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Last week, Vauxhall announced that it will take the axe to to its Viva and Adam city cars at the end of 2019.
With an on-sale period of five and six years respectively, their lives were not long as car models go. Most cars tend to last around seven or eight years on the market, with a mid-life facelift to keep things fresh. But the Adam and Viva had a long innings compare to some.
Some cars are axed early because they were ahead of their time; others were plain wrong, didn't sell and were put out of their misery, and others fell victim to corporate failures and other machinations well above their paygrade.
Behold then, these are the George Lazenbys of British motoring history, complete with information as on how many are left on our roads, and current guide prices in case any tempt you:
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FIVE YEARS ON SALE
And we start off with the comparative winners, the cars that lasted around five years or so on the market...
Alfa Romeo 159 (2006-11)
The handsome 159 wasn't a bad car, but the preceding 156’s poor reliability and poor dealer support doomed it from the start however.
How many left? Roughly 8000
I want one – how much? Decent ones from £3000
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Audi A2 (2000-05)
A rare off-target car from Audi, though only relatively, as you’ll see from the numbers remaining. Functional low-drag styling produced a sophisticated but earnest look that put off some, while others loved its lightweight aluminium construction and high-rise seating. A firm ride and the need to pay extra for a fifth seat were minor annoyances in a car that was way ahead of its time. High production costs combined lethally with slowing sales to kill it prematurely.
How many left? Around 12,000
I want one – how much? Decent ones without inter-galactic mileages are around £2000, and have future classic potential.
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Peugeot RCZ (2010-15)
This pretty coupé was barely promoted by Peugeot post-launch, with obvious, sad consequences. Another tiresome aspect was that this would-be sports car shared its platform with the Peugeot Partner van and Citroën Berlingo van-with-windows. What could possibly go wrong? The high-performance R version has its fans in our office, however.
How many left? Around 12,000
I want one – how much? Decent ones from £5000. RCZ Rs from £12,000.
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Vauxhall Signum (2003-08)
A grim example of GM’s build-it-and-it-will-sell arrogance that was only tempered by its near demise in 2009. With hindsight, it's amazing that this pointless, long-wheelbase oddball remained on sale for five years. One ill-starred product of the short-lived 2000-2005 GM-Fiat alliance, it's the sister car to the Fiat Croma, which you will be shocked and surprised to learn also puts in an appearance in this feature...
How many left? Around 9000
I am mildly eccentric and want one – how much? Five-figure mileage cars from £3000.
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FOUR YEARS ON SALE:
Cadillac BLS (2006-10)
Amazing that this one lasted as long as it did, but perhaps stocks took time to clear. A reskinned Saab 9-3, the BLS was unusual for being the only Cadillac never sold in the US, being built in Sweden and available with an Italian diesel engine. Nothing wrong with the international confection, but the BLS’s limited talents turned it into a cut-price Saab.
Industry wags dubbed it the Bob Lutz Special after the GM bigwig who championed this particular idea. Did the wagon version help? No.
How many left? Around 370
I want one – how much? Only two on sale right now, from £1500.
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Chevrolet Aveo (2011-15)
This small, cheap car was stalled by Chevrolet’s withdrawal from the UK; it briefly sold in decent numbers before fading as fast as a Snapchat message.
How many left? Around 15,000
I want one – how much? Sheds from £800, decent ones from £1300.
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Chevrolet Orlando (2011-15)
Another car prematurely deceased when Chevy withdrew from the UK. Built in South Korea, this 7-seater was actually decent and practical enough.
How many left? Roughly 4000
I want one – how much? £4000 should get you a 2012 example with 60,000 miles on the clock.
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Chrysler Ypsilon (2011-15)
This was a quirkily appealing little Lancia – for that is what it really was behind the Chrysler badge – but troubled. It died when the Chrysler name disappeared from the UK, but lives on in parts of Europe as a Lancia, that company’s only and almost certainly last-ever model.
How many left? Roughly 5000
I want one – how much? From £3000.
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Jeep Patriot (2007-11)
The Patriot was uncertain off-road, miserable on it, what with its Poundland-standard cabin plastics and yelling VW diesel engine.
How many left? Around 4100
I still want one – how much? Decent ones from £4000.
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MG 6 Magnette (2011-15)
The Magnette was a booted version of the MG6 hatch, badged with the fabled MG name in desperation. Not the worst drive in the world, it was petrol-only, and hampered by very high running costs.
