YOU can't keep a good car down so they say, a case proven by the survival rate of the original BMC Mini compared to the later BL Metro.

I well remember being at a Birmingham Motor Show in the 1970s when controversial BL boss Sir Michael Edwardes was praising the qualities of the new 'Mighty Mini', the Metro over the original model.

But although the media was all ears then, time proved Sir Michael very wrong.

According to WeLoveAnyCar.com there are still 8,176 original Minis driving around British roads whereas its unloved replacement, the Mini Metro sold under the Austin and Rover brands, has fared less well with just 3,262 left - despite being produced later on.

Of course there is a massive Self Preservation Society out there for the Mini and the Government's scrappage scheme decimated the UK's population of Metros which were getting past it when the scheme kicked in.

But despite the overall number of survivors, some Minis are getting very rare.

There are 34 different Austin Mini models remaining on our roads but some are dwindling fast. For instance someone is driving around Britain in the last licensed Austin Mini ‘850 Van' and there are just 3 Mini ‘SPL' versions left.

In the Metro camp, of the 3,261 examples of the poorly-built and unloved cars left, there are an amazingan amazingly high 77 model versions. Again, someare facing total extinction with just one Austin Metro ‘HL' left and two licensed Rover Metro ‘MG Turbo' versions remaining.

But even the modern MINI made by BMW is starting to see rarities creeping in. There are 490,376 modern MINIs registered for British roads, but there are only three Mini Cooper Graphite C-Man DA models rmaking them very exclusive modern cars. But one MINI driver in Britain is the owner of the only Mini One ‘Soho Clubman Auto' registered before December 2013.

It all goes to prove that some cars, like the old Mini and the Morris 1000 are natural born survivors and it will be interesting to see how the modern MINI copes with the ravages of time.