15 ’70s unicorn classics

’70s survivors

Is it us, or are the 1970s all of a sudden starting to feel like a long time ago? It is now half a century since 1971… So let’s look back on some of the decade’s now hardest-to-find classics.

We established in late 2020 that the Classic & Sports Car definition of a ‘unicorn’ car is one which, though it may once have been very popular, survives now in very small numbers.

Here we’re looking at unicorns which were on sale predominantly in the 1970s, though in some cases there is seepage into the decades on either side.

For figures demonstrating rarity, we’re relying on the splendid How Many Left? website, which harvests information from the UK’s Department for Transport. In each case we’re including cars which are registered or have a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN). The figures are the latest available at the time of writing, and apply to the third quarter of 2020.

1. BMW 2002 Turbo

One of the earliest turbocharged mass-production cars, BMW’s 2002 Turbo rapidly developed a reputation for being very quick, with around 170bhp from its 2.0-litre engine, and for being a bit tricky to drive.

It made its debut at the Frankfurt show in September 1973. A global oil crisis erupted the following month. High-performance cars were suddenly very much not the thing to be building, and BMW abandoned the project after manufacturing only 1672.

BMW 2002 Turbo – how many left?

The 2002 Turbo’s chances of success in the UK were hampered by the fact that it was impossible to make it right-hand drive.

Only 19 remain in this country, eight of them currently on SORN.

• Registered: 11 • 
SORN: 8 • 
Total: 19

2. Bristol 411

At its launch in 1968, the 411 looked very similar to Bristol’s earlier 410, but that car’s 5.2-litre Chrysler V8 was dropped in favour of a slightly more modern 6.3-litre version.

In seven years of production there were five series of the 411. Changes included a thorough redesign, the addition of an extra pair of headlights and a further increase in engine capacity to 6.6 litres.

Bristol 411 – how many left?

The fact that only 22 411s appear to remain in the UK might seem like a disaster, but most of them are registered for road use, and in any case the figure represents nearly 8% of production.

Good luck finding a similar survival rate for a mainstream car which was discontinued in 1976.

• Registered: 20 • SORN: 2 • Total: 22

3. DAF

DAF was notable for being one of the very few Dutch car manufacturers ever to exist, and for devoting itself entirely to the continuously variable transmission (CVT), which was ignored by almost everyone else for decades to come.

It wasn’t ignored by Volvo, though. The Swedish company bought DAF in 1975 and continued producing the DAF 66 (now known as the Volvo 66) until 1980.

DAF – how many left?

The How Many Left? website does not distinguish between DAF models, so what you’re about to read applies to total production from 1959 to 1975.

Sadly, of all the cars built in that 16-year period, only five remain in the UK, though we would hope there are considerably more survivors in other countries.

• Registered: 4 • 
SORN: 1 • 
Total: 5
 

4. Datsun 510

The 510 Series was the 1967-’72 version of the Bluebird, available as a saloon, estate or coupé. It was known in some markets as the 510 and in others by various names based on engine size, such as 1300 and 1600.

Although intended as a family car, the 510 was particularly successful in a wide range of motorsport events from circuit races to the East African Safari Rally, which German-born Kenyan driver Edgar Herrmann won in 1970.

Datsun 510 – how many left?

The Datsun’s survival rate is difficult to calculate precisely because of the variety of names it was given. We can at least be sure that it is very low.

If you add up all the 510s, 1300s and 1600s on How Many Left? (accepting that not all of them may be from the same generation) you end up with just 14 cars.

• Registered: 8 • 
SORN: 6 • 
Total: 14
 

5. Fiat 125

The Fiat 125 was a practical (or, if we’re being critical, boxy) saloon car with a perky 90bhp 1.6-litre twin-cam engine from the 124 Sport – quite a daring combination for a model produced from 1967 until 1972.

As has often happened in Fiat history, the 125 was manufactured in slightly different forms in several different countries from Chile to Egypt. Well over half a million were built.

Fiat 125 – how many left?

Never a big seller in the UK, the 125 has almost disappeared from our roads.

Just 17 remain, nearly half of them on SORN, though as we’ll see later, this is an absolute bonanza compared with what has happened to the Polish version.

• Registered: 9 • SORN: 8 • Total: 17

6. Ford Capri RS3100

The RS3100 was the second of two Capri RS models, both of them built in road form specifically to allow Ford to go racing. The first was the RS2600, which had a 2.6-litre version of the German Cologne V6 engine. The RS3100 used the 3.0-litre Essex V6 enlarged slightly to 3.1 litres.

This enabled Ford to enter the car in the over 3.0-litre class in international racing. The competition cars were fitted with the 3.4-litre Cosworth GA engine, which was loosely based on the Essex. A very small number of roadgoing RS3100s (officially 1000, though in reality perhaps only a quarter of that) were built in time for the 1974 race season. The second of them was filmed for an Irn Bru advert many years later.

Ford Capri RS3100 – how many left?

Despite their initial rarity, RS3100s are the most common unicorns on this list, with 33 survivors.

Most are still registered for road use, and we imagine that the majority of those currently on SORN will be restored at some point.

• Registered: 24 • 
SORN: 9 • 
Total: 33

7. Maserati Indy

The Indy was named after the Indianapolis 500 race which Wilbur Shaw won in Maseratis in 1939 and 1940.

Produced during the Citroën era, it was a front-engined, four-seat grand tourer with more interior space than the contemporary Ghibli.

Made between 1969 and 1975, it had a V8 engine which started out at 4.2 litres, grew to 4.7 and ended up at 4.9. Power outputs were 260bhp, 290bhp and 320bhp respectively.

Maserati Indy – how many left?

By its own account, Maserati built 1102 Indys.

