Extinct cars

[r19]

Apparently the Penza was sold in Northern Ireland! That leaves me with more hope that there's another out there on a farm somewhere

[Spottedlaurel]

8 hours ago, Richard_FM said:

 

These 3 might have no surviving examples in the UK.

Datsun Laurel (200L) coupe - One of what I believe were two remaining UK cars ended up in NL, the other was in storage and then I believe sold a few years ago. Not sure where it went to, still listed on SORN with a keeper change in 2017.

Mazda RX-4 coupe - Still one or two around, also the 929 saloon that I was storing on behalf of @Mr_Bo11ox for a while ended up being a parts donor for a guy with an RX-4 saloon. Not heard of any estates left here, which is a shame because they look fantastic.

Toyota Corona 2000 Mark II - There were at least two very nice saloons around a few years ago, not sure about the estate but something makes me think one did come up for sale at some point in the relatively recent past.

[neil72]

Here's a later pic of the local Stanza looking a bit forlorn, and a rough Mazda 929 i snapped a few years ago

[Richard_FM]

5 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Datsun Laurel (200L) coupe - One of what I believe were two remaining UK cars ended up in NL, the other was in storage and then I believe sold a few years ago. Not sure where it went to, still listed on SORN with a keeper change in 2017.

Mazda RX-4 coupe - Still one or two around, also the 929 saloon that I was storing on behalf of @Mr_Bo11ox for a while ended up being a parts donor for a guy with an RX-4 saloon. Not heard of any estates left here, which is a shame because they look fantastic.

Toyota Corona 2000 Mark II - There were at least two very nice saloons around a few years ago, not sure about the estate but something makes me think one did come up for sale at some point in the relatively recent past.

Thanks I though you would know, I imagine the non sporting Mazda Wankels might have had short lives due to the complexity of the engines, though they didn't seem to have the rotor tip wear problems as much as the NSU Ro80 had.

[Volksy]

5 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

also the 929 saloon that I was storing on behalf of @Mr_Bo11ox for a while ended up being a parts donor for a guy with an RX-4 saloon.

Was that the French Stacklight Hardtop?

Such a shame if it's been broken up, as it was seriously cool.

[Spottedlaurel]

4 minutes ago, Volksy said:

Was that the French Stacklight Hardtop?

Such a shame if it's been broken up, as it was seriously cool.

Happily not that one, this earlier car:

Got to love the heavily sculpted styling of the early-mid 1970s Japanese cars.

Whilst rummaging through my Flickr album finding photos of that one I also found these which relate to recent comments:

UK registered RX-4 which I saw in France back in 2023.

 

RX-3 estate from 20+ years ago, which was very local to where I lived at the time. A Norfolk car from new, tried to find a home for it but it didn't work out and ended up being weighed-in (maybe some random bits went for export). I'd imagine the odd RX-3 coupe and maybe even a saloon or two has survived, but any estates?

[Snipes]

Your own car must be getting very rare now, @Spottedlaurel (tbh I can't quite recall what it was, a Laurel I think)?

[Spottedlaurel]

16 hours ago, Snipes said:

Your own car must be getting very rare now, @Spottedlaurel (tbh I can't quite recall what it was, a Laurel I think)?

HML claims 22 Datsun Laurels of all types taxed, and as usual more on SORN but how many of those still exist?

That would include 2.0 and 2.4-litre models of at least three different generations (four if there are any of the original C30 model, but although I vaguely know of one which is about I haven't heard of it going back on the road). Certainly this isn't one of them:

 

[Datsuncog]

On 15/09/2025 at 22:26, r19 said:

Apparently the Penza was sold in Northern Ireland! That leaves me with more hope that there's another out there on a farm somewhere

They were indeed, I remember seeing both the Kia Pride and Sao Penza displayed alongside each other at Springhill Shopping Centre in Bangor c.1991.

As a kid who took no small amount of pleasure in 'knowing about cars', I was massively confused as neither of the manufacturers' names meant anything to me - and they were clearly just the old Mazda 121 and 323.

Felt like someone was winding me up!

I believe a local dealer who held a Lada franchise in the early 1990s started bringing both models in for a short period of time, and then another small independent dealer (Floods) took over the Kia side to supplement their Daihatsu and Hyundai showroom.

Don't ever remember seeing a Penza actually on the road locally (mind you, they didn't exactly stand out), though quite a few Prides with their distinctively naff whitewall tyres appeared to be in circulation for a long time, probably giffer owned and with tiny mileages.

Because Northern Ireland maintained its own vehicle licencing system until it merged with DVLA in Swansea, details of a Penza which happened to be off the road in NI before SORN was introduced may not have transferred to the publicly visible UK database at the point of merger in 2014.

So - yes, you could be right...

[ProgRocker]

Perhaps a question that should have been asked in 1991 but how does one pronounce "Sao" ?

Is it the same as the Portuguese word for saint or sayo ?

[fatharris]

I always went with 'S-ow' as in the female pig.

[Richard_FM]

15 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

HML claims 22 Datsun Laurels of all types taxed, and as usual more on SORN but how many of those still exist?

That would include 2.0 and 2.4-litre models of at least three different generations (four if there are any of the original C30 model, but although I vaguely know of one which is about I haven't heard of it going back on the road). Certainly this isn't one of them:

 

Manchester registration.

 

I remember in the 1990s some friends of my next door neighbours had a SAO Penza, which confused me as far as I could tell it was an older Mazda 323 other than the badges,  right down to the paint colour!

It was only later on I found they were made in South Africa.

[Knotty Ash Towers]

59 minutes ago, Richard_FM said:

Manchester registration.

 

I remember in the 1990s some friends of my next door neighbours had a SAO Penza, which confused me as far as I could tell it was an older Mazda 323 other than the badges,  right down to the paint colour!

It was only later on I found they were made in South Africa.

Norfolk - DNG834K

https://www.flickr.com/photos/7430965%40N05/50755424941&ved=2ahUKEwiF_Zn66OCPAxU2XUEAHYGeC5IQFnoECCMQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3Vun6hToo9NaRLRoC7gRJi

[HillmanImp]

10 hours ago, ProgRocker said:

Perhaps a question that should have been asked in 1991 but how does one pronounce "Sao" ?

Is it the same as the Portuguese word for saint or sayo ?

Considering no cunt on here can pronounce Pew-jot instead saying Per-show, its not the right place to ask. 

[Metal Guru]

35 minutes ago, HillmanImp said:

Considering no cunt on here can pronounce Pew-jot instead saying Per-show, it’s not the right place to ask. 

Eh? Everything is written here. How do you know how anyone is pronouncing names rightly or wrongly in their heads?

[warren t claim]

1 hour ago, HillmanImp said:

Considering no cunt on here can pronounce Pew-jot instead saying Per-show, its not the right place to ask. 

Harrison Ford had a good go at saying that in his film Frantic.