Everyday cars that have disappeared from the face of the planet

Max_Damage

After looking at those 'Wheeling In The Years' pictures, it got me thinking once again about what happened to alot of 70's and 80's cars that were common back in the day, but are as rare as hen's teeth now. Such examples would be:

Austin Montego
Triumph Acclaim
Nissan Cherry N12
Nissan Sunny panal van
Renault 21
Subaru Leone

There are many others than the list above. I know that some of the cars there weren't the most reliable, but others were. I find it amazing that in 10 years, these cars have just disappeared, nearly without a trace from Irish roads.

carchaeologist

Any 70s/80s toyota,starlet,carinas,cressida,crowns etc,the Mk1 ford fiesta, ford cortina,there used to be loads around!!

Max_Damage

I still see the occasional Mk1 Fiesta around, far more so than the list above!

Junior #8

What ever happened to that e220(i think) merc with the rear wing?? used to see them everywhere...then never anymore?

carchaeologist

True,there is a few about still i suppose,theres an acclaim in my local scrappy,ropey enough though.

BrianD3

The vast majority of everyday cars over a certain age will have disappeared, just a natural wasting process really. Cars that were sold in big numbers will obviously be seen on the roads for longer - the majority of AE90 Corollas have been scrapped but as so many were sold in the first place there are still a few about - although I have noticed a decline in the last year. Also cars that hold their value well and/or are desirable are likely to survive longer. Eg Honda Civic EG models (boyracers still love 'em), Merc W124, Corollas and Jettas. I believe these "market" factors are more important than actual reliability/longevity.

Another thing I've been thinking about - are there fewer older cars around now than there were in the past. Are 1993 Corollas now less common than 1978 Corollas were in 1993? With the Celtic tiger, NCT etc. a lot of people have been running newer cars. But the other side is that despite popular opinion that "they don't make em like they used to" IMO cars are a helluva lot more reliable and long lasting than they were in the past.

Gary ITR

BrianD3 wrote: »

Another thing I've been thinking about - are there fewer older cars around now than there were in the past. Are 1993 Corollas now less common than 1978 Corollas were in 1993?

A 1978 corolla would have been a fairly common sight around 1993 alright.

In fact back in 1993 my father was driving a 1980 Mazda 323.
Like this but beige, it was in perfect nick, had been garaged it's whole life. Came to a firey end at the hands of some scumbag joyriders



Now think, when was the last time you've seen a 1993 corolla, you could go weeks without seeing one

Wishbone Ash

Ford Sierras seem to have disappeared off the face of the earth.

Apart from the XR4i/Cosworth types, I don't think I've seen one in 10 years!

BrianD3

I reckon I see several 1993 Corollas per day! Normal everyday ones as well as tarted up boyracer ones..

As for Sierras, the jellymould ones are just about extinct but i still see a few facelift ones.

Redrocket

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Ford Sierras seem to have disappeared off the face of the earth.

Apart from the XR4i/Cosworth types, I don't think I've seen one in 10 years!

i drive a 92 sierra

Max_Damage

When my parent's scrapped their '93 Sierra in 2004, they were fairly rare cars then. It was nearly impossible to get parts for them in scrapyards. As for now, I'd be lucky to see one once a month.

Another car that I haven't seen in YEARS is the very first version of the K10 Micra (this one):



They had different front & rear light clusters compared to later K10's, among other things.

Even now, the later K10's (late 80's / early 90's models) are becoming increasingly rare on the roads. Give it 5 years and I reckon they'll be near extinct.

cantdecide

Nissan bluebird

Blue850

Fiat Tempra/Tipo

cantdecide

Blue850 wrote: »

Fiat Tipo

My first car- a dinger of a yoke for £800

Gary ITR

cantdecide wrote: »

Nissan bluebird

My Dad had one of them, it was the 1.8, put £20 of petrol in and the fuel light was still on

Max_Damage

Blue850 wrote: »

Fiat Tempra/Tipo

I actually saw a Tipo there for the first time in I'd say a year in Tallaght only about a week ago. Awful looking yokes they were, just an inflated Uno.

G Luxel

BrianD3 wrote: »

As for Sierras, the jellymould ones are just about extinct but i still see a few facelift ones.

probably the reason the jellymould is almost extinct is that when it first came out in 1982, it was only available as hatch or estate, then when the sapphire arrived, people decided to buy saloons more than hatchs so very few sold til 93. Basically if a hatch is standard, people here tend to go for the saloon version, just look at todays Avensis, more saloons than hatchs or estates put together.

carchaeologist

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Ford Sierras seem to have disappeared off the face of the earth.

