# Are there any extinct cars? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 21, 2008, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-extinct-cars/473928 "2008-11-21T23:22:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-extinct-cars/473928/1 "2008-11-21T23:22:00Z")
I mean, any cars that were once in regular production but of which there are no surviving, um, copies? I know about such cars that never went (AFAIK) into regular production, like the Edsel, the DeLorean, the Tucker. But even those, I know there are surviving–ok, what’s the word? not copy: model? Anyway. Any such car models, that exist only in the memory? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2008, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-extinct-cars/473928/2 "2008-11-21T23:39:15Z")
The Edsel and DeLorean most certainly did go into regular production. In three years of production, 84,000 Edsels were sold. There have been literally hundreds of auto manufacturers just in the U.S. I doubt if you’ll find many surviving models by Akron, Wolverine or Okey. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-extinct-cars/473928/3 "2008-11-22T00:18:11Z")
Has anyone seen a Hollier? > **[Hollier](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollier)** > > The Hollier, also known as the Vincent-Hollier, was an automobile built in Chelsea and Jackson, Michigan by Charles Lewis, president of the Lewis Spring and Axle Company from 1915 to 1921. The Hollier was available originally with a V-8 engine of their own design. A later offering, starting in 1917, was powered by a six-cylinder Falls engine. Only open models were built. After the war ended, the company name was changed.\[clarification needed\] > > This article about classic and vintage automobil... About 25 years ago there were only four (4) known Welsh autos in existance, but all four were in museums One of those museums was the one in Reno that ( I heard) liquidated a few years ago. edit: Make that Welch. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-extinct-cars/473928/4 "2008-11-22T00:26:59Z")
Wiki has a very large (545) list of defunct US auto makers: > **[Category:Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Defunct_motor_vehicle_manufacturers_of_the_United_States)** > > This category has the following 21 subcategories, out of 21 total. > The following 200 pages are in this category, out of approximately 770 total. This list may not reflect recent changes. Not all of those would have made “regular production” (or any) automobiles. For earlier companies, it may be difficult to define exactly what that means. A lot of car companies during the early part of the 20th century were custom shops that made you an automobile when you ordered one. The high end companies made you a chassis, and you were expected to go to your own coach builder to have a custom body put on it. It’s pretty much certain that there’s some smaller earlier makers which are known from company documents, sales literature and so on, who actually reached production, but for whom there are no known surviving vehicles. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-extinct-cars/473928/5 "2008-11-22T01:24:50Z")
The [Citroen GS Birotor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_GS#GS_Birotor) would be a good candidate. From the Wiki article above: > [@](#): > > The Birotor version achieved poor sales and was quickly pulled from the market after 847 units sold. It was not economical for its size and was launched during the 1973 oil crisis. > > The sales were so disappointing that Citroën attempted to buy back and scrap each Birotor, as it did not want to support the model with spare parts. A few of these remarkable vehicles have nonetheless survived in the hands of collectors. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-extinct-cars/473928/6 "2008-11-22T04:26:17Z")
GM’s [EV1](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1), introduced in 1996 and killed by GM, which repossessed and destroyed all the extant units in 2003. (They were only leased, not sold outright.) See the movie, [_Who Killed the Electric Car?_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489037/) ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-extinct-cars/473928/7 "2008-11-22T04:45:23Z")
