Cars you have owned that suddenly disappeared from the roads

[RoverFolkUs]

What better to do on a Sunday evening than browse Facebook marketplace in search of a Rover 400 HH-R 

Except I can't seem to find any that tick the right boxes for me

I don't know what it is about them but part of me really wants to get another one like the one I used to have - A hatchback nightfire red 414, manual. 

I can't seem to find one for sale anywhere. 

Went on 'how many left' which claims there are just 12 left 414I S models currently taxed! And roughly 50-60 on SORN. 

Where did they all go? I know that is just one very specific variant of a pretty obscure car but it does sadden me to think that they've pretty much all gone! 

Alternatively there is a very lovely looking 420, but unfortunately it's a saloon and £3k. Yes, it's rare, and low mileage. But is it worth £3k? Not to me, not sure about anyone else. 

My main preferences are a 414 or 420 in nightfire red, ideally hatchback, must be manual. It's got to be cheap because if I was spending £3k I'd get something more universally desirable. 

I'm absolutely kicking myself for calling it a day and getting rid when the clutch went in my 414, but they were totally disposable back then and there were plenty more around.. yet they seem to have disappeared so quickly 🙁

It won't come as much of a surprise if I said another car from me which fits the title of the thread is a Daewoo Tacuma... 

[GrumpiusMaximus]

I had a MK1 Ford Ka.  Considering just how many of them were on the road and the fact that they only stopped making them in 2008 there really are very, very few of them around.

My Ka was an early one on an 'S' plate with the old Kent-derived 1.3.  My first car.  Absolutely hilarious in the lanes but very uncomfortable for long-distance with me being 6'2".  Nevertheless I regularly drove from Gravesend to Lancaster in it for Uni and from Gravesend to Devon and Herefordshire to meet family.  Even beat my Dad in his Audi A4 on the Gravesend-Devon run once, much to his annoyance...

In the end I got rid in part exchange for a 5 year-old 1.4 Fiesta on an '05 plate (this was 2010) which was better in every measurable way.  It was very dented, probably rusted and not in the best of nick having been through my Dad and two first-time drivers (it was brother's car before it was mine).  Ended up dying sometime in 2013, which wasn't a bad innings really.

Rust seems to have taken most of them.  Would have another one day.

[Mrcento]

e36 BMW's, in particular, the tourings. And by 'disappeared' i mean nice ones.

The few that do still exist that come of for sale generally have interiors ripped out and welded diffs.

Seicento's as well. In particular, Sportings. Don't think i've seen one up for sale near me for at least 7 years.

Mk3 Mondeos are heading the same way, a few late leggy Pez ones pop up now and then, but all the diesels have long passed the point of rust/Clutch/DMF expense and been disposed of.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

@Mrcento my partner's sister had a Seicento Sporting (in bright yellow, of course).  It's been sat on her parents' driveway for a couple of years now as it failed its MOT on rust, having been welded the year before.  She drove it as her only car for 12-13 years.

One-star Euro NCAP means I'll never be tempted.

[sheffcortinacentre]

Why? Are you planning on crashing it?

[Spiny Norman]

All of them, bar maybe what I'm running just now, an old R170 SLK. But I've only ever seen one IRL on the road since I got mine, and the bugger didn't even wave back..

[DVee8]

Datsun/Nissan Bluebird, sunny, cherry, almeria, 200sx, 100nx, Primara. 

[Split_Pin]

Corsa B. I had my 2nd example from 2010 to 2021 and they were everywhere then. But since I sold mine, I very seldom see one. 

Astra G Coupes and Convertibles were never very common but were popular in the Vauxhall scene in the late 00s and through the 10s. I can't remember the last time I saw one though. I owned mine from 2005 to 2018.

 

 

[sierraman]

I can’t see anyone giving £3,000 on that Rover, £300 maybe but not £3,000. It’ll just sit there out of stubbornness until it goes on eBay with a similarly outlandish reserve, someone’s cat will click ‘buy it now’ and they’ll get a right run around trying to get them to commit to buying it. Then they’ll probably just get fed up by this point and scrap it once the test has run out and the brakes have seized on. 

[Split_Pin]

That's the Rover rivet counters for you.

I've never driven one but have no desire to pay £3k for the pleasure. A cheap L Series booted saloon version that preferably still has its floor, yes please though!

[eddyramrod]

Practically every car I've ever driven!

From 2013-18 we had a Denim Blue Chevrolet Tacuma, identical to the one that was Roffled here just weeks ago.  While we had it there were probably three or four others around Barrow in the same colour, not to mention others elsewhere on the spectrum, and at least one Daewoo version.  Six years on and I couldn't tell you when I last saw one.

Citroen C3, almost the same.  I bought one from here five years ago when I was allowed to drive again, and a jolly little toy it was, with many siblings around town.  Now?  I can think of two.  

The same happened at different stages with most cars: 2CVs, the various Cortinas, etc etc.  The difference is that the cars built in the 20th century have a chance of re-emerging as Sunday-only classics.  Anything later... just won't.

[skoda_fan]

+1 for saying everything I've ever owned, but in particular rear-engined Skodas. Just got rid of my 23 year old mk1 TT due to its ever-growing list of issues, and come to think of it you don't even see so many of those around now either.

