Hagerty’s 2014 automotive threatened, endangered and extinct list

By Rob Sass 14 hours ago


(Editor’s Note: The U.S. has 50 different state DMVs, but unlike the UK, there is no readily accessible central database here that shows precisely how many examples of a particular model are still on the road. Luckily, insurance records are a pretty good indicator of survivorship. Classic vehicle insurer Hagerty looks at “threatened, endangered and extinct” this way: Fewer than 50 examples insured equals “threatened”; fewer than 20 examples insured equals “endangered”; fewer than 10 examples insured equals “critically endangered”; and zero examples insured equals “extinct.”)

The Great Permian Extinction of 250 million years ago was the largest mass die-off in history. It saw fully 93 percent of the life forms on Earth at the time go extinct. We’re seeing its equivalent today with cars from the 1980s and 1990s — they’re in the extinction cross-hairs. According to R.L Polk & Company data, only about 25 percent of the 1994 model year cars sold here are still on U.S. roads. Go back to 1984 and it shrinks to around 1 percent. And while nobody really misses the aquatic cockroach-like Permian-Era critter the trilobite, the Reagan-era Golf GTI was actually a pretty cool car — just try finding one today. Here are some cars that were originally sold in reasonably large numbers (more than 10,000) but have virtually disappeared from American roads:










1. 1985-92 Volkswagen GTI MK 2: The North American version of the second-generation VW Golf GTI was far more German than the first, in spite of the fact that like its predecessor (known as the Rabbit GTI), it was built in Pennsylvania until 1988 when production shifted to Mexico. At least it was properly referred to by its German moniker “Golf” instead of as a Rabbit. The MK 2 GTI was Motor Trend magazine’s Car of the Year for 1985 and many GTI fans like the MK 2 version of the original hot hatch the best. Few, however, survive — there are likely fewer MK2 GTI owners than people who would admit to liking Nickelback. Classic car insurer Hagerty has just 18 on its books, making the MK 2 Golf GTI officially “endangered.”



2. 1986-87 Chevrolet Cavalier Z24: Muscle car fans don’t think much of the J-car Cavalier, taking particular offense at the marked-down, blue light special version of the Z/28 name and its front-wheel drive. But in Z24 trim, the Cavalier was actually a pretty decent performer. With between 125 and 130 hp from a 2.8-liter V-6, 0-60 times of under nine seconds and firm suspension, it wasn’t bad for the late Malaise Era. Five-speed manuals were standard and Z24 Cavs weren’t terrible-looking cars, particularly the hatchback, the last reported sighting of which was some time during the Clinton administration. With just eight on the books, Hagerty lists them as “critically endangered.”



3. 1988-89 Merkur Scorpio: You can look at the Scorpio in a couple of ways: It’s either just another half-assed Big-Three effort to palm some surplus European stuff off on Americans or a noble failed experiment. We think it was the latter. Prior to the brilliant new Fiesta and Focus, Ford generally gave Americans heavily watered-down versions of the smaller cars that it built in Germany and the UK. This car was a bid at getting the good stuff to U.S. enthusiasts. Sold at select Lincoln-Mercury dealers under the name “Merkur” (German for Mercury), the Scorpio was essentially a federalized version of the highly regarded German Ford Scorpio. Once again though, the Europeans got all of the good engines (with up to 201 hp) while Americans could only get a 144-hp 2.9-liter V-6. Low performance, high price and inept marketing consigned the car to the automotive fossil record after about 22,000 were sold in the U.S. They’re pretty much all gone at this point, and with just 12 on Hagerty’s books, they’re “endangered.”



4. 1982-84 Dodge Rampage: The Dodge Rampage is one endearingly odd-looking little vehicle. Half car (the Dodge Omni 024) and half truck, it had the unfortunate luck of being introduced just as the car/truck phenomenon started by the Ford Ranchero and Chevy El Camino was petering out. That combined with the fact that real truck people despised its front wheel-drive and 96-hp four banger, ensured that it was a short-lived phenomenon. Still, about 38,000 were sold over the course of three model years. There was a also a very rare Plymouth version called the Scamp, but it’s more likely that someone will drag a live Ivory Billed Woodpecker out of an Arkansas swamp before someone else in Arkansas cuts their grass for the first time in 20 years and finds a Scamp. The Rampage’s rather quirky, utilitarian and cute nature has led to at least some conservation efforts. Hagerty insures just under 50 of them, making the Rampage simply “threatened.”