There was one at a house i was working at last week,old type cork reg,forgot to take a pic,was too busy!!:(

gyppo

Another car you don't see now is the Renault 4.
Practically every rural postvan was one of these at one time.

Not long back from a trip in Italy, and almost every small village appeared to have one or two of these still in action.

galwaytt

Fiat 131..........ah, sigh............

Arthur Daley

gyppo wrote: »

Another car you don't see now is the Renault 4.
Practically every rural postvan was one of these at one time.

Not long back from a trip in Italy, and almost every small village appeared to have one or two of these still in action.

True, a guy near me has one on a French plate. I was in rural France at the start of the summer and so many of these are around still, grafting away.

Spotted a Renault 21 Savanna on the M1 on Saturday, but don't have a shot of it.

Who says French cars don't last.

trevorbrady

Onkle wrote: »

Now think, when was the last time you've seen a 1993 corolla, you could go weeks without seeing one

I see a '93 Corolla every day, I have one as my daily driver!!
I got it for free nearly 3 years ago (PO gave up on it because of an intermittent electrical gremlin that turned out to be a wobbly fuse!!). It has passed 2 NCTs in my care and to be honest, I can't see the end of it!!

It has 195K miles up so far on the original 1.3 petrol engine and aside from parts that wear out (wheel bearings and rear anti-roll bar links need to be done soon, they're both making noise) it's about the cheapest runabout you could get. It does a consistant 40MPG which isn't bad. I regularly abuse it, like so:



oh, and as for rarity these days, I drove in a completely coincidental convoy of three EE101's this morning on the way to work. The other two were 2.0 diesels

Silvera

Always great to read about people bucking the trend and keeping older cars going ...and working for them - as in your case!;)

I often see 92/93/94-era Corollas' about btw!

Also, recently I have noticed a few Ford Granada Scorpio (97/98) models about....a car that you would think were quite rare nowadays. Spotted a 92 K10 Micra today also ......doing a steady 75mph in the outside lane on the Naas Road !

carchaeologist

There was loads of these kadetts about 10/15 years ago(i had one for the field)

And these were very common too

And a fiat uno on old pre 87 plates...

Who has a fiat regatta these days?

The VW derby

VW Jetta MK1

And the good old Corolla DX

cantdecide

There was a regatta in a driveway in Cloyne up until recently. Every time I would pass, the rot had crept higher. There were about 100 Ritmos in my extended family.

I remember that in 1987, my uncle became the first of the family to get a brand new car- a red Regatta. It was a real red letter day...

Dermo123

Interesting thread especially as I am here in rural Slovakia for the last week and nearly all the cars mentioned above are still regularly seen on the roads here as well as the plethora of rear engined skoda 105's and 120's. Cars from the 80's are still viable as everyday commuters.

BrianD3

Re: The Renault 21/Savanna, I have seen maybe 5 on the roads here in the last 5 years. Most of them were driven by French tourists!

One unusual car that I see regularly on the N4 is a battered old Suzuki Swift with a pre 87 reg, OZI I think. Car can be seen in the Mullingar area.

Max_Damage

I remember there is a guy a year ahead of me in my school (back in 2003 or so) who had an Opel Kadett D (like this one, only in black). It was a heap of shíte. I remember looking at it, and there was a massive rust hole in the side of it. You could nearly stick your head through it into the car!

Needless to say it was missing an NCT disk!

When I was in 5th year then, he 'upgraded' to an '87 Kadett E!

Also, there is still a light blue Kadett D doing the rounds in Tallaght, in excellent condition. I'll have to get a picture of it sometime soon.

Max_Damage

As regard the Fiat Regatta, the last time I saw one in this country was back in 2004! It wouldn't surprise me if their was none left in the country.

Wishbone Ash

A few 'ordinary' pre 1987 cars that I have spotted recently in the Dublin area.

Blue850

I see a 92 Renault 21 now and again around Galway, a 5 door hatchback, the only 1 i've ever seen. First job I had was in a Fiat dealership in the early 90's , Regattas have to take the claim as the rustiest Fiat ever. We once put a 126 into the back of a Ducato just to see would it fit:D

carchaeologist

Max_Damage wrote: »

As regard the Fiat Regatta, the last time I saw one in this country was back in 2004! It wouldn't surprise me if their was none left in the country.