[eddyramrod]

31 minutes ago, skoda_fan said:

+1 for saying everything I've ever owned, but in particular rear-engined Skodas. Just got rid of my 23 year old mk1 TT due to its ever-growing list of issues, and come to think of it you don't even see so many of those around now either.

I do; my neighbour across the road has one.  Grey, of course.

[The Vicar]

Mk1 and 2 Puntos; they were everywhere until a few years ago. They may not be extinct now, but they have seriously reduced in numbers. In Italy I see them everyday, but when home I take not of each one I see, such is their scarcity now. 

Ditto for the Mk3 Mondeo.

 

[Stinkwheel]

Honest answer, unless obviously enthusiast owned or a cherished classic/moern classic. I just dont see cars much older than a decade old on a daily basis anymore.

This country, unlike USA or some parts of Europe, just seems to have fallen for the 2 or 3 years old and you need a new one on PCP lease con.

[Metal Guru]

On a related theme, have you ever noticed when you get a new ( to you) car , you seem to see the same make and model in the same colour  everywhere?

[320touring]

Not seen a MK1 Octavia since getting mine...

[GrumpiusMaximus]

On 29/04/2024 at 00:47, sheffcortinacentre said:

Why? Are you planning on crashing it?

No but I can't account for the stupidity of others.

[MiniMinorMk3]

Alfa Romeo Alfasud Sprint. 

BMW e21.

BMW e34

Ford Sierra 1.8 GLX Fiat Uno

Mk3 Golf

etc etc etc

[Stinkwheel]

5 minutes ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Alfa Romeo Alfasud Sprint. 

BMW e21.

BMW e34

Ford Sierra 1.8 GLX Fiat Uno

Mk3 Golf

etc etc etc

The reality is, those cars are two or three generations earlier than most of the other 'cars you dont see' being talked about now. An E21 was reasonably rare in 1995 when i worked at a franchised BMW dealer. A few years after a guy at the same place bought an import from South Africa XR3 mk3. in 1999 ish, because you never saw them even then.

Its often quite a shock to think how far behind current or recently current our minds are 

[Supernaut]

11 hours ago, Mrcento said:

e36 BMW's, in particular, the tourings. And by 'disappeared' i mean nice ones.

Oh hi.

I heard somewhere that the touring body style was even more of a rust trap than other body styles. However last summer I saw an absolutely immaculate 323i touring with the full M sport kit in Fort William of all places!

 

My contribution to the thread is Peugeot 306s. When I bought my first one in 2010 they were basically disposable motoring, and continued to be right through the mid 20-teens.

Then seemingly overnight they vanished and the prices shot up. A bit like E36s, then.

[bezzabsa]

citroen Picasso's seem to have vanished in a cloud of rust

Mk1 vectra's 

Vauxhall Omega's see more Carltons than Omega

LDV Convoy + Pilot seem to be on their last gasps too

[MiniMinorMk3]

52 minutes ago, Stinkwheel said:

The reality is, those cars are two or three generations earlier than most of the other 'cars you dont see' being talked about now.

The question posed by the OP was cars you owned that have disappeared

Alfa Romeo Alfasud Sprint. Owned in 1986 when they were still a common sight. 

BMW e21. Owned in 1988, again when they were still a common sight.

BMW e34 Owned 2005 when there were loads still about.

Ford Sierra 1.8 GLX. Owned in 1993

Fiat Uno Owned 1994

None of the above were owned as "Classics", they were all daily drivers, some being the only car I had at the time.

[LightBulbFun]

"Cars you have owned that suddenly disappeared from the roads"

 

 

guessing I am still not allowed to post in threads like these? LOL

[Stinkwheel]

8 minutes ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

The question posed by the OP was cars you owned that have disappeared

Alfa Romeo Alfasud Sprint. Owned in 1986 when they were still a common sight. 

BMW e21. Owned in 1988, again when they were still a common sight.

BMW e34 Owned 2005 when there were loads still about.

Ford Sierra 1.8 GLX. Owned in 1993

Fiat Uno Owned 1994

None of the above were owned as "Classics", they were all daily drivers, some being the only car I had at the time.

My bad, i didnt appreciate the 'you have owned part'

[SiC]

90s stuff has pretty much become extinct especially once common stuff. Whether Astras F, Clio Mk1 or a Escort. Even the Focus MK1, once most popular car, I really don't see that often now either. Newest is 24 years, oldest is 34 years. 

00s stuff is going that way quickly now. No surprise when the newest is 14 years old and oldest is 24 years. I'm noticing this in classifieds where it's more of a struggle to find nice examples of once common cars of that era. 

[SiC]

I think the title of the thread is more "Where the feck has all the time gone and I'm now suddenly realising I'm getting old"

[GrumpiusMaximus]

On 29/04/2024 at 12:15, SiC said:

I think the title of the thread is more "Where the feck has all the time gone and I'm now suddenly realising I'm getting old"

Policemen are looking awfully young these days.

[riek]

Cruising on the M5 for a hundred miles the other day I thought I'd look out and see how many cars I saw older than mine (2002/52)

One. 

Stuff pre 2010  (aka brand new cars) was in single figures and evenly split between 'enthusiast' stuff and stuff one bill away from the bridge.

 

 

[eddyramrod]

58 minutes ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

Policemen are looking awfully young these days.

My doctor's receptionist looks about 12...