5. 1976-83 Plymouth Sapporo: The Sapporo was what was known as a “captive import,” part of a common practice in the 1960s-1980s when the Big Three all held substantial interests in overseas car companies. When they needed a small car, they’d simply grab something current from one of their Japanese or European partners and slap a domestic badge on it. Service departments hated them because they were totally alien, and unlikely to be around long. In addition, sales people generally hadn’t a clue about how to sell them. The Sapporo was actually a Mitsubishi. It was around for an unusually long while and sold in large numbers, yet it’s utterly disappeared from the automotive scene. Known for its ability to talk — spouting pseudo-helpful reminders like “your lights are on” or “your door is ajar,” it wasn’t exactly Siri-like intelligent, but it was unique. The last one spotted in the wild was on display several years ago at the Concours d’Lemons, the infamous car show for the worst of the automotive world held in Monterey, Calif., each August. Hagerty lists none on its book, making the Sapporo officially “extinct,” unless and until someone locates a breeding pair.

 

Below is one that I never see anymore. One of the senior citizens I know had one, but he passed & his kids sold it
I always thought it was a neat little ride (mini type Vette)

What cars don't you see anymore on the road ?

Post them & let us know `OK > Thanks <


Model specs

1968-1973 OPEL GT 1900



Overview

Given Opel’s General Motors heritage, nobody should have been too surprised when the GT popped up in 1968 looking like a shrunken Corvette (although it had been previously seen as a concept

car

at the 1965 Frankfurt Motor Show). The Kadett provided most of the underpinnings while the body was built by Brissoneau & Lotz in France. The rotating headlamps were manually operated. Most GTs ended up in the US, presumably with owners who couldn’t afford to run the full-sized Corvette. Very nimble, very fun, very distinctive.

 

GM mini Nova (?) LOL
1970 Opel Kadett/Rallye 1.9: Imported sizzle

AUGUST 1, 2002



The Opel Kadett was advertised as the “Mini-Brute,” and one could hardly argue with the first half of the nickname. The Kadett, built by GM’s German subsidiary and imported for sale in Buick dealerships, rode on a 95.1-inch wheelbase and its front track didn’t even break 50 inches. Yet in Rallye (yes, it was marketed with that quaint spelling) trim, especially with the 102-hp, 1897-cc engine, the promise of its “rallye” stripe was more than delivered. Priced at $2,475, Road & Track called it “a lot of performance for the money.”

But in retrospect, it’s hard to imagine the Kadett as successful. After all, Car and Driver had famously savaged it in a road test, and Opels, which were sold in the United States from 1958 until they were withdrawn in lieu of Isuzus with Opel badges in 1976, are largely forgotten by the general public. But in 1969, Opel was second in sales among imports—thanks in part to having the largest dealer network (Buick), and also to having a lineup that included a sports car (the GT).
The Kadett/Rallye lineup included a basic two-door sedan and wagon, a fastback two-door sedan, the more luxurious LS coupe and the Rallye. Three four-cylinder engines were available as well, including a 55-hp 1.1-liter four, plus a 67-hp four and, optional in the Rallye, the 1.9-liter four.
General Motors was master of selling the sizzle, and it hyped the extras that were standard on the Rallye, including the stripes (twin black strips down the beltline and black panels on the hood); “running lights” (fog lights on the front bumper); “silver” (steel) wheels with chrome lug nuts; and simulated-wood steering wheel. All this was on a body that looked like a stateside GM design left in the dryer too long, with strong hints of Nova and Chevelle in the front end and C-pillars.
Certainly there was some steak under the sizzle. The aforementioned 1.9-liter four had an unusual design. Usually called cam-in-head, it had wedge combustion chambers and rocker arms, but no pushrods between the solid lifters and the cam end of the rockers. The cam was driven by a duplex roller chain with hydraulic tensioning. A two-barrel Solex downdraft carburetor was standard on the 1.9, which had a very oversquare 93 x 69.8-mm bore and stroke, allowing a 6000-rpm redline. Maximum power, however, came only at 5400 rpm, with 115 lb-ft of torque at 3100 rpm.
A four-speed manual transmission was standard, with a three-speed automatic optional. The latter, a massive power sink, was best avoided. The 1.9 came with a 3.67:1 final drive ratio, compared to the 3.18:1 of lesser Opels, so the Rallye 1.9 “spins a rear wheel almost as avidly as an American V8 getting off the line,” according to Road & Track. Of course, the wheels were small even for that era of 13-inch rims, at only five inches bead to bead, and mounted with an almost dainty 155SR-13 tire. Well, at least they were radials.
And at least the Rallye had front disc brakes, with drums at the rear. Suspension was peculiar, with a transverse leaf spring with A-arms up front. Rear suspension had coil springs on the live axle. It was, of course, rear drive, as front-wheel drive was still limited to oddballs like Saab and Mini.
It was also a small car, as we learned behind the wheel of a 1970 Rallye 1.9 owned by Glenn Dusman of Hanover, Pennsylvania. The steering wheel—simulated wood, three brushed-metal spokes and all—is set at a rather bus-like angle, the column pointed down at three rather small pedals. A fourth pedal to the left pumped the windshield squirter.
It’s snug side to side, and the hood looks narrow from the driver’s seat. The seats are chair height, and the shifter truly floor-mounted. There’s not much of a console. But the Rallye comes standard with a tachometer plus a trio of auxiliary gauges under the dash. Sporting pretensions there are.
We didn’t drive this 30-year-old Opel hard, but contemporary testers achieved an 18.3-second quarter-mile and a top speed of 101 mph. Skidpad data aren’t available, but reports noted a tendency toward understeer and stable handling.
The Kadett continued for one more year, but the Rallye was dropped when the 1900 series was introduced in 1971. These would be the last true Opels sold in the United States with the Opel badge. Kadetts, as inexpensive cars, were consumed in day-to-day driving. Any surviving Kadett, particularly a Rallye 1.9, is extremely rare. Mini-Brutes maybe, but not many brutes any more.
- See more at: 1970 Opel Kadett/Rallye 1.9: Imported sizzle | Autoweek

