...END OF THE ROAD

PERFECTLY FORMED AND LOVED BY MANY, BUT SADLY THESE SEVEN HAVE REACHED THE...

- By Phil McNamara

WE'RE here not to bury cars, but to celebrate them. The peak hot hatch. A Ford that transformed hatchback dynamics for the benefit of millions. Two rear-wheel-drive sports cars.

Sales of these seminal models – plus an archetypal estate, iconic SUV and once-zeitgeisty MPV – have either ended, or will very soon, because the car world has changed. For every two new cars bought in Europe, one is an SUV, according to analyst S&P Global Mobility.

The do-it-all practicality of the 4x4, combined with the subconscious fear of being struck by one in a smaller car, has fuelled the SUV arms race. Car makers who 25 years ago didn't offer one – Audi, Peugeot, Renault, Volkswagen, Volvo – are now all in. They have to be.

That's because something has to fund the drive to electrify and decarbonise road transport. Let's overlook the paradox that heavier, less aerodynamic SUVs burn more fuel than estate cars or hatchbacks. The car industry boom times are over, and investment that could have gone into alternative bodystyles, or keeping excess factories open, can no longer be justified. Car makers must mine the virtuous – or is that actually vicious – circle of selling SUV after SUV.

And the regulatory grip tightens. Corporate average fuel economy targets mean the Honda Civic Type R, emitting 186g/km of CO2, cannot be allowed to raise the firm's average CO2 rating. Or the cost of retrofitting the Jeep Wrangler to meet next year's stricter General Safety Regulation doesn't add up.

We could apportion blame. But today we praise, by driving some fine 21st century cars. And maybe tomorrow, we'll buy one used. Because great cars should never, ever be allowed to die.

FORD FOCUS

A car that's astonishingly good to drive and does the sensible things well