A new breed of sedan, these cars were aimed at hard-driving businessmen. The cars were well able to sustain foot-to-the-floor overtaking and relaxed high-speed cruising—in contrast to earlier counterparts that would shake themselves to pieces or overheat their engines. Much of the know-how behind these...
Launched in 1953 as a fiberglass two-seater convertible in the style of contemporary European models, the Corvette was America’s first production sports car. Initially fitted with a six-cylinder engine, the Corvette began to fulfill its potential only when it was given a V8 power plant....
Henry Ford was the first automobile manufacturer to make the most of mass-production techniques, and his Model T sold by the million. Since then, the Ford Motor Company has grown into a global giant, the only big U.S. car maker to survive the recession of...
Cars like the Corvette, Camaro, and Blazer carry the name of one of the most charismatic racing drivers pre-World War I. Yet Louis Chevrolet had precious little to do with the products that have sold in the tens of mil lions—his heart was always at...
Italian styling houses reached the zenith of their influence in the 1980s, delivering an extra touch of glamour to the premium cars of the era, from the ill-fated DeLorean penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro’s Italdesign to the perennial partnership between Ferrari and Pininfarina. Zagato was back...
One of the most evocative names in the business, after more than 60 years on the road the Corvette is still very much the definitive American sports car. Originally intended as a rival for the UK’s Jaguar XK120, it cost almost twice as much as...
Two oil crises in the 1970s prompted US car buyers to seek more fuel-efficient alternatives to Detroit’s vast and profligate land yachts. At first, those newcomers came from Japanese car-makers, such as Honda and Toyota, and European brands, such as Volkswagen and BMW, which were...
Supercar pace with saloon car space was yours for the asking, thanks to super saloons with epic engines. The in-house projects, like Mercedes-Benz’s mighty 500E and Aston Martin’s futuristic Lagonda, were joined by collaborations across big automotive groups—Fiat’s luxury car brand Lancia dropped a Ferrari...
Toyota was at the forefront of the Japanese motor industry’s move into exports in the 1960s, establishing satellite plants around the world. It became a force in rallying but its foray into Formula 1 proved unsuccessful, and it has been rocked by quality scares in...
The styling excesses of the 1950s gave way to a more conservative, more tasteful era in the 1960s. The change was most noticeable in premium saloon cars, with crisp and well-honed influences from Italian designers taking over from the brash styles pioneered in America. The...