Lada Riva now rarer than the Pagani Zonda
Thursday, 20 February 2020
The Lada Riva is now rarer than the Pagani Zonda on the roads of the UK, according to data from the country's Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) collated by Retro Cars magazine.
According to Retro Cars - which covers 'modern classics' from the 80s, 90s and 2000s - some of the most popular cars of the 80s and 90s are in almost terminal decline thanks to a 'finance and replace' culture supplanting the 'repair and keep it going' culture of previous generations, as well as the popularity of the 2009/2010 scrappage scheme to get older cars off the UK's roads.
The figures show that the most endangered car of the 1980s and 1990s is the Lada Riva, once the butt of many a joke, but now rarer than a Pagani Zonda, with just 49 examples known to survive on the UK's roads.
Things tip back in the Lada's favour here in New Zealand, however, with only a tiny handful of Pagani's in New Zealand (no Zondas that we know of, but a couple of Huayras), but 32 registered examples of the Riva, which was known here as either the 2105 (sedan), 2104 (wagon) or 2107 ('luxury' sedan).
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The small Lada has an interesting and, yes, amusing history in New Zealand, being imported and sold by the NZ Dairy Board. Why would a government statutory board in charge of selling New Zealand's dairy products to the world get into car sales?
Simple: the cars were payment from the USSR for mutton and butter exported there.
Sure, they were made from cheap Russian steel and had the potential to start rusting on the boats on their way here, but that fact that 32 have endured and remain registered is pretty impressive!
The second most at-risk car from the 90s on UK roads is the Alfa Romeo 146, with just 89 remaining. Described by Jeremy Clarkson as 'the only small hatchback I'd be seen dead in', the stylish five-door was very popular in the UK when new and sold in big numbers there.
It didn't sell quite so well in New Zealand, however, and the 94 remaining registered here would probably actually represent a sizeable percentage of what was actually sold here new.
'Cars of the Eighties and Nineties are becoming increasingly popular with younger drivers who are embracing this era,' said Retro Cars editor Craig Cheetham.
'But 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 2009/10 scrappage scheme, 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.'
Whether or not you consider a Lada Niva worthy of this is open to question, however.
Interesting is the comparison to New Zealand numbers of the same cars left on our roads. While a number of the cars were never sold or simply weren't popular here, like the Vauxhall Carlton (none in NZ, but plenty of Holden Commodores that were based on it) or the Renault 21 (just 3 registered here), the Nissan Bluebird is an extreme example of the complete opposite - just 324 remain on UK roads, while a frankly surprising 23,030 are still registered here.
No scrappage scheme and a seemingly endless supply of used Japanese imports in the 1990s here have no doubt skewed these numbers dramatically.
Here are the top 10 'at risk' cars from the 80s and 90s in the UK according to DVLA data from the end of 2019, and the number still registered in New Zealand as of January 2020 according to the NZTA's Motor Vehicle Register.
Car - number left in UK (number left in NZ)
Lada Riva - 49 (32)
Alfa Romeo 146 - 89 (94)
Fiat Uno - 218 (37)
Renault 21 - 221 (3)
Vauxhall Carlton - 270 (0)
Citroen BX - 286 (18)
Nissan Bluebird - 324 (23,030)
Volvo 440 - 407 (18)
Peugeot 309 - 409 (10)
Rover 800 - 468 (15)