How many left? Around 1100
I want one – how much? Decent ones from £4000.
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Peugeot 1007 (2005-09)
Peugeot’s answer to… who knows what? It had electrically sliding doors, which opened ponderously. They also made the car very heavy and slow. It looked truncated, like its career in the UK market.
How many left? Around 6000
I want one – how much? From £1000.
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Peugeot 407 Coupé (2006-10)
Well-made, but not made for long. Survival stats unidentifiable among those for other variants.
How many left? Unknown
I want one – how much? From £2500.
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Renault Laguna Coupé (2008-12)
The existence stats are buried among Laguna hatches and wagons. But believe us: it’s rare. Much better looking than the other Lagunas, some compared it to a miniature Aston Martin, at least from the back.
How many left? Unknown
I want one – how much? Five-figure mileage cars from £4000.
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Smart Roadster (2003-07)
This was a clever, roadgoing concept car whose frustrating gearbox helped strangle sales.
How many left? Around 4000
I want one – how much? Decent ones from £2000. Warm 101bhp Brabus version has future classic possibilities, with prices from £4500.
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Ssangyong Kyron (2006-10)
The Kyron was good off-road, but felt like it was still there when returned to Tarmac. It was later offered with a five year, 250,000-mile warranty, but even that wasn’t enough to bolster its fortunes.
How many left? 900 or so
I want one – how much? From about £2000.
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THREE YEARS ON SALE:
Alfa Romeo Spider (2007-10)
The Spider was lovely to look at but distinctly average to drive – really more of a two-seat cabriolet than a sportster. Overweight, over-quivery and all over pretty quickly.
How many left? Roughly 1400
I want one – how much? Decent ones from £5000.
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Fiat Idea (2004-07)
Once upon a time your ignorant, tired and in-a-hurry writer made the mistake of accepting this as a "VW Golf or similar" at an Italian car rental counter. Minutes later, bouncing about an autostrada in the middle of the night he realised his error. Frightful.
How many left? 2700 or so
Fake news - I still want one - how much? From £1000.
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Honda CR-Z (2010-13)
It only went off-sale in the US in 2017, but Honda’s dinky little CR-Z hybrid disappeared from British showrooms five years ago. The idea was great – combine the cheeky verve of the 1980s CR-X coupé with the low-emissions, low-guilt ownership of a hybrid.
But the CR-Z wasn’t quite quick enough to reignite the frenetic zest of its ancestor (although the volume of noise was there), while an ordinary diesel supermini easily matched its economy.
How many left? Around 4000
I want one - how much? Decent ones from £5000.
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Mercedes-Benz Vaneo (2002-05)
Developed by Daimler’s commercial vehicle arm, as suggested by a name designed to put buyers off. Which it did.
How many left? Around 1500
I want one - how much? Well preserved examples from £3000.
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Seat Toledo (2005-08)
The third-generation Toledo was essentially an Altea with a big fat boot, to which many buyers said a big fat no.
How many left? Around 2500
I want one - how much? The ones out there all seem to have mega miles, so think £2000 or so.
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Toyota Urban Cruiser (2009-12)
Cool name, almost cool shape and a cool-to-cold reception from buyers.
How many left? Around 4500
I want one - how much? OK-looking ones from £3000.
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Vauxhall Ampera (2012-15)
Brilliant, brave and soon to bomb, the Ampera was skewered by a high price and buyers’ then indifference to green machines.
How many left? 1200 or so
I want one - how much? Five-figure mileage examples from £10,000.
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TWO YEARS ON SALE:
Now we’re starting to get serious…
Aston Martin Cygnet 2011-13
The Cygnet was a Toyota iQ city car converted into an Aston Martin. It was allegedly dreamed up on a golf course; a very weird way into Aston ownership.
How many left? 140
I crave an Aston Martin, anything will do - how much? Interestingly, the sheer lack of success of this car when new has led to scarcity holding up residual values. And race car legend Sir Stirling Moss has one (pictured). You won’t get into one for less than £30,000.
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Cadillac STS (2009-10)
Another product of GM’s seemingly endless quest to make Cadillac a force in Europe. GM tooled these for right-hand drive and set prices keenly – essentially charging BMW 5 Series money for a 7 Series sized car. But it was rewarded with sales of just 45 cars.
How many left? 24
I want one - how much? Extremely hard to get hold of, when they appear they seem to sell for around £10,000.
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Chevrolet Volt (2013-15)
Chevy’s withdrawal didn’t help, but the Volt was selling slowly anyway despite its brilliance. It was just too expensive.
