IT SEEMS like only yesterday when cars like the Ford Cortina and Vauxhall Cavalier ruled the roost in the used car market.
If you had one of these – especially a powerful petrol model - you really were king of the road. What was that? Diesels! Oh no they were taxis and tractors weren't they?
Well how things have changed on the second hand car lot.
Figures released by Experian, the global information service, give an interesting insight into used car sales during the second quarter of the year.
April to June saw pre-owned sales 0.7% lower than the same time last year - the smallest annual drop in sales for two years.
And the fall was led by the upper medium segment (down 5.8%), followed by the sports segment (down 2.3%) - the second hand cars we once aspired to own.
So what is hot on the streets? It appears that the mini and supermini categories, which include the Chevrolet Matiz, the smart fortwo, the Vauxhall Corsa and Ford Fiesta, were the only zones to buck the trend and with an increase in sales of 7.7% and 2.9% respectively.
When coupled with news that both hybrid and electric cars saw annual increases of 37.7% and 29.7%, it certainly gives a very different picture of the market.
But year-on-year, used cars from all makes saw their sales fall. After the demise of Rover, Fiat saw the highest decline in used car sales, down 11.7% – but I think the flow of the neat little 500 cars coming on the market may reverse this trend.
And petrol power saw an annual drop in used car sales, down 1.4% – those Cortinas and Cavaliers will be creakily turning in their rusty graves.