15 unicorn classics from the 1980s

The rare ’80s survivors

On forums across the internet, arguments rage about the definition of a ‘unicorn’ car.

For the purposes of this gallery, which is ours so we can do what we like with it, a unicorn is a car that survives now in very small numbers, regardless of how popular it may have been in its day. Well, not so much a day, actually, as the whole of the 1980s.

For this slideshow, a car qualifies if it was sold in that decade, though it can also have been on the market in the 1970s or ’90s.

We’re focusing on the UK market here, and levels of rarity are being taken from the excellent How Many Left? website, which gathers information from the Department for Transport. At the time of writing, its data related to the middle of 2020.

We’re including cars which are registered and cars which have a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN), and providing a total of the two figures. Be sure to have a refreshing drink nearby – the results may surprise and alarm you.

1. Audi V8

The V8 was named, with ferocious simplicity, after its engine, the first of that layout the company had ever fitted to a production car. The V8 just sneaks into our requirement of having been sold in the 1980s, since building began in 1988.

Although it was the ultimate luxury Audi of its time, the V8 was also the basis of the race car which won the Germany Touring Car Championship (or DTM) in 1990 and 1991. 

Audi V8 – how many left?

Today, only half a dozen Audi V8s remain on UK roads, but nearly seven times as many appear to be hidden away somewhere.

We hope they will be brought back to life soon.

• Registered: 6 • 
SORN: 41 • 
Total: 47

2. Austin Ambassador

The Ambassador was a considerably updated version of the 1970s Princess, lacking a six-cylinder engine but gaining a tailgate for improved access to the luggage compartment.

While the Princess was produced for six years, the Ambassador came on to the market in 1982 and left it just two years later. It was not directly replaced by another model.

Austin Ambassador – how many left?

The Ambassador’s short lifespan makes it inevitable that very few have made it to 2020. Indeed, only 78 are believed to exist, compared with over 100 Princesses.

• Registered: 14
 • SORN: 64 • Total: 78

3. Citroën LNA

In 1976, Citroën created the LN by fitting its own 602cc 2CV engine its partner company Peugeot’s 104 coupé. Two years later, the car was given the more modern 652cc Citroën Visa engine or a 1.1-litre four-cylinder, and was renamed LNA.

Popular in other European countries, the LNA was not a big hit in the UK. It was launched here in 1983 and withdrawn after only a couple of years.

Citroën LNA – how many left?

It won’t surprise you to learn that a small and unpopular French car sold briefly in the UK around 35 years ago isn’t exactly thick on the ground today.

Only one appears to survive in roadworthy form, though if you include SORN cars, the total is in the high teens.

• Registered: 1 • SORN: 17 • Total: 18

4. Fiat Argenta

An update of the Fiat 132, the Argenta was moderately significant in two ways.

First, it was an early example of Fiat naming its car using words rather than three-digit numbers. Second, it was the last rear-wheel drive Fiat until the Mazda MX-5-based 124 Spider of 2016.

Production lasted for only four years until the Argenta was replaced by the Croma in 1985.

Fiat Argenta – how many left?

Only nine Argentas are recorded as being in the UK nowadays. Very unusually among the cars we’re mentioning here, the majority are fully registered.

• Registered: 6 • SORN: 3 • Total: 9

5. Ford Escort XR3

The first of Ford’s XR models was briefly the sports model in the third-generation Escort range. Under the bonnet was a 1.6-litre CVH engine which was fed fuel by a twin-choke Weber carburettor.

Ford switched to fuel injection in late 1982 and renamed the car the XR3i, ensuring (though probably not deliberately) that the original XR3 would become one of the rarest of the ’80s Escorts.

Ford Escort XR3 – how many left?

Sure enough, just 64 XR3s are still registered in the UK, 38 years after the model was discontinued, though over 300 are on SORN.

The more powerful RS1600i (pictured) is almost exactly as difficult to find, with 63 registered and 316 on SORN.

• Registered: 64 • SORN: 329 • Total: 393

6. Honda Quintet

Known in Japan as the Quint, the Quintet was a five-door version of the contemporary Honda Civic produced between 1980 and ’85.

This was also the first of what would be many Hondas retailed with Rover badges. The Rover Quintet (pictured) was sold in Australia from 1983, but never in the UK.

Honda Quintet – how many left?

It may come as a surprise to some people that there was ever such a thing as a Honda Quintet, but in fact it’s by no means the rarest car on this list.

Indeed, 37 are known to remain in the UK, and around two-thirds of them are fully registered.

• Registered: 24 • SORN: 13
 • Total: 37

7. Hyundai Pony

The Pony was the first South Korean car sold outside its home market. With Mitsubishi mechanicals and Italdesign Giugiaro styling, it was a reasonable effort, though not one that gave much sign of how big a player Hyundai would become in the global motor industry.

The original model was launched in 1975. A mechanically similar but restyled version came along in 1982 and remained in production until 1990.

Hyundai Pony – how many left?

