Mini is now a fully fledged car brand encompassing estates, coupes, sports, and racing models, but at its heart lies a revolutionary small car, based on a design conceived by Sir Alec Issigonis in the mid-1950s. Now owned by BMW, the firm continues to build...
In Sir Alec Issigonis the world witnessed a true genius of automotive design, who single-handedly set the template for the modern small car. He was an exceptional talent with genuinely unique and radical ideas. An iconoclast and an outsider, Issigonis was also an individualist, and...
Volvo C70 Convertible, 1997 C70 Convertible Clearly an attempt to echo the success of the P1800, the sleek C70 was available as both a coupe and a convertible, with the latter selling an impressive 50,000 units prior to the model’s overhaul in 2006. A range of economical...
Cars need fuel, and for those fortunate to own a car in the early 20th century, that meant buying petrol in cans from the nearest chemists’ or bicycle shop. As car-ownership increased, however, following the launch of the Model T Ford the need for roadside...
Acclaimed former rally driver and engineer Donald Healey became a car manufacturer in his own right in 1946. He wanted to build a high-performance, inexpensive sports car, and achieved that with the Healey 100. Launched at the London Motor Show in 1952, the two-seater roadster...
Performance had always been the preserve of open roadsters, but by the 1960s sports saloons were gaining ground. This inroad was fuelled by car-makers such as Ford and BMC turning out tuned versions of their family cars that made a good base for a circuit...
Lancia Delta Integrale Evoluzione II, 1993 Delta Integrale Evoluzione II Lancia was sold to Fiat in 1969, and it was hoped a high-performance hot hatch would recapture Lancia’s earlier glory. The specialized S4 took second place in the 1986 World Championship and, keen to capitalize on this...
“Adding power makes you faster on the straights. Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere.” COLIN CHAPMAN, FOUNDER OF LOTUS The mid-1960s was probably the pinnacle of unfettered driving enjoyment. Roads worldwide were still relatively uncrowded, in many cases speed limits did not apply, and engineers—working from opposing ends...
The classic car period of 1940-1990 is the era when the Cadillac name stood for luxury, style, and power in imposingly large packages. Henry M. Leland started the company in 1902, and Cadillac became notable for its ability to manufacture high-quality cars on a large...
Mercedes-Benz SLK 230 Kompressor, 1996 SLK 230 Kompressor For Mercedes-Benz, the SLK roadster was a radical departure. It was, at the time, the shortest car the company had made, and it was built around a supercharged 2.3-liter, four-cylinder engine, with drive to the rear wheels. Automatic transmission...