Hagerty’s 2014 automotive threatened, endangered and extinct list

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.”

3. 1988-89 Merkur Scorpio: You can look at the Scorpio in a couple of ways: It’s either just another half-assed Big-Three effort to palm some surplus European stuff off on Americans or a noble failed experiment. We think it was the latter. Prior to the brilliant new Fiesta and Focus, Ford generally gave Americans heavily watered-down versions of the smaller cars that it built in Germany and the UK. This car was a bid at getting the good stuff to U.S. enthusiasts. Sold at select Lincoln-Mercury dealers under the name “Merkur” (German for Mercury), the Scorpio was essentially a federalized version of the highly regarded German Ford Scorpio. Once again though, the Europeans got all of the good engines (with up to 201 hp) while Americans could only get a 144-hp 2.9-liter V-6. Low performance, high price and inept marketing consigned the car to the automotive fossil record after about 22,000 were sold in the U.S. They’re pretty much all gone at this point, and with just 12 on Hagerty’s books, they’re “endangered.”

4. 1982-84 Dodge Rampage: The Dodge Rampage is one endearingly odd-looking little vehicle. Half car (the Dodge Omni 024) and half truck, it had the unfortunate luck of being introduced just as the car/truck phenomenon started by the Ford Ranchero and Chevy El Camino was petering out. That combined with the fact that real truck people despised its front wheel-drive and 96-hp four banger, ensured that it was a short-lived phenomenon. Still, about 38,000 were sold over the course of three model years. There was a also a  very rare Plymouth version called the Scamp, but it’s more likely that someone will drag a live Ivory Billed Woodpecker out of an Arkansas swamp before someone else in Arkansas cuts their grass for the first time in 20 years and finds a Scamp. The Rampage’s rather quirky, utilitarian and cute nature has led to at least some conservation efforts. Hagerty insures just under 50 of them, making the Rampage simply “threatened.”

5. 1976-83 Plymouth Sapporo: The Sapporo was what was known as a “captive import,” part of a common practice in the 1960s-1980s when the Big Three all held substantial interests in overseas car companies.  When they needed a small car, they’d simply grab something current from one of their Japanese or European partners and slap a domestic badge on it. Service departments hated them because they were totally alien, and unlikely to be around long. In addition, sales people generally hadn’t a clue about how to sell them. The Sapporo was actually a Mitsubishi. It was around for an unusually long while and sold in large numbers, yet it’s utterly disappeared from the automotive scene. Known for its ability to talk — spouting pseudo-helpful reminders like “your lights are on” or “your door is ajar,” it wasn’t exactly Siri-like intelligent, but it was unique. The last one spotted in the wild was on display several years ago at the Concours d’Lemons, the infamous car show for the worst of the automotive world held in Monterey, Calif., each August. Hagerty lists none on its book, making the Sapporo officially “extinct,” unless and until someone locates a breeding pair.