1976 Lancia Montecarlo/Scorpion With under 8000 built in over 8 years.. and only 1801 exported to the states (we never saw the second series), there were never many, even when new
1976 Lancia Montecarlo/Scorpion With under 8000 built in over 8 years.. and only 1801 exported to the states (we never saw the second series), there were never many, even when new
1953 Porsche 356 Cab, 1 of 394. Had a VW motor but a rust free body- even the battery box- and a rare uncreased hood ( gas tank was inside the front trunk with no outside fuel port, and so trunk was opened a lot, and usually someone had tried to close the hood by pressing down without first lifting up to release the support strut, thus creasing the hood ) , needed a lot of work, front wooden top bow was gone, had the 6 volt system sorta converted to 12; drove it home, took a lot of it apart but only had a carport to work in so kept it covered with a tarp; a year or so later sold it to an Air Force officer at Little Rock AFB who took it away on a trailer in 1976 or 77?
1961 Porsche 356B 1600S Convertible D, 1 of 563, A very good car, black on black, factory chrome wheels and a signal seeking radio, after market hardtop, daily driver for 2 to 3 years in early 70s. Very fond memories of this car and yes, this is my One That I Should Have Kept!
In 1984 you could only get the Citation X-11 in a two door model. Dad wanted a family car, so we went off the ala carte menu. Pontiac Phoenix 4 door hatchback, HO V-6, F41 suspension, but with base 13" steel wheels and bench seat with column auto shifter. Two page window sticker that I still have. That had to be a 1 of 1.
Back in the day Dad wanted a 1974 Buick Century. The dealer had a GS455 Stage 1. We almost bought that one. I still remember the sound as it was started in the dealer's garage. That was about 250 or so. Dad caught a lot of grief about not buying that one.
I also know of a GM engineer who has a C4 fan shroud with a 1983 emission sticker affixed.
Volvo 780 . . . Bertone's version of 760 in coupe form.
~8500 produced from 86-91.
Going with most produced motor vehicle here. According to Car & Driver the Honda Super Cub is the most produced motor vehicle in history at nearly 90 million. Had one as a daily driver in the Philippines in 1966.
My recent purchase of the rx7 10th Anniversary. One of 1500
We had one of these: 1995 Oldsmobile LSS. Only 7% of production had the supercharged 3.8 liter V6 engine. So rare it was not listed for discount for the 'cash for clunkers' program, while other GM cars with this engine were. It was a clunker. We scrapped it.
I had a 66 Cortina GT. Not rare in the world but rare in the DC area. Painted the mesh part of the grille flat black and removed the trim rings leaving the dog dish caps on gray wheels. Made it look like a maroon Lotus Cortina.
2003 Acura CL Type-S with a manual. It only came with the manual for one year, and the take rate was maybe 10%, which meant there were less than a few thousand of them ever made. Somebody paid a pretty penny for it new, but I picked it up back in 2010 for a fraction of the original price and drove it for a year or two with very little hassle. Sweet sounding J-series with a nice Honda 6-speed, it was a great car.
I think some of my cars are much rarer now than actual rare cars that people actively 'saved'. There are lots of low production cars that were special from the start and 50-70% of them still exist decades later. I have cars that were made by the hundred thousand but now represent probably 20% of the surviving specimens. 
As far as actual low production, right now I have a 1 of 204 and a 1 of 279.
For me, it would probably be the '88 Samurai Tin Top. I've never found any actual numbers, but they are few and far between. They were imported two years and discontinued for low sales numbers.
Next would be the '85 635 CSI. 1 of 7270.
I had a late 1952 beetle that was imported into the country with the "European standard" package that included cable brakes and no chrome trim. This package was never officially offer in America but was one of a few that were imported by Max Hoffman to test the market. It was a rare model between the split and oval window that had the split style rear window but an oval style dash. No idea how many original made it in, but last time I looked only 3 American standards of this model were still around.
MO30 slick top 924s. One of about 50 ever made.
i have to change my answer to 323 GTX. 1243 sold in the USA, but not many left in this kind of shape.
96 Impala SS, about 42,000 produced
73 Hornet Sportabout wagon, about 45,000 produced
67 LeMans convertible, about 9800 produced
87 Cutlass Salon, about 9200 produced (hard to think of a G-body as "rare")
Focus SVT - One of 301 Competition Orange cars with the European Appearance Package.
1978 Mazda RX-3 SP, 1988 Toyota MR-2 SC, 1989 RX-7 GTU-s, 1992 Sunburst Yellow Miata, 1994 Laguana Blue Miata R, 2004 Pontiac GTO, 2006 Lotus Elise Sport model, 2003 Toyota MR-Spyder(SMT converted to manual), ?-Contour SVT
Griffith 400, Tornado Typhoon, Lotus Elan
1985 VW Quantum Turbo Diesel Sedan
1987 Audi 5000 CS Turbo Quattro Sedan
1988 Subaru GL-10 Full Time 4WD Turbo Wagon
The current 88 MR2 SC (only made 2 years), but maybe more rare my 79 Dodge Lil Red Express. ...which I still miss.
I currently have a very junky 91 BRG edition Miata. I also currently have a 2-door manual trans Exploder. Not sure on the Explorer numbers, but it took me over 3 months to find one. On a cooler note, I had a 1989 XR4Ti that I pushed more than I drove.
Triumph Stag, I believe they imported less than 4472 into the U.S. in 1973, probably only a few hundred still running....
Tim Suddard wrote: Griffith 400, Tornado Typhoon, Lotus Elan
Tim, you sort of have an advantage in this discussion unless we have some mega-rich forum members...
Toyman01 wrote: For me, it would probably be the '88 Samurai Tin Top. I've never found any actual numbers, but they are few and far between. They were imported two years and discontinued for low sales numbers.
Dibs if you ever want to sell it! I'm reasonably local (Cola)...
bravenrace wrote: It would either be my two 1974 TVR 2500M's (approx. 160 made):Or my '91 Acura Legend sedan with a 5 speed manual trans (Don't know how many built, but rare).
Love those TVRs.
Mom had (and I drove) a '72 Mustang she special ordered. She ordered the 351 Cleveland with the 4-speed (she disliked automatics) and when it arrived at the dealership it was a 351 HO. Less than 800 were built. I'm still looking for that car...
You'll need to log in to post.