 

I know one car I don't see at all is the z34 lumina. I use to see a couple on Craigslist but known driving. I know years ago my uncle had one sitting in his shop. I actually would never mind having one either. I had a second gen lumina but the first gen z34 would have been cool to see.

 

Hi `Zach,
I don't see them anymore & I like them...

 

CLASSICS

Disappearing Cars—The Automotive Threatened, Endangered and Extinct List

Hagerty


Mercury Capri (Hagerty)


Several years ago, there was a large reward posted for evidence that the Ivory Billed Woodpecker was not extinct as was previously thought. Strangely, the classic car world has yet to respond in like fashion for evidence that breeding pairs of Plymouth Crickets or Mercury Bobcats are still out there. To qualify for the list a car must have been produced in large numbers (10,000-plus) within the last 40 years with few (if any) roadworthy survivors. Here are some of our favorite threatened, endangered and extinct cars:
1. 1975-80 Chevrolet Monza: The Monza, based on the infamous Chevy Vega, might well have been the most attractive GM car of the mid-1970s. It was also available with a small V-8 and a manual transmission. More than 300,000 were built, and Monzas even raced successfully. Although the styling was a high-quality job, build quality wasn’t any better than anything else of the era, which may explain the extreme scarcity of survivors.

Status: Threatened
2. 1971-76 Mercury Capri: The Capri was Ford of Europe’s answer to the Mustang. Like the Mustang, it was built on rather ordinary sedan underpinnings but the result was handsome, well made and, in the case of the V-6 powered cars, fast. It was quite popular in the early 1970s, selling more than 100,000 units in its first two years. Where they all went is anyone’s guess.

Status: Endangered
3. 1984 Plymouth Voyager (Dodge Caravan): If you’re a Generation X’er, there’s a good chance you learned to drive behind the wheel of a minivan. Introduced in 1983, Chrysler’s original was powered by a carbureted 2.2-liter four-cylinder engine making just 96 horsepower. Rear-seat entertainment system options included reading, Auto Bingo, and looking out the window. Chrysler’s reinvention of the station wagon would relegate that very category to “endangered” within a decade. Despite its significance and first-year sales total topping 209,000, we’re not sure if a single collector-grade example exists outside of Chrysler’s own museum.
Status: Extinct
4. 1984-1985 Ford EXP Turbo: The EXP began life in 1982, along with its corporate cousin, the Mercury LN7. The basic idea was simple: Take an Escort coupe, rip out the back seats to make it a “sporty” two-seater, and give it more interesting body work. The problem, however, was that the EXP weighed 200 pounds more than the already pathetically slow Escort. It took two years to remedy the issue by giving the EXP an optional turbocharged 1.6-liter that made 120 horsepower. The EXP Turbo was finally a reasonable attempt at an interesting domestic sports car. But the car was priced at nearly $10,000, making it more expensive than a Mustang GT 5.0

Status: Endangered
5. 1975-81 Volkswagen Scirocco: The first-generation VW Scirocco was positioned as a replacement for the popular VW Karmann-Ghia. It was a thoroughly modern, VW Rabbit-based, front-wheel drive, water-cooled car with angular styling courtesy of Italdesign and Giorgetto Giugiaro. As rust-prone as anything of the era, the ranks of first-generation Sciroccos have thinned to the point that extinction may loom, particularly for first-year cars with pretty chrome bumpers and funky plaid seats.

Status: Threatened
Click here to see more from Hagerty and the Automotive Threatened, Endangered and
Extinct List.