Paul Hardiman

There are few modern sports cars around which legends gather more thickly than the Jaguar XKSS. Following the company’s withdrawal from racing after the 1956 season, a number of both completed and incomplete D-types remained in factory stock and unsold. The decision was made to convert these cars to road-going specification, for sale to the…

The important origin of the Lotus street car Desirable Series II model with ZF close-ratio gearbox Coventry Climax FWE engine with twin Weber carburetors Cosmetically restored; engine rebuilt for former owner by Tony Mantle

The DB3S debuted in 1953 as the successor to the DB3, the first purpose-built sports racing car developed under David Brown. Designed by Frank Feeley and featuring a twin-cam, straight-6 engine, the DB3S was successfully raced by the Aston Martin Works team as well as privateers. This DB3S, chassis 102, is one of three Almond…

One of the ancient marques of motoring, Vauxhall’s history can be traced back to 1857, when Scottish engineer Alexander Wilson established a firm specializing in marine engines at the Vauxhall Iron Works. The first automobile to bear the Vauxhall name arrived in 1903; by the end of the decade, the firm was building a series…

One of the most notable characteristics of this car is that it was bought new by Eddie Fisher, who was married at the time to Elizabeth Taylor. It is easy to imagine this impossibly glamorous couple cruising the streets of Los Angeles and, especially, Las Vegas, between the casinos sparkling away in the starlit night.…

First shown at the London Motor Show in October 1965, the Aston Martin DB6 proudly followed in the footsteps of its predecessor, now famous for starring alongside James Bond on the silver screen. The drop-top DB6 Volante was released a year later. Adding the thrill of open-air motoring to an already sophisticated motorcar, the