We had a Triumph station wagon in the late 50s. I think one would be hard to find today. I’m betting that it’s extinct. Surely an endangered species. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-extinct-cars/473928/8 "2008-11-22T05:58:53Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > GM’s [EV1](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1), introduced in 1996 and killed by GM, which repossessed and destroyed all the extant units in 2003. (They were only leased, not sold outright.) > > See the movie, [_Who Killed the Electric Car?_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489037/) I’m pretty sure I saw one at the Petersen Museum in L.A. This [interview](http://media.podtech.net/media/2006/12/PID_001652/Podtech_m_1711-a-chat-with-the-peterse.html) confirms my sighting. [QUOTE=Dick Messer - Petersen Automotive Museum] So, it’s very important that we get this down and we record. EV1 is a car, we got gifted to us from General Motors, you know they crushed them all, the movie who killed the electric car has all about the history of EV1. The movie isn’t quite factual affair to General Motors, I don’t I think in this particular film. But, film worth seen and you see about the EV1, but there were certain museums that got the EV1 before they crushed them all. This particular one we have in our museum actually was driven from Detroit to Los Angeles. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-extinct-cars/473928/9 "2008-11-22T07:31:16Z")
> [@CC](#): > > We had a Triumph station wagon in the late 50s. I think one would be hard to find today. I’m betting that it’s extinct. Surely an endangered species. There’s at least one. [Triumph station wagon](http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2008/04/58-triumph-station-wagon-with-v8-and.html) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-extinct-cars/473928/10 "2008-11-22T13:58:29Z")
> [@CC](#): > > We had a Triumph station wagon in the late 50s. I think one would be hard to find today. I’m betting that it’s extinct. Surely an endangered species. [Here’s another.](http://flickr.com/photos/11174140@N00/241329799/) I would bet there are more than you might imagine. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-extinct-cars/473928/11 "2008-11-22T14:04:14Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > GM’s [EV1](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1), introduced in 1996 and killed by GM, which repossessed and destroyed all the extant units in 2003. (They were only leased, not sold outright.) > > See the movie, [_Who Killed the Electric Car?_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489037/) > [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > I’m pretty sure I saw one at the Petersen Museum in L.A. This [interview](http://media.podtech.net/media/2006/12/PID_001652/Podtech_m_1711-a-chat-with-the-peterse.html) confirms my sighting. > [@Dick Messer - Petersen Automotive Museum](#): > > So, it’s very important that we get this down and we record. EV1 is a car, we got gifted to us from General Motors, you know they crushed them all, the movie who killed the electric car has all about the history of EV1. The movie isn’t quite factual affair to General Motors, I don’t I think in this particular film. But, film worth seen and you see about the EV1, but there were certain museums that got the EV1 before they crushed them all. This particular one we have in our museum actually was driven from Detroit to Los Angeles. There’s one at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, also. [Pic from the Henry Ford](http://www.thehenryford.org/exhibits/pic/2002/02.oct.html) and [Pics from 2007](http://www.evnut.com/ev1_dearborn.htm) ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-extinct-cars/473928/12 "2008-11-22T16:49:04Z")
> [@CC](#): > > We had a Triumph station wagon in the late 50s. I think one would be hard to find today. I’m betting that it’s extinct. Surely an endangered species. Would that have been a Triumph Mayflower? If so, there’s one for sale on eBay. Unfortunately, the guy doesn’t have a single picture. [http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-Trucks\_\_\_1951-Triumph-Mayflower\_W0QQitemZ300275218336QQddnZCarsQ20Q26Q20TrucksQQddiZ2282QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS\_Cars\_Trucks?hash=item300275218336&\_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&\_trkparms=65%3A-1|39%3A1|240%3A1318](http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-Trucks___1951-Triumph-Mayflower_W0QQitemZ300275218336QQddnZCarsQ20Q26Q20TrucksQQddiZ2282QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Cars_Trucks?hash=item300275218336&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=65%3A-1%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318) Here’s a vintage print ad, and although they called it a “Sedan”, it looks like what one would call a station wagon. [http://www.adclassix.com/ads2/51\_triumph\_mayflower.htm](http://www.adclassix.com/ads2/51_triumph_mayflower.htm) If there’s one left, it ain’t extinct (yet). Also see **aldiboronti** ’s and **Fear Itself** ’s links. Car collectors often have oddball vehicles in their collections. There’s a casino in Biloxi, MS that used to have the owner’s huge car collection on display (same guy owns one of the big ones in Las Vegas where I believe he has a big display also). There were lots of neat cars in his collection. The oddballs were a Yugo and a early 80s Ford Fairmont, which was nothing special, but it was the 10,000,000th car to roll off the Ford assembly line or something like that. As long as this guy keeps these cars, or sells them to other museum type collectors, they’ll never be extinct. Hell, if you search on Google, you’ll find that the _Chevette_ has a huge following and you’d think those would’ve all fallen completely apart by the late 80s. My closest nomination would be the Chrysler Turbine car. Only 55 were produced, and there was a big promotion where people could enter a drawing to get to drive this car for a couple thousand miles. They were distributed all over the country and people took turns driving them. At the end of the promotion, Chrysler decided that it wasn’t economically feasible to produce the car and ordered that they all be destroyed. Nine of these cars survived and of the nine, six of them had the turbine engines removed. These cars all went to museums and one private collector. This leaves three that still start up and drive. The wikipedia article ([Chrysler Turbine Car - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Turbine_Car)) says that one of these is transported to shows around the country. So we have actual documentation of where each and every one of these surviving cars is located, and should a series of catastrophes happen, we’d know if this car became extinct. I realize that this wasn’t a mass-produced car, but since it was such a big promotion back in the early 60s and everybody knew about it, I think it would qualify (if it ever actually became extinct). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-extinct-cars/473928/13 "2008-11-22T16:50:56Z")
[Lloyds LT600](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_(car)) The first brand new vehicle my father bought in the late 50s. I can still remember the brand new smell. Every Sunday, going to church, we had to get out of the vehicle so my father could climb the Niagara Escarpment. Vehicle was toast in two years and my father converted it into a trailor for camping. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-extinct-cars/473928/14 "2008-11-22T17:02:31Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > There’s at least one. > > [Triumph station wagon](http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2008/04/58-triumph-station-wagon-with-v8-and.html) Strange, that really doesn’t look like a Triumph (primarily known for sporty roadsters and saloons/sedans). What model is it? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-extinct-cars/473928/15 "2008-11-22T17:09:14Z")
[1950s and 1960s Chrysler Turbine Concept Cars | HowStuffWorks](http://auto.howstuffworks.com/chrysler-turbine-concept-cars.htm) Chrysler ran these around the streets of Detroit a few years ago. Who could fix one? GM made the Chevy II in the 60s. I never see one on the streets any more. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-extinct-cars/473928/16 "2008-11-22T17:10:49Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > There’s at least one. > > [Triumph station wagon](http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2008/04/58-triumph-station-wagon-with-v8-and.html) Truly amazing. I thought that ours was probably the only one in existance even then! It was to your image of a Triumph as a lightning bug is to lightning. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-extinct-cars/473928/17 "2008-11-22T17:14:01Z")
It’s the station wagon version of the Triumph 10. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-extinct-cars/473928/18 "2008-11-22T17:43:52Z")
See, I consulted Wikipedia for “Triumph 10”, guessing that that was the model name. All they have is an article about what appears to be a much earlier model, the Triumph 10/20. But it appears that this car was sold under the Standard brand in Britain, not Triumph. The Standard Motor Company bought Triumph out in 1944. That explains it. > **[Standard Ten](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Ten)** > > The Standard Ten was a model name given to several small cars produced by the British Standard Motor Company between 1906 and 1961. The name was a reference to the car's fiscal horsepower or tax horsepower, a function of the surface area of the pistons. This system quickly became obsolete as an estimate of the power produced by the engine, but it continued to be relevant as a way to classify cars for tax purposes. Like other manufacturers, Standard continued to use the name to define the appro... ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-extinct-cars/473928/19 "2008-11-22T17:57:26Z")
Ah yes, I see. As the article says, it was badged for the United States export market as the Triumph Ten and in Scandinavia it was sold as the Standard Vanguard Junior. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2008, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-extinct-cars/473928/20 "2008-11-22T18:15:44Z")
The Lada Riva. I’m ashamed to admit I had one of those buggers when I was a bit borassic. Drove like a tank,a 3 point turn was a 15 pointer, the heater was shite,the wipers were non-wipish (more smearish) and the catalytic converter smelt like rotten eggs. I sold it my cousin after a few months and he’s never spoken to me since [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-extinct-cars/473928.md?page=2)