Missed Motors

These are the cars we want to see back on our streets

Not all good things last forever and many of the most beloved cars in history are no longer in production. Some are being replaced by newer models while others fail to meet safety and emission standards or sales margins.

While being discontinued is inevitable for many models, it can sometimes make a car legendary. We put together a list of the most iconic discontinued cars to find out which models are the most missed by the automotive community. We looked at online popularity, determined by monthly Google searches, Instagram hashtagged posts and TikTok hashtag views.

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To find out which discontinued cars people most want to see back on our streets we compiled a list of cars that were discontinued earlier than in 2022, and looked at monthly Google searches, hashtagged posts on Instagram and hashtag views on TikTok.

 

1 – Dodge Viper – Missed motor score: 9.45/10 and
Honda S2000 – Missed motor score: 9.45/10

2017 was the final year of production for the Dodge Viper, one of the greatest American supercars ever made. Ranking in joint first place as the most popular discontinued car in the world, there are on average 345,667 monthly Google searches for the Viper. We also found 369,652 tagged Instagram posts and 161.9 million TikTok views for the Dodge Viper.

The Honda S2000 is one of the most loved sports cars ever created, with production discontinuing in 2009. The cult classic ranks in joint first place as the most popular discontinued car model on our list. On average there are 308,583 monthly Google searches worldwide for the S2000, with 562,063 tagged Instagram posts and 132.6 million TikTok hashtag views.

 

3 – Mazda RX-7 – Missed motor score: 9.32/10

Mazda’s RX-7 is one of the most iconic Japanese cars of all time and is one of the best-selling rotary-engine cars in history. The RX-7 gets on average 171,000 Google searches each month from around the world and has 552,107 tagged Instagram posts and 760.9 million TikTok hashtag views.

 

We also wanted to reveal the most popular cars that won’t make it into 2023, due to being discontinued during the 2022 model year. We compiled a list of the most loved cars that were discontinued this year, and ranked them based on monthly global Google searches, Instagram hashtagged posts and TikTok hashtag views.

 

1 – Nissan GT-R – Missed motor score: 10/10

The legendary Nissan GT-R is one of the most talked-about sports cars in history, with its twin-turbo engine and over 500 horsepower. While the model is still manufactured in Japan, Nissan discontinued sales of the GT-R in April 2022 due to noise and emissions regulations. The Nissan GT-R beats every other car by a mile in each category we looked at. We found the Nissan GT-R gets on average 1,183,333 worldwide Google searches each month. There are 2,855,586 tagged Instagram posts and 2.1 billion TikTok hashtag views for the Nissan GT-R.

 

2 – Mazda6 – Missed motor score: 8.94/10

The Mazda6 was discontinued in the US in 2022, along with many other four-door sedans. The sleek, family car gets on average 466,667 monthly Google searches and has 691,837 hashtagged Instagram posts with 182.9 million TikTok hashtag views.

 

3 – Ford EcoSport – Missed motor score: 7.72/10

The Ford EcoSport, the small SUV based on the Ford Fiesta, was discontinued in the US around mid-2022 after failing to win over the market. Despite this, its popularity online is undeniable.  We found there are on average ​​601,250 Google searches each month for the EcoSport, with 224,600 hashtagged posts on Instagram and 26.7 million hashtag views on TikTok.

 

To find out which cars the UK misses most, we looked at the average number of UK Google searches each month for every car on our list.

 

1 – Nissan GT-R – 58,667 average monthly Google searches

The Nissan GT-R comes in first place as the most-searched discontinued car in the UK. With international sales ending in 2022 in Europe and North America, the iconic GT-R gets on average 58,667 Google searches a month.

 

2 – BMW i3 – 44,242 average monthly Google searches

In the second place, the BMW i3 is one of the most missed discontinued cars in the UK. Production of the i3 ended in the summer of 2022, after nine years of production. There are 44,242 Google searches on average each month in the UK for the BMW i3.

 

3 – Hyundai Ioniq – 35,683 average monthly Google searches

The Hyundai Ioniq is the third car in our top three that was discontinued in 2022, following six years of production. In the UK, there are on average 35,683 Google searches a month for the Hyundai Ioniq.

 

To find out which cars the US wants back, we looked at the average number of US Google searches per month for every car on our list.

 

1 – Nissan GT-R – 282,667 average monthly Google searches

The Nissan GT-R is the US’ favourite discontinued car, with sales ending in Europe in 2022 due to noise regulations. There are 282,667 average monthly Google searches for Nissan’s iconic sports car.

 

2 – Ford Escort – 278,083 average monthly Google searches

The Ford Escort has been discontinued since 2002, but its popularity is unrelenting. In the US, the Ford Escort gets on average 278,083 Google searches a month.

 

3 – Jeep Trackhawk – 195,750 average monthly Google searches

The Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is a favourite among many thanks to its quick acceleration and powerful engine. One of the most popular discontinued cars in the US, there are on average 195,750 Google searches per month for the Jeep Trackhawk.

 

Methodology

We wanted to find out which discontinued cars the world wants back, so we looked at lists of discontinued cars by Car and Driver, Wikipedia (looking at global, national and class bestsellers and brand bestsellers that sold over one million units), and Business Insider. 

We also wanted to find the most popular cars which have been discontinued during the 2022 model year, looking at lists from Forbes and Car and Driver. We looked at 89 cars in total.

To find the discontinued cars the world wants back, we gave each car a normalised score out of ten for each factor before taking an average score across all factors. We ranked each car based on the average number of monthly global Google searches from 1st October 2021 – 30th September 2022 sourced from Google Keyword Planner, the number of tagged Instagram posts and the number of TikTok hashtag views as of 20th October 2022. We gave each factor equal weighting to form a ‘missed motor score out of 10’ for each car.

We also looked at the average number of monthly Google searches between 1st October 2021 and 30th September 2022 for discontinued cars in the UK and the US, sourced from Google Keyword Planner.