Hagerty’s 2014 automotive threatened, endangered and extinct list

(Editor’s Note: The U.S. has 50 different state DMVs, but unlike the UK, there is no readily accessible central database here that shows precisely how many examples of a particular model are still on the road. Luckily, insurance records are a pretty good indicator of survivorship. Classic vehicle insurer Hagerty looks at “threatened, endangered and extinct” this way: Fewer than 50 examples insured equals “threatened”; fewer than 20 examples insured equals “endangered”; fewer than 10 examples insured equals “critically endangered”; and zero examples insured equals “extinct.”)

The Great Permian Extinction of 250 million years ago was the largest mass die-off in history. It saw fully 93 percent of the life forms on Earth at the time go extinct. We’re seeing its equivalent today with cars from the 1980s and 1990s — they’re in the extinction cross-hairs. According to R.L Polk & Company data, only about 25 percent of the 1994 model year cars sold here are still on U.S. roads. Go back to 1984 and it shrinks to around 1 percent. And while nobody really misses the aquatic cockroach-like Permian-Era critter the trilobite, the Reagan-era Golf GTI was actually a pretty cool car — just try finding one today. Here are some cars that were originally sold in reasonably large numbers (more than 10,000) but have virtually disappeared from American roads:

1. 1985-92 Volkswagen GTI MK 2: The North American version of the second-generation VW Golf GTI was far more German than the first, in spite of the fact that like its predecessor (known as the Rabbit GTI), it was built in Pennsylvania until 1988 when production shifted to Mexico. At least it was properly referred to by its German moniker “Golf” instead of as a Rabbit. The MK 2 GTI was Motor Trend magazine’s Car of the Year for 1985 and many GTI fans like the MK 2 version of the original hot hatch the best. Few, however, survive — there are likely fewer MK2 GTI owners than people who would admit to liking Nickelback.  Classic car insurer Hagerty has just 18 on its books, making the MK 2 Golf GTI officially “endangered.”

2. 1986-87 Chevrolet Cavalier Z24: Muscle car fans don’t think much of the J-car Cavalier, taking particular offense at the marked-down, blue light special version of the Z/28 name and its front-wheel drive. But in Z24 trim, the Cavalier was actually a pretty decent performer. With between 125 and 130 hp from a 2.8-liter V-6, 0-60 times of under nine seconds and firm suspension, it wasn’t bad for the late Malaise Era. Five-speed manuals were standard and Z24 Cavs weren’t terrible-looking cars, particularly the hatchback, the last reported sighting of which was some time during the Clinton administration. With just eight on the books, Hagerty lists them as “critically endangered.”