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British roads see thousands of new cars each and every year, however, recent reports have suggested that some Classic Cars, which are still fresh in our memories, are facing extinction and nearing their end. A report by MSN Cars deduces that many cherished cars such as the Vauxhall Chevette, Talbot Sunbeam and Lada Riva, vehicles which once stole our hearts, have begun to see their numbers dwindle in recent years. Of course, some of these precious automobiles may be currently SORN whilst restoration occurs, with a view to getting them roadworthy - which may help preserve the numbers going forward.

We’ve decided to take a look at our books* to see how many of these near apparent extinct models we insure. We’re pleased to see that a large proportion of these vehicles are currently insured through Lancaster Insurance and to celebrate we take a look at some of the beauties below:

Renault Fuego – 20 left

Full of firsts this car; a sleek, sporty, compact model and the first mass produced car that was designed in a wind tunnel. The Fuego was also the first car to have remote, keyless, entry.

Image: VW Vortex

Citroen Visa – 28 left

Originally designed as the replacement for the 2CV, it was later replaced by the AX and then the very popular Saxo.

Image: Details of Cars

Lada Riva – 62 left

The Riva is the third best-selling car of all time, behind the Volkswagen Beetle and Model T Ford and it is still produced today in Egypt.

Image: Telegraph.co.uk

Alfa Romeo Alfasud – 72 left

Styled by legendary designer ‘Giugiaro’ the Alfasud is one of Alfa’s most successful models with over 1,000,000 produced (including Sprint variant).

Image: Motor base

Datsun/Nissan Cherry – 96 left

The Cherry was Nissan’s first front wheel drive car which was introduced in Japan at a special dealership channel called the ‘Nissan Cherry Shop’.

Image: Honest John

Peugeot 504 – 112 left

Meet Peugeot’s flagship model of 1968 which won European car of the year in ‘69. The 504 was a very popular model in African Nations and the estate was commonly used as a taxi. It was produced in Nigeria up until 2006.

Image: Wikipedia

Lancaster Insurance Operations Director, Richard Morley commented “Following the worrying recent reports saying that many of the best-loved cars of the 70s and 80s are vanishing from our roads, we conducted our own survey. The classic ‘road trip’ is in fact very much still high on the agenda of any classic lover and what our data actually highlighted is that some of the identified models are still popular cars! Highly favoured by our customers and with healthy numbers on our books, classics such as the Vauxhall Chevette, Opel Manta and Fiat 124 are still enjoying their ‘heyday’. We’re delighted to be able to say that despite the ‘dwindling numbers’, there are still a large proportion of classic lovers out there taking a classic road trip in these marques and keeping the movement alive.”  

*Correct as of 01 October 2015.