Of these, 27 are recorded as being in the UK, and roughly two-thirds of those are registered for road use.

• Registered: 19 • SORN: 8 • Total: 27

8. Matra Rancho

Marketed under the Matra, Simca and Talbot names, or combinations thereof, the Rancho was an extremely early example of a crossover vehicle, giving an impression of off-road ability which its Simca 1100 underpinnings couldn’t provide.

It was reasonably successful in its day. Just short of 58,000 were built between 1977 and 1984.

Matra Rancho – how many left?

The Rancho is now very much an endangered species in the UK.

Only nine are known to exist here, and all but two of those are on SORN.

• Registered: 2 • SORN: 7 • Total: 9

9. Moskvitch 412

Moskvitch was a successful Russian car brand from 1930 until 2001. The 412, a saloon with a 1.5-litre engine, was imported to the UK from 1969 to 1976, but British conditions were very different from those in Russia and the car did not do well, appealing more because of its low price than anything else.

Remarkably, the 412 was very successful in British Production Saloon Car racing when the class structure was based on price rather than engine size. The cars didn’t handle particularly well, but they were far more powerful than anything of similar cost.
 

Moskvitch 412 – how many left?

Glittering motorsport career notwithstanding, the 412 has all but disappeared from the UK.

Just two are still recorded, and they’re both on SORN.

• Registered: 0 • 
SORN: 2 • 
Total: 2

10. Polski Fiat 125P

The 125P was a more basic, Polish-built version of the Fiat 125 mentioned earlier. Like the Moskvitch 412, it was suitable for East European markets, but not highly esteemed in the UK.

Production began in 1967, the same year that the Italian 125 was launched, and continued, incredibly, until as late as 1991.

Polski Fiat 125P – how many left?

Despite being on sale for nearly a quarter of a century, the Polski Fiat 125P has left about as much of a mark in the UK as penguins have in the Sahara.

A single example is recorded as being registered here.

• Registered: 1 • SORN: 0 • Total: 1

11. Renault 6

One of the less well remembered post-war Renaults, the 6 was mechanically similar to the more famous 4, but had a larger and more modern-looking body.

It was launched in 1968 with the Billancourt engine, a 21-year-old design which struggled to cope with the 6’s weight. The introduction of the more powerful Cléon-Fonte engine in 1970 was considered a big improvement.

The 6 was facelifted in 1973 and remained in production until 1980 in France. Factories in Spain and Argentina continued building it for six years after that.

Renault 6 – how many left?

Just 25 examples of the 6 are officially recorded as remaining in the UK.

In contrast, you can barely walk a step without tripping over the related Renault 4: 274 are still registered for the road, and a further 334 are on SORN.

• Registered: 17 • SORN: 8 • Total: 25

12. Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

Launched in 1965, the Silver Shadow had a very different, and far more modern, look than its immediate predecessor, the Silver Cloud.

The Silver Shadow was also technically adventurous, being the first Rolls-Royce with a unitary body construction rather than a separate body and chassis.

Its engine, though, was more familiar – the L-Series V8 had been introduced in 1959 and would remain in production, in considerably modified form, until 2020.

Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow – how many left?

Just 31 examples of the Silver Shadow still officially exist in the UK.

The ones built in 1978, one year after the model was facelifted, seem to be particularly robust. Eight of the survivors, or just over a quarter of the total, were first registered in that year.

• Registered: 18 • SORN: 13 • Total: 31

13. Saab Sonett III

Saab built several sports cars with the name Sonett. The one that particularly interests us here is the Sonett III, which was manufactured between 1970 and ’74.

Like one of its predecessors, the Sonett III used a V4 engine designed by Ford of Germany and fitted to the Taunus, among other vehicles. It was available first in 1.5-litre form and then, from 1972, as a 1.7. The car was affected by the global oil crisis and went out of production in 1974.
 

Saab Sonett III – how many left?

The UK was not a big market for the Sonett III, so it’s not too surprising that only 13 remain here.

The good news is that 11 of them are still registered for road use.

• Registered: 11 • SORN: 2 • Total: 13

14. Simca 1301

The Simca 1301 and 1501 were modernised versions of the previous 1300 and 1500. All were available with saloon and estate body styles, plus there was also a 1301 van.

Although the 1301 and 1501 were essentially two models in the same range, they were given different names according to engine capacity. The 1301 had a 1.3-litre unit (or actually two, the earlier one being replaced by the newer in 1970), while, perhaps unsurprisingly, the one in the 1501 measured 1.5 litres.

Production of both cars lasted from 1966 to 1975.

Simca 1301 – how many left?

The 1301 was hardly a big seller in the UK and has almost vanished from the scene now: only six are known to survive.

The 1501 has fared slightly better, with 11 still registered for the road and six on SORN.

• Registered: 5 • SORN: 1 • Total: 6

15. Volkswagen K70

The K70 was developed by NSU, but was rebadged after Volkswagen’s takeover of that company. Without VW having had much to do with it other than shuffling the paperwork, the K70 made its debut in 1970 as the first Volkswagen with a water-cooled engine mounted up front and driving the front wheels.

Although it had plenty of room for passengers and luggage, the K70 did not score well for either performance or fuel economy. It was discontinued in 1975, the year after the far superior Golf hatchback was introduced.

Volkswagen K70 – how many left?

Only a moderately successful car in its day, the K70 does not occupy a particularly special position in this list either, other than coming at the end alphabetically.

In contrast to the impressive survival rate of the Ford Capri RS3100 and the near-extinction of the Polski Fiat 125P, the K70 is a little better than average, with 20 examples known to remain in the UK.

• Registered: 12 • SORN: 8 • Total: 20