Archive for February, 2010

Alec Issigonis’s masterpiece was intended as a small family car, but it’s superior grip and manoeuvrability were highlighted when John Cooper dropped a Formula Junior engine into a Mini to produce a pocket-sized performance saloon.  There were twin-carb versions with a 55bhp 997cc engine until 1963, followed by a 998cc engine with more torque. At […]

Minor was the first British car to sell a million, which was celebrated by a mauve-coloured Minor Million special edition in 1960. Early Morris Minor ‘low light’ models are the truest to designer Alec Issigonis’s intentions albeit that none came with the flat four engine originally envisaged – instead it was fitted with a ‘wheezy’ […]

Perhaps the most recognisable classic car of them all! It stunned the press and public on its launch in 1961 for its wild shape – a refinement of the low-drag shape of the D-type racing car – and supposed 241 kph top speed, together with its original bargain price tag.  The early ‘flat floor’ 3.8 […]

Favourite for saloon car racing (and getaway driving) when they were new, Jaguars of the ‘5os and ’60s have since become classic icons. The 2.4 of 1955 began the line, it’s thick window frames betraying Jaguar’s first attempt at monocoque construction. The swifter 3.4 was introduced in 1957 and the Mk2 of 1959 was restyled […]

The Audi quattro is credited with having made popular the idea of four-wheel drive for on-road performance cars. Based on the drivetrain of the off-road VW Iltis, the Audi quattro blended unasialable grip with turbo power to produce a formidable rally competition machine and an all-weather supercar. The quattro started off with a single cam […]

Ford’s mass-market saloons spawned high performance derivatives for racing and rallying. From the Lotus engined Escort Twin Cam followed by the successful RS range beginning with the RS1600 in 1970 that became so highly successful in rallying around the world. The RS2000 was fitted with the less highly-strung 2 litre Pinto engine from the Mk3 […]

This series of models was marketed by BMW in four seat saloon, hatchback and convertible variants. They were better known as the ‘Neue Klasse’ compact saloons that were hugely successful in the showroom and on the race track. Progressively better and ‘swifter’ from the initial 1600-2 to the definitive and legendary 2-litre 2002, twin-cab 2002 […]

This model series was marketed by Alfa under a variety of names from the original Guilia Sprint GT to the final 2000 GTV and retained a successful basic ‘recipe’ throughout with great styling (that never seems to age),  great running gear adapted from the 105 series Guilia Saloon(another great classic), matched with twin-cam engines in […]

Our new category ‘Free – take me’ has been created as a free service to the community. Here’s how it works. Do you have an old car shell or body, rolling chassis, engine or gearbox that’s taking up valuable space that you need? If you’ve not been able to sell it, someone may be willing […]

Every classic car has its unique characteristics in terms of style, personality, comfort, performance and reliability. All of these elements are very individual when it comes to choosing your classic make and model. Why not tell us something about the choice that you’ve made?