Premium cars offered higher levels of comfort, convenience, safety, and performance than ever before. Sophisticated electronics were one of the big developments, with computer control providing features and benefits that had previously been impossible, Engines were still big V8s—or occasionally V12s—but electronic fuel injection offered...
The name Robert Opron may not be widely known, even among car enthusiasts, but the extraordinary sweep of his achievements is still greatly admired by those who appreciate the craft of styling. A colorful man with a fondness for brash bow ties, his remarkable designs...
Most off-roaders were tough, basic trucks intended for military, agricultural, and emergency service uses, or for hardy outdoor types, but changing attitudes saw them evolve into multipurpose vehicles that had just as much appeal on the road as off it. Trucktype leaf springs were replaced...
Founded in a London garage in 1913 by Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin, the sports car adopted part of the name of the famed motoring venue, the Aston Hill Climb, to reinforce its sporting character. Reborn after World War II, Aston Martins became synonymous with...
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...
Planned US legislation threatened to outlaw convertibles—which meant almost all sports cars—but the expected new laws were never implemented. By the 1980s sports cars still in production were antiquated, but a few survived and adopted new engines and running gear to compete with a whole...
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...
Volkswagen began life with the humble Beetle, Adolf Hitler’s vision of a car for the masses. It was a huge success, becoming the best-selling car of its era, and giving VW a foundation from which it grew into Europe’s biggest car-making group—before the 2015 diesel...
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...