Built between 1949 and 1958, the Series I Land Rover was available in no fewer than five different wheelbase lengths ranging from 80 to 109. The original 1.6-litre petrol engine was soon superseded by a 2.0-litre unit (for 1952) and the company set about developing its own diesel, which was first offered in 1956. Ruggedly built and simple in constr..
In the aftermath of the Second World War, Rover's chief engineer Maurice Wilks used a ‘demobbed' Willys Jeep around his farm in Anglesey and was impressed with its abilities. Eventually, it wore out and he was keen to replace it with a British vehicle, however, nothing remotely similar was available. Coincidentally, his brother Spencer, who was Man..
The origins of the Corniche came from the continuation of the 1965 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow fixedhead coupé and 1967 drophead coupé, constructed by the famed coachbuilder Mulliner Park Ward in London. The car was named after the stunning roads along the Côte d'Azur in France and was an elegant two-door design available with either a coupé or conve..
Together with the 300 SL, the Mercedes-Benz 190 SL made history at the New York International Motor Sports Show in February 1954 by being the first new production Mercedes-Benz to be unveiled outside of Germany. The striking impression given by the 190 SL, sitting alongside the bigger 300 SL, was neat, sporty and with dashing lines - signatures of ..
Successor to the R-Type, the Bentley S1 was introduced in 1955 with a whole new chassis; the car's wheelbase had been extended 3 to 123, and the luggage compartment was expanded. The S1 had softer suspension than the R-Type, with electrically controlled rear shock absorbers. Brakes had been improved, and the steering was lighter. This model marked ..
Introduced in March of 1971, the Corniche was a revised version of the H J Mulliner, Park Ward-bodied two-door variants of the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow and Bentley T-Series saloons, themselves notable as the Crewe factory's first unitary-construction cars. They featured the finest engineered technologies of the day, such as independent suspension,..
The Jaguar XK120 was manufactured between 1948 and 1954 and was Jaguar's first post-war sports car succeeding the SS100 which ceased production in 1940. It was launched in roadster form at the 1948 London Motor Show as a test bed and show car for the new Jaguar XK engine and caused a sensation, persuading William Lyons to put it into production. Th..
The F-Series is a range of full size pick-up trucks from Ford which have been sold continuously for over six decades. The second generation F-series was introduced in 1953. The F1 became the F100 because of the popular culture influence of the North American F100 Super Sabre, the first supersonic fighter which first flew 1953. Increased dimensions,..
Originally launched at the 1953 Motor Show, the MG TF was greeted with mixed reactions from enthusiasts and journalists alike. To the Abingdon engineers, led by Cecil Cousins, it was a model that was sufficiently different from its predecessors and yet continued the traditional T-Series classic lines and the result was very pleasing to the eye. Int..
The Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow was a luxury saloon car built from 1965 through to 1980 and was the first Rolls-Royce to be constructed using a monocoque chassis and, to date, has the largest production volume of any Rolls-Royce. The original Shadow was 3½ inches narrower and seven inches shorter than its predecessor, the Silver Cloud, but managed to..