theres a bloke on the seafront road in shoreham always seems to have about 5 parked outside his house

[30psi]

At the last count about 5 years ago there were 7 manual and 1 auto Datsun 910 coupes on the road.

I now have the auto, but the other 910 I got on the road wasn't included, so I suspect the figure probably hasnt changed

[spunkymonkey]

Why go to SMMT for registration statistics when you can get the DVLA ones (up to Q4 2010 anyway) here?

www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/vehicles/licensing/

Scroll down to All Vehicles Licensed Stock and you can download details of licensed and SORN vehicles by make & model for the last 15 years or so. So, how rare is yours?

Ours are:

Daf 33: 16 on road (+ 2 vans), 6 SORN (+ 1 van)
Daf Daffodil: 1 on road, 1 SORN (neither is ours, it was still lost to the system until Feb)
Triumph 1300: 170 on road, 91 SORN

[PandaSelecta]

I dread to think how many Panda Selectas are left, as most of them died out due to people not changing the CVT fluid, so the transmissions gave up after 50k-60k miles

[Diabolu]

0 Galant GTO's or Colt GTO's on that list :/

[spunkymonkey]

May 26, 2011 23:31:50 GMT PandaSelecta said:

I dread to think how many Panda Selectas are left, as most of them died out due to people not changing the CVT fluid, so the transmissions gave up after 50k-60k miles

47 on road, 150 on SORN

[spunkymonkey]

May 26, 2011 23:45:19 GMT Diabolu said:

0 Galant GTO's or Colt GTO's on that list :/

The model names aren't 100% reliable because it depends on what was put when it was registered - check your V5 for what they called it Could also have been listed under model "missing" or "unknown model"

[30psi]

The problem with that link is defining what model is being referred to i.e. Bluebird CPE, SSS, 1.8GL, GL Auto etc could all refer to the 910 model but it's the coupe that I'm interested in. Someone from the Datsun club did get it down to chassis granularity.

That aside, it's quite amazing to see how quickly the number dropped after the 90s.

[PhilA]

V5 doesn't specify, so it was listed just as "Victor".
110 on SORN, 459 licensed.

That can cover all vehicles listed as a "Victor". Working on the ones listed as FD SL which is what mine was that gives 4 SORN, 7 licensed.

That really isn't a whole lot. Either way. Especially considering how may were made.

--Phil

[surprisingskoda]

4 Rover 213 VPs

anyway, what we really want to know:
69 Skoda s100/s110 variants
18 Skoda s110r coupes
356 Skoda Estelle / Super Estelle variants
31 Skoda Rapid 120 Gardes
66 Skoda Rapid variants


However the list is a bit of a mess. Apparently there are 20 or 21 of every version of every Wartburg, Volga, PolskiFiat and Moskvich model sold here. Doubt that.

[elmotheewokking]

Dolomite 1500 Auto. 3 taxed and 1 on Sorn.
Where'd they all go!

[akku]

see according to the last FOI request the DVLA/SMMT figures had no 1965 Oldsmobiles in the UK at all when I owned one at the time and new of at least 4 others. I take these figures with a pinch of salt. But interesting none the less.