Close to extinction: the humble Austin Montego

The Austin Montego is the UK’s most endangered car, according to new research.

Uswitch.com, the comparison and switching service, analysed Department for Transport and DVLA data to find out which vehicles have seen their numbers drop the most in the last 25 years.

The Montego, which was launched in 1984 and was also available as a sporty MG-badged version, was a regular feature on our roads and driveways during the ’80s and ’90s.

More than 200,000 models were registered in 1995, compared to 2020 when just 34 remained, meaning 99.98% of Montegos have vanished in the last quarter of a century.

Uswitch.com reckons one of the big reasons for this decline is that pre-1989 models can only run on leaded petrol, which stopped being sold in the UK in 1999.

UK’s most endangered cars

Rank	Model	2020	1995	Decrease
1	Austin Montego	34	205,283	-99.98%
1	Fiat Regata	3	14,549	-99.98%
1	Lada Samara	11	44,982	-99.98%
4	Hyundai Pony	7	26,888	-99.97%
4	Vauxhall Belmont	16	47,298	-99.97%
6	Austin Maestro	90	231,824	-99.96%
6	Datsun Stanza	5	12,570	-99.96%
6	Zastava Yugo	11	27,123	-99.96%
6	Nissan Stanza	5	11,957	-99.96%
10	Austin Metro	289	572,974	-99.95%

Source: Uswitch.com