Automotive "Passenger Pigeons"

[Runfromcheney]

I found this subject on The Truth About Cars and I thought it would make for a good discussion. What cars can you think of that are "passenger pigeons"? What I mean by that is that the Passenger Pigeon was a species of bird that was once so common that their flocks spread for miles. However, they went extinct early in the 20th century.

So, what cars can you think of that were on every street corner just a couple of decades ago, that you couldn't find an example of today if your life depended on it?

Here are a few examples that I know of, so you can get my drift:

Chevrolet Celebrity - Throughout the 1980s it was one of the bestselling cars in America. Today, seeing one is a rare occurrence, even in junkyards. I see examples of its platform mates, the Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera and Buick Century - and even the odd Pontiac 6000 - still sputtering around all the time, but where the hell have all the Celebrities gone?

1978-1990 GM full-size station wagons - I remember seeing these wood-clad wagons all over the place when I was growing up, and now, they are nowhere to be seen. What is ironic though is that I see plenty of their sedan variants still on the road.

Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon - These things sold like hot cakes in the late 70s and early 80s, and I saw them all the time growing up. And now, it is next to impossible to find one.

Current cars that you think might fall into this category can also be mentioned. A few I can think of are:

1991-2000 Chrysler minivans - In the 90s, you couldn't turn your head without seeing three of these. Now, as their rubber-band transmissions continue to blow, these are popping up at junkyards at an alarming rate. Although the 1980s ones will forever be enshrined and preserved as their status as the first minivans and the Daimler built ones seem to have a better reliability record, I am sure that the 90s Chrysler minivans are just another few years of transmission eating away from ending up on the endangered list.

1986-2003 Ford Taurus - See above

1995-1999 Dodge Neon - Sold like they were going out of style in the 90s, now they are dropping like flies.

[LeonOfTheDead]

Fiat Uno and Tipo, they don't built as they used to.

[IBrake4Rainbows]

Mitsubishi Sigma. Manufactured in Australia, popular and prolific, but now nowhere to be seen.....

[Ferrer]

Renault 11. Best seller in the 80's, now a rare sight.

[cmcpokey]

first gen eclipses... havent seen one in ages.

[Runfromcheney]

first gen eclipses... havent seen one in ages.

They all either have been turned into rice-burners or are shells sitting in garages.

[cmcpokey]

They all either have been turned into rice-burners or are shells sitting in garages.

this is very true.. but they also had the reliability of a yugo.. my neighbor had one, and she had to replace the transmission at 60k miles. terrible car.

[csl177]

You're not kidding about Chrysler minivans... was at the pay & pull last week and saw dozens of those things, and scores of decent looking '90s cars of every make turned in under cash for clunkers. There was a shiny row of Volvos all without engines, even a small group of Jags that had been "disabled" including two XJS's. Weird. One section of the yard held 30-40 Sebring convertibles. Guess the rental companies were clearing inventory.

Some of the older Japanese cars are becoming collectible, but some recent ones not seen lately are Toyota Supras and 3rd gen. Mazda RX7s. Neither were produced in big numbers so my guess is they're lurking in collections, awaiting market interest.

As to daily transports, '80s Subaru SVX, VW Jettas and Corrados, Porsche 944/968, Mercedes SECs of the '80s. Rarely see them anymore.

Also '80s Hyundai, Kia and Suzuki products, but there's good reason for them going the way of the Passenger Pigeon. :D

Which, BTW didn't simply go extinct... along with the Carolina Parakeet they were hunted into oblivion. :(

[coolieman1220]

Chevrolet Celebrity - Throughout the 1980s it was one of the bestselling cars in America. Today, seeing one is a rare occurrence, even in junkyards. I see examples of its platform mates, the Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera and Buick Century - and even the odd Pontiac 6000 - still sputtering around all the time, but where the hell have all the Celebrities gone?

1978-1990 GM full-size station wagons - I remember seeing these wood-clad wagons all over the place when I was growing up, and now, they are nowhere to be seen. What is ironic though is that I see plenty of their sedan variants still on the road.



My friend had a celeberity as his first car. last year, we got pulled over in it and searched cause it matched the description of a get away car. great running car for 20 years. body was in pieces but the car ran well.

My parents had a 1988 Caprice Classic LS Brougham. Great car, i loved it. I miss it. It was a sedan and it ran well/


Mitsubishi Sigma. Manufactured in Australia, popular and prolific, but now nowhere to be seen.....

Parents also had a 1988 Mitsu Sigma. Nice little car with lots of features and buttons. Sadly i can't find any info or pics on it.

[ruim20]

Fiat Uno and Tipo, they don't built as they used to.


Renault 11. Best seller in the 80's, now a rare sight.

My thoughts exactly, Unos for the most part, also 1st gen Clios, they almost vanished. I guess the 1st gen Punto his slowly desapearing to.

[IBrake4Rainbows]

Parents also had a 1988 Mitsu Sigma. Nice little car with lots of features and buttons. Sadly i can't find any info or pics on it.


My folks had a 1984 model. Turboooooooo.

[whiteballz]

did it dose?

[NSXType-R]

Dodge Viper. The coolest thing to come from Chrylser will most definitely die unless some miracle at Fiat happens.

[Brix]

The Beetle and Mini!, they isn't seen so offend.

[Cotterik]

you very very rarely see an original mini on the roads. and if you do. you only realise how gigantic the standard of vehicle size has become. atleast around my area, plagued with Q5's and Range Rovers etc. Yet you get the impression its still 10x more fun than any of these.

[cmcpokey]

you very very rarely see an original mini on the roads. and if you do. you only realise how gigantic the standard of vehicle size has become. atleast around my area, plagued with Q5's and Range Rovers etc. Yet you get the impression its still 10x more fun than any of these.

well, you don't see people frowning while driving minis... except pieter when he used to be driving across the top of UCP.

