Vanishing Paint – Five Cars That Disappeared

With the rather excellent Festival of the Unexceptional just around the corner (31st July in case you’re wondering) we found ourselves thinking about cars that have just… vanished. The world of classic cars is vast and it covers all bases. Big, small, fast, slow, foreign and domestic, you can find it all. But, vast though it is, there are some cars that seems to have fallen through the cracks and as such, are now a very rare sight indeed. And we’re not talking about cars from the ’20s here. In fact, we only need to go back three or four decades to find cars that have all but disappeared today. 

The irony here is that these cars were all once hugely popular. They were all big sellers, you might have even owned one. If not, you definitely knew someone who did. Now though, they’re gone. Disappeared. Often replaced by newer models, these older versions were left to vanish. We never game them a though until it was too late. There are still some out there, of course, but not many. These are the wheeled embodiment of not knowing what you’ve got until it’s disappeared. And this is why shows like the Festival of the Unexceptional are so important. These cars were the fabric of real world motoring, and they deserve to be remembered. So, if you do see any of the five listed below for sale, buy it. Chances are it’ll be rarer than some high-end exotica. 

1) BMW E34 

You think we’re a bit mad now, don’t you? E34 5 Series BMWs are everywhere, right? Well, actually, no. You see, there is no market more cut-throat than that of the premium car. When new cars are launched, the footfall within dealerships rivals Glastonbury. But that means the older models fall by the wayside. They’ll hand about in the classifieds for a few years, but eventually they will vanish. As more and more new versions are launched, older versions are pushed further and further back on the desirability scale. And that’s a shame, because the cars are often still great. But premium car buyers want new above all else. The E34 is a victim of this trend. it was once everywhere, it was the car to be seen in, it was a car people aspired to. But then the E39 came out, then the E60, so on and so forth. Now, with the exception of the M5, there are very few ‘normal’ E34s on the road. 

2) Vauxhall Nova 

Ah, the Vauxhall Nova. It was once the defining car of a generation, by which of course we mean the Max Power generation. Seldom was a standard Nova seen, as examples fitted with TSW Venom alloy wheels and Novadose body kits were far more common. Of course, the modified Novas weren’t all bad. Some, when fitted with a C20XE engine and a set of Speedline Alessio 2 alloys were rather bloody lovely. But lovely though they may have been, they were still carrying a significant reputation on their shoulders. And that’s a shame, as the Nova was a good car. Especially the hot ones. The SR, the SRi, the GSi and GTE were all mega. But now, they have all but disappeared, and when they do resurface, they’re often leaning well into four figures. Via a disappearing act, the Nova seems to have left that boy racer reputation behind.

3) Fiat Tipo

Fiat has always done very well in Italy, but not so well anywhere else. Were it not for the current 500, the brand would have almost certainly vanished from the UK. As someone who once sold Fiats, I can confirm that the 500 was the only car people were interested in. The Panda was and still is brilliant, but it only has a place because the 500 is propping Fiat’s UK operations up. It used to have more cars. Bigger models aimed squarely at the family market. The Ritmo, the Tempra, the Croma, the later Brav and Bravo. There was even an L200-derived pickup. And of course, there was the Tipo. it was a boxy delight, that was available with all manner of technology. You could have it with a wide digital dash, just like K.I.T.T! It was also one of Fiat’s more popular offerings. However, it soon fell by the wayside. Rust and reliability killed the Tipo, and now there is but a handful left. 

4) Citroen ZX

Now, this one came as something of a shock. The Citroën ZX was once a hugely popular car. It was a brave departure for the French carmaker, as it stepped into the conventional. At least, by Citroën standards. It was the company’s attempt to take on the likes of the Escort, the Astra and the Golf. And do you know what? It made a pretty good job of it. Citroën fans hated it, because it wasn’t nearly bonkers enough. The suspension consisted of normal springs up front and a torsion bar out back, the engines were conventional, there was no concave glass nor any single-spoke action for the steering wheel. But pleasing Citroën fans wasn’t the goal. The ZX was meant to be more mass market. It worked, as the ZX was lauded for its excellent build quality and superb ride. It was clever, with features like a keypad immobiliser and sliding rear seats. It was superb, in fact, but then I’d say that, as the black one above is mine. It’s a 2.0i Volcane, which was the GTi of the range (though there was a 16v too). It’s now one of around ten left. Of the ZX in general, only a few hundred are thought to exist. That’s a shame, because it’s a very good car. 

5) Rover 200

The R8 Rover, as in the one before the R3 pictured above, is rare. But it seems to have found a small and passionate following. This means cars are being bought and restored. And rightly so, the R8 was a great car. The follow-up act, however, was less exciting. And as such, it has seemingly disappeared. It wasn’t a bad car, not by a long shot. It was engineered well, it was fitted with a range of decent engines (spare us the head gasket jokes) and it was reasonably nice to drive. They even did a couple of hot versions like the 200Vi fitted with a 1.8VVC engine along with the brilliant BRM, which had the same engine and a glorious diamond-stitched red leather interior. The Vi is near impossible to find. The BRM less so, but it’s still pretty damn rare. So on that basis, you can imagine how rare the ‘normal’ versions are. Sure, you’ll find the later 25 and MG ZR that were based on the original R3. But early examples? They have all gone. Some won’t care, but you should, because it really wasn’t that bad.