SOME of the UK’s most popular cars of the 1980s and 1990s are at risk of becoming extinct.
Beloved motors from Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Renault are dwindling across the country, with under 100 models left on the market.
Recent DVLA figures obtained by Retro Cars reveals the Lada Riva is most likely to be killed off in the coming years, with just 49 examples remaining on the road.
Brits snapped up around 30,000 examples of the Russian compact car during the late 1980s, with a new model costing around £3,000.
The Alfa Romeo 146 is another former favourite which is likely to disappear, with just 89 registered in the UK.
The saloon was popular with families during the mid 1990s, but was replaced by the all-new 147 in early 2000.
Despite being one of the most popular imported cars in Britain during the 1980s, the Fiat Uno has also become a rarity on the road.
The supermini – which sold 300,000 models between 1983 and 1995 – has only 218 editions left.
The Renault 21 has just 221 examples left, while there is only 270 Vauxhall Carlton across the country.
Other models which are close to extinction include the Citroen BX (286 examples left), Nissan Bluebird (324), Volvo 440 (407), Peugeot 309 (409), Rover 800 (468).
Craig Cheetham, editor of Retro Cars, said: “The supply of cars is a lot worse than it is or was for classics of an earlier vintage thanks to a generational shift in society, which has seen a car become as much of a disposable asset as a washing machine.
“In the eighties and nineties the days of ‘make good and mend’ turned into ‘finance and replace’, not helped by the scrappage scheme launched in 2009, and in the future the everyday cars of this era will be far less common than classic MGBs or Triumphs.
“Indeed, in many cases they already are.
“That’s why it’s essential that the good ones get saved.”