Over 60 examples of the Pony survive in the UK, but what we could reasonably describe as the overwhelming majority of them are on SORN.

• Registered: 8 • SORN: 54 • 
Total: 62

8. Lada 1300

The Fiat 124 modified to suit Russian conditions and sold locally as the VAZ-2101 was marketed in the UK as the Lada 1200 (pictured).

A more powerful and almost, but not quite, identical-looking version called the 1300 was later added to the range.

The 1300 only just qualifies for our list, since it was produced from 1974 until 1981.

Lada 1300 – how many left?

Once reviled and appreciated in roughly equal measure, the Fiat-based Lada saloons used to be a familiar sight in the UK, but very few have survived to 2020.

The 1300 is the rarest of them all, with only three still known to exist.

• Registered: 1 • SORN: 2 • Total: 3

9. Lancia Trevi

Originally named Beta Trevi, this was Lancia’s luxury saloon car of the early 1980s. The interior and exterior styling were both criticised, the dashboard in particular inspiring caustic comments.

The most exciting Trevi was the Volumex, an extremely rare example of a car with a mechanically driven supercharger at a time when turbochargers were becoming popular.
 

Lancia Trevi – how many left?

Just nine Trevis appear to be in the UK nowadays, and only one of them is registered for the road. We don’t know if any of them are Volumex versions.

• Registered: 1 • SORN: 8 • Total: 9

10. Morris Ital

Launched in 1980, the Ital was essentially a restyled Marina. It was going to be called Marina Ital, but the older name was dropped except for versions built in Portugal with a 1.5-litre diesel engine producing a distressing 37bhp.

The Ital was the last passenger vehicle badged as a Morris. It was replaced by the Austin Montego in 1984.
 

Morris Ital – how many left?

Fewer than 30 Itals are registered for the road in the UK, though more than five times as many are on SORN.

The Ital is much less common now than its predecessor, the Marina, of which over 800 still exist. This situation is not entirely explained by the fact that the Marina was in production for more than twice as long.

• Registered: 27 • SORN: 155 • Total: 182

11. Peugeot 104

Though closely related to the Citroën LNA mentioned previously, the 104 had the advantage of being available in a wider variety of body styles and without a two-cylinder engine.

It also lasted considerably longer, remaining in production from 1972 until 1988.

Peugeot 104 – how many left?

From our previous comments you might expect surviving 104s to outnumber LNAs in the UK by a considerable margin, but in fact there are not much more than twice as many in total.

• Registered: 9 • SORN: 30 • Total: 39

12. Renault Fuego

Closely based on the Renault 18 saloon, the Fuego featured remote central locking and, for a car which made its debut in 1980, very aerodynamic bodywork.

The range of engines was quite wide, including a 1.4-litre version of the Cléon-Fonte which dated back to 1962, a much more potent 1.6-litre turbo petrol (fitted to a model named, reasonably enough, the Turbo) and a 2.1-litre turbocharged diesel.

Renault Fuego – how many left?

The Fuego is the least common of the 1980s Renaults in the UK today, but not by much. 100 examples of the Renault 18 remain, compared with 76 Fuegos.

• Registered: 19 • SORN: 57 • 
Total: 76

13. Talbot Tagora

The Tagora was developed in the dying days of the troubled Chrysler Europe and was put on sale as a Talbot by new owners PSA Peugeot Citroën in 1981.

An only reasonably competent car marketed poorly in a very competitive sector, the Tagora was discontinued two years after its launch.
 

Talbot Tagora – how many left?

The reason you don’t see Tagoras on UK roads nowadays is that none of the nine survivors can legally be driven on them.

 • Registered: 0
 • SORN: 9
 • Total: 9

14. Vauxhall Belmont

In the 1980s it was common for manufacturers to give saloon cars different names than their hatchback equivalents, hence the Ford Escort/Orion and Volkswagen Golf/Jetta. And the saloon version of the second-generation Vauxhall Astra was called the Belmont.

Produced from 1986 to 1991, it was notable for its very large luggage capacity. Unlike the Astra, it had almost no competition record, though Jeff Wilson built a very quick version which he drove in three rounds of the 1991 British Touring Car Championship.
 

Vauxhall Belmont – how many left?

Far less popular than the Mk2 Astra in its day, the Belmont is naturally not so common today either, with fewer than 100 survivors.

 • Registered: 17
 • SORN: 75 • 
Total: 92

15. Volkswagen 181

Known as the Thing in the US, the 181 was the civilian version of a military vehicle based on the Beetle.

Introduced in 1968, it was on its way out in the early 1980s. By that time it had been effectively replaced by the four-wheel drive Iltis (also produced in slightly different form as the Citroën C-44), which inspired the Audi quattro.
 

Volkswagen 181 – how many left?

A very rare car during its production life, the 181 is doing quite nicely now in the UK. There are 43 survivors, well over half of them still registered for road use.

• Registered: 27
 • SORN: 16 • 
Total: 43