You would be surprised,i thought the same about 131s,and theres a few about,in this months irish vintage theres a pic of a 1980 10.000mile one,on original plates..

Gary ITR

This one lives in walkinstown

Max_Damage

^ Ah yes, I see that car quite alot. Over the past couple of months, it's getting rustier and rustier, especially around the wheel arches.

Cars like that need to be in a garage.

Gary ITR

Max_Damage wrote: »

^ Ah yes, I see that car quite alot. Over the past couple of months, it's getting rustier and rustier, especially around the wheel arches.

Cars like that need to be in a garage.

I think the bodywork of those cars was made out of disprin

carchaeologist

Max_Damage wrote: »

^ Ah yes, I see that car quite alot. Over the past couple of months, it's getting rustier and rustier, especially around the wheel arches.

Cars like that need to be in a garage.

A shame,its lasted near 30 years only for someone to leave it go rotten,that kinda gets on my wick.
131s used to rust spectacularly,i remember peeling the roof off a rotten one years back,and the headlining was still intact:D
Its a car i wouldnt mind owning now.

Gary ITR

It was mint about 18 months ago and was then parked at the side of a main road. Now the rear arches are rusting badly and it's filthy too

carchaeologist

While on the subject of fiats..there was loads of these 127s about..

And the later version..

There was good few of the 128 about too,maybe not as common though

And beige Mk2 escorts were everywhere 15 years ago(usually in this condition)

The mk4 cortina,the really knackered ones used to have massive negative camber on the front wheels because the bushes were so badly worn.practically extinct now....

Max_Damage

I know these have been posted before, but no harm in posting them again.

At http://www.imcdb.org/ , it shows all the cars that are in movies, and it's interesting to see what was on the streets of Dublin back when 'The Commitments' (1991) and 'The Van' (1996, set in 1990) were made:

The Commitments







... And The Van






^ Carina garda car!

carchaeologist

Set in 1990 you say,what a glaring mistake!!Those euro plates didnt come in till 91:eek::eek:;)Its a may1980 DX Corolla

And that 323F looks out of place witth all the older cars around it!!

Nice limerick city reg 127 in there

Max_Damage

^ Yeah, I noticed the Europlate error aswell! The film was set during the Italia 90 World Cup.

I checked the reg. of that VW T2 on Cartell, and it doesn't come up. It must have been scrapped soon after the film was made.

Max_Damage

A better 'panoramic' view of old cars in Smithfield from 'The Commitments':

Gary ITR

I love the Ritmo, my grandfather had a blue like the one in the above pic. Those cars had a great engine, was just everything else that went wrong

Wishbone Ash

Onkle wrote: »

I love the Ritmo, my grandfather had a blue like the one in the above pic. Those cars had a great engine, was just everything else that went wrong

On a still night, you could almost hear them rusting!

carchaeologist

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

On a still night, you could almost hear them rusting!

:DYep,same with the datsuns and toyotas of the time...

DaveCol

When did anyone last see a Rover SD1?

Max_Damage

DaveCol wrote: »

When did anyone last see a Rover SD1?

Terenure show last month.

Although the last time I saw an Irish-reg. one on the roads was in 1995 (I think).

peasant

I can think of a few more that never even made it to semi-classic status before they vanisehd ...for example;

Citroen BX, Citroen ZX, Peugeot 305, Renault 19
Opel Kadett and Ascona, early Omegas
Volvo 400 series
Ford Scorpios (early ones)

BrianD3

My Da had a Mk1 Ritmo, 1979 I think. He still gives out about it to this day, it gave lots of trouble but wasn't kept long enough to rust. It does not come up on cartell so must have been scrapped before 1993. An uncle of mine also had a Mk1 Ritmo in the late eighties, rust had caused the boot floor and part of the rear structure to hang down noticably on one side with the bumper still attached. I believe baling twine was utilised to provide some semblence of structural integrity

Blue850

DaveCol wrote: »

When did anyone last see a Rover SD1?

Tuesday evening in Oranmore, a red 2600

Wishbone Ash

DaveCol wrote: »

When did anyone last see a Rover SD1?

On the 8th February last!

You wait for ages for one to come along and then this happens.........:D