[henk4]

you very very rarely see an original mini on the roads. and if you do. you only realise how gigantic the standard of vehicle size has become. atleast around my area, plagued with Q5's and Range Rovers etc. Yet you get the impression its still 10x more fun than any of these.

I took this shot deliberately, both are four seat coupes, the don't differ that much in length, but apparently human beings have really grown fatty.

I realise this is slightly off topic, but cars like the one on the right would be my favourite carrier pigeon or dodos for that matter

[Runfromcheney]

this is very true.. but they also had the reliability of a yugo.. my neighbor had one, and she had to replace the transmission at 60k miles. terrible car.

I knew all about that. That is what I meant when I said that most of them are now shells; all of them are dead. I can't remember the last time that I saw a running one on eBay or Craigslist. All of the ones I see either are dead or have been so riced-out that you would be defaming yourself by driving one.

The ironic thing is though, I saw a first-gen Eclipse on the road today, bone stock as well. The first time in ages I saw one of those in the flesh.

[PRC777]

I knew all about that. That is what I meant when I said that most of them are now shells; all of them are dead. I can't remember the last time that I saw a running one on eBay or Craigslist. All of the ones I see either are dead or have been so riced-out that you would be defaming yourself by driving one.

The ironic thing is though, I saw a first-gen Eclipse on the road today, bone stock as well. The first time in ages I saw one of those in the flesh.

They're kind of abundant where I live. Hell, I've seen a pink one--like the color of the Pepto Bismol medicine (gross)--with "decked out" back/front bumpers, side skirts, fartcan muffler,etc. Pure cosmetics. Yeah, almost every 1st gen Eclipse is either a rice burner or dead in the garage (or sitting in a McDonalds parking lot) :)

[Ferrer]

I took this shot deliberately, both are four seat coupes, the don't differ that much in length, but apparently human beings have really grown fatty.
That's quite amazing. And sad.

Some more off topic, an interesting comparison would be Phantom FHC v Camargue or R-Type Continental v Brooklands.

[Kitdy]

I took this shot deliberately, both are four seat coupes, the don't differ that much in length, but apparently human beings have really grown fatty.

I realise this is slightly off topic, but cars like the one on the right would be my favourite carrier pigeon or dodos for that matter

I'm rather embarrassed to admit that I can't identify the car on the left.

What is it?

[LeonOfTheDead]

Momo Mirage (had to look trough the Villa d'Este report as I forgot it).

[Ferrer]

I'm rather embarrassed to admit that I can't identify the car on the left.

What is it?


Momo Mirage (had to look trough the Villa d'Este report as I forgot it).
Chaps, you've got no excuses. It was a main page feature not that long ago.

[LeonOfTheDead]

And that was precisely why it took me only 5 seconds to go in the Momo folder and check :D

BTW, I thought the Mirage was a pretty big car.

[AERO_HDT]

Important to note though that many of the so-called pigeon cars are no longer practical to own. A lot of them have experienced 20-30 years of daily use and many have been resigned to a junkyard somewhere. Very few owners would bother with the costs of restoration or the climbing service bills to keep these cars on the road as insurance companies would value them at possibly less than $1000.

I went through an extensive $35K ground up resto on an 80's car a few years ago and despite it being concours once finished, my insurance company was only willing to value the car at $1100 and would charge me $1000 per year to insure it.

Makes me wish I owned a Mini instead...

;)

[johnnynumfiv]

I took this shot deliberately, both are four seat coupes, the don't differ that much in length, but apparently human beings have really grown fatty.

I realise this is slightly off topic, but cars like the one on the right would be my favourite carrier pigeon or dodos for that matter

Is that the momo on the left? We have one at work right now. :D

[cmcpokey]

Important to note though that many of the so-called pigeon cars are no longer practical to own. A lot of them have experienced 20-30 years of daily use and many have been resigned to a junkyard somewhere. Very few owners would bother with the costs of restoration or the climbing service bills to keep these cars on the road as insurance companies would value them at possibly less than $1000.

I went through an extensive $35K ground up resto on an 80's car a few years ago and despite it being concours once finished, my insurance company was only willing to value the car at $1100 and would charge me $1000 per year to insure it.

Makes me wish I owned a Mini instead...

;)

what year and kind of car is it? i have my 81 RX-7 under collector car insurance, so it is only about $250/year and covered for a $10k value. it hasnt been restored so its more a sentimental value that high.

[AERO_HDT]

It's a 1988 VL Commodore. At the time, finding an insurer who would touch it was a nightmare as it wasn't old enough to be considered a classic and was at the lowest ebb in the used car cycle, with ludicrous theft rates, hehe. That and the fact that it was modified from a stock 200bhp to a more street friendly 350bhp.

I did finally manage to get it insured for 20K, but subsequently, cost me 2K per year for insurance, despite the fact that it was rarely driven.

I gave up insurance when I realised that each year they dropped the value of the car and increased my premiums.

It's now nothing more than a dust collector under an old cover in the garage.

:(

[LTSmash]

first gen eclipses... havent seen one in ages.

Back in high school there was a Senior (I was a Junior at the time) who had one of these in auto-shop class. He worked on it the whole year "pimping" this thing out... in the most literal sense it was a complete piece of shit from beginning to end.

He put so much random stuff on it it was unreal: butterfly doors, purple fur/velvet interior (this is in Vegas...), candy-apple red paint job, one of those $80 light weight shift knobs, light weight pedals, TV screen in trunk, and the list goes on.

Quite ridiculous for women's car but he thought he was hot shit.