How Many Are Left?

Survivors and the vanishing

Britain's roads are dominated by a familiar few. The Ford Fiesta alone accounts for over a million cars still licensed, with the Golf, Corsa and Focus close behind — the supermini and small-family staples that have sold in their millions for decades. At the other end sit the forgotten ones: workaday models that were everywhere in their day and have quietly slipped towards extinction as they aged out, rusted, or simply became uneconomic to keep on the road.

The saddest stories are the once-ubiquitous British cars. Models that filled supermarket car parks in the 1980s and 90s now number in the hundreds, or fewer — kept alive by enthusiasts rather than everyday drivers. Many more sit in the “mothballed” category, declared off-road on a SORN: not quite gone, but waiting in garages and on driveways, their futures uncertain.

Curious where your own car sits? Pop your reg in at the top — and if it's a rarity, it's worth knowing the full picture before it changes hands.