How many left? 115 or so
I want one - how much? Lowish-miles examples from £9000.
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Chrysler Delta (2011-13)
A miserable, short-lived, badge-engineered travesty and another example of Fiat Chrysler’s periodic abuse of brands – this Delta being a Lancia. This quietly elegant hatch was true to the standard, pre-rallying Delta of 1978. Not that anyone cared. FCA rebranded the Delta over here because it figured that Chrysler badges would smother sales less completely than a Lancia shield.
Either way, the Delta’s pricing was heroically ambitious (equivalent BMWs were often cheaper, at retail if not real world prices at least), and its career was brief.
How many left? 850 or so
I want one - how much? 70,000 milers from £4000.
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Chrysler Sebring saloon (2007-09)
A US budget rental fleet special that made you pleased to get back in your own car. Nasty.
How many left? Around 1500
I love rental cars – how much? OK looking examples are to be had from just £1500.
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Dodge Avenger (2007-09)
As per the Sebring, but this was meant to be a budget performance car. It wasn’t. Those of a historical bent may be interested to know that the Avenger name was something Chrysler first used on the Hillman Avenger, a big-selling but now largely forgotten saloon in the 1970s, and a nameplate retained when most of the rest of its European arm was sold to PSA in 1979.
How many left? About 700
I want one - how much? £2000 should secure a tidy example.
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Dodge Journey (2008-10)
The Journey was an unfortunate car, as it was launched just as the people-carrier class implosion gathered force, and new Chrysler owner Fiat was questioning the wisdom of bringing the Dodge brands to the UK.
How many left? Around 1600
I want one - how much? Reasonable examples seems to be out there from £4000.
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Dodge Nitro (2007-09)
In a chunky kind of way it was quite good-looking, which matched its rough-edged manners. Yet another failed Dodge.
How many left? Around 2100
I want one - how much? Decent examples without vast mileages start around £5000.
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Fiat Croma (2005-07)
This Croma made the troubled 1980s original look good. It's hard to believe Da Vinci flourished in the nation where this was born. It had lifeless steering, dubious handling, and a soggy gearchange. Dreadful.
How many left? Around 570
I still must have one - how much? Extremely cheap, from £1000, and for good reason.
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MG XPower SV (2003-05)
As newly independent MG Rover ran out of road, in its wisdom it decided to spend time and money on this handsome-as-a-hippo rework of a failed De Tomaso project. And then tried to sell it for Porsche 911 money. As our Andrew Frankel reported when he first drove it, “The driving position is one of the worst I can recall… Headroom is appalling, too.”
The SV might conceivably have gone on for longer but the company ran out of money and closed down.
How many left? 20 it seems
I want one - how much? They don’t come up often, but rarity seems to have helped residual values, and when they do sell they do so from around £40,000.
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Renault Vel Satis (2002-04)
A classic “What were they thinking of?” machine. It was outstanding at almost nothing.
How many left? Around 230. It is at least slightly more plentiful than its two-door sister car, the Avantime. There are only 200 of them left on UK roads
I want one - how much? Extremely rare, examples cost from £1500.
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Renault Wind (2010-12)
Curious niche roadster developed by Renault Sport. Euthanised during the Renault UK range cull of late 2011. And the name is not without its problems in the British context.
How many left? Around 2600
I want one - how much? They don’t seem to do many miles, so most out there seem tidy enough, from £3000.
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Rover CityRover (2003-05)
An Indian-built car with a Union Jack on its rump. It was at least cheap, but there was a reason for that.
How many left? Around 1040
My life is incomplete without a CityRover in it - how much to buy one? It's rare - there’s only one for sale at present, for £600.
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TVR Sagaris (2004-06)
The Tagaris is one of the best cars in this story, though as with all TVRs driving and indeed owning one wasn’t for the faint-hearted. But just look at it. It would have gone on a lot longer but TVR went bust.
How many left? 117, down from 190 in 2006. We suspect most were smashed rather than scrapped
I want one - how much? From £60,000.
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Vauxhall Sintra (1997-99)
Even Vauxhall insiders thought this 8-seater relabelled US import was expensive and thirsty rubbish, and when it performed very badly in crash tests in 1998 it got pulled from the market, after just over two years on sale
How many left? 28
I want one - how much? When they do come up, think £500 or so.
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DeLorean DMC12 (1981-82)
Unlike for most of these cars, the DeLorean tale is a reasonably well known one. By the standards of its time, it wasn’t a bad car, and its design has arguably aged reasonably well. And gullwing doors on an affordable sports car were not to be entirely sniffed at. But it wasn’t very well built and was too heavy, and scandal and financial problems led to the company’s collapse and the car’s premature end.
How many left? Very few indeed
I want to drive at 88mph and be in 1955 - how much to get there? The cars have rarity and a cult following in their favour, so you won’t get one of any consequence for less than £30,000.
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ONE YEAR ON SALE:
You have to work very hard – or be very unlucky – to last but one year on the market. Here are the members of this exclusive club…
Chevrolet Epica (2008-09)
Sorry, but only these words will do: epic fail. You’ve likely forgotten that it’s a very tedious family saloon.
How many left? Around 310
I want one - how much? An OK-looking example is currently on sale for £3000.
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Chevrolet Trax (2013-14)
This crossover’s name and semi-digital dashboard were interesting, but it was killed by Chevy’s European withdrawal. The Trax lives on today, in the shape of the Vauxhall Mokka X.
How many left? Around 1700
I want one - how much? Decent ones from £6000.
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Honda Legend (2006-07)
This car ought really to be a legend, because it offered optional kit such as automatic, self-steering lane-keeping (an industry first), and forward collision mitigation over a decade ago. Active front-lighting, Bluetooth and a rear-view camera also appeared on an amazing roster of kit.
Less impressive, surprisingly, was the 3.5 V6 (low-rev lethargy slowed it), but what really did for this technical marvel was the lack of a diesel engine in the range, which were becoming all the rage at the time in the executive market.
How many left? We think a few dozen of this particular model
I want one - how much? Tidy ones from £5600.
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Nissan Cube (2010)
The Cube looked great on Japan’s city streets, but somewhere between weird and foolish on Britain’s. Made in Japan, it incurred hefty shipping and currency-change costs, and it accordingly had overly-ambitious pricing – which also helped to finish it off.
How many left? Around 1050
I want one - how much? £5000 gets you a nice example.
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Renault Fluence EV (2012-13)
Renault sold only 79 before pulling the plug (sorry) on this pricey, short-range electric saloon.
How many left? 60
I want one - how much? You’ll pay upwards of £7000 – but you’ll have to find one first.
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Renault Koleos (2008-09)
You have to work quite hard to miss-hit the SUV boom, but Renault aced it with this South Korean makeover. The Koleos name returned on a new SUV in 2017.
How many left? Around 2400
I want one - how much? Decent ones from £2500.
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Saab 9-5 (2010-11)
This was an overly-rushed Saab version of the Vauxhall Insignia, conceived well before GM’s hurried exit from Trollhättan in 2010. Lovely seats were spoiled by dubious ride and handling, woolly steering and, on cooking versions at least, ghastly green dot-matrix information displays that contrived to be aeronautical but landed as plain old CPC 464.
Nevertheless, it stood a vague chance in the admittedly not overlarge non-German luxobarge market, but it died when Saab’s woefully underfinanced, over-ambitious new owners went bust.
How many left? Around 1000
I want one - how much? Around £5000 gets you into this final Saab.
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Subaru B9 Tribeca (2006-07)
With a snout even odder than its name, this road-biased SUV disappeared as quickly as a rallying Impreza WRX. For some reason it was launched to journalists in Venice, a place more normally noted for its canals, not its roads.
How many left? Around 440
I want one - how much? Nice ones from £6000, though be warned the hefty £555 annual road tax may prove increasingly irksome.
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Suzuki Kizashi (2012-13)
Four-wheel drive, a 2.4-litre petrol, automatic, 191g/km and no diesel meant low sales. But a not unpleasing shape, we think.
How many left? 325
I want one - how much? Neat ones are out there from £6000.
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Honda Logo (2000-01)
And the winner is… The Honda Logo. It was on sale between April 2000 and January 2001, and thus by our reckoning, had the shortest on-sale run of any car sold in the UK in the modern era, cracking just nine months on the market. Why?
It was a dated, dull supermini memorable for absolutely nothing. Except, it seems it was the most reliable car in Britain, according to some independent research. That was partly because it had so little kit that there wasn’t much to go wrong, but also because it was Japanese. The Logo was introduced not long before the first Jazz (a vastly better car) to give Honda a toehold in this class.
How many left? Around 1050
I want one - how much? Only one out there at the time of writing – a 60,000 miler, for £890.
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