Originating in the Italian city of Milan a century ago, the Alfa Romeo marque conjures up images of sophisticated road cars and legendary competition success. In the 1930s Alfa Romeo’s racers were the finest in the world and provided the foundation for a wealth of...
Instructed to help restore the UK’s devastated balance of payments after World War II, British car manufacturers hurried to build sports cars to sell in the lucrative U.S. market, where home-grown products were too bulky to match nimble European cars on twisty roads. Few of...
New events such as the Mille Miglia in Italy and the Le Mans 24-hour race in France in the 1920s meant that by the following decade competitive automobile racing was thriving. It led to many manufacturers developing models that could be used on both road...
MG—the company that virtually invented affordable, fun, British sports cars—started life making stolid, unsporting Morris cars go faster, but it quickly adapted and modified them into some legendary models to produce “affordable, performance cars.”...
With its highly distinctive “Gullwing” doors, the Mercedes-Benz 300SL was the fastest production car in the world at its launch in 1954. Its name, Sport Leicht (“Sport Light”), denoted a sincere attempt by its creators to produce and sell a genuine racing car for the...
With the motor industry hitting its stride again after the war, thoughts could turn to sports cars once again. Jaguar introduced the XK120, the fastest production car of the era, which went on to set speed records and sire successful racing machines....