Some of the Britain’s best loved classic cars are close to extinction and could be lost to our roads forever according to figures released by the DVLA.

Renaults, Vauxhalls, Nissans and Volvos are all on the endangered list with scrapyards up and down the country laying in wait to claim the last in the line of a generation.

The rarest car in Britain might not surprise many who considered buying a car in the 1980s, according to the DVLA there are only 49 examples left of the Lada Riva, a car which was the subject of many cruel joke after being imported from Russia in the 1980s. The first Lada was sold in Britain in 1983 and due to EU emissions rules was pulled from the UK in 1997.

Another car with a slightly better reputation with less than 100 available is the Alfa Romeo 146, which with just 89 examples left. The 146 was a popular family car in the 1990s before being replaced by the 147 in 2000.

Next on the list is the Fiat Uno, a motor which dominated the small car market in the 1980s and 90s, with 300,000 models sold in a twelve year spell between 1983 and 1996, amazingly there are only 218 models left registered. Other famous brand names close to extinction include the Nissan Bluebird (324 examples) and the Vauxhall Carlton (221 examples).

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.”

Lada Riva – 49 examples left
Alfa Romeo 146 – 89 examples left
Fiat Uno – 218 examples left
Renault 21 – 221 examples left
Vauxhall Carlton – 270 examples left
Citroen BX – 286 examples left
Nissan Bluebird – 324 examples left
Volvo 440 – 407 examples left
Peugeot 309 – 409 examples left
Rover 800 – 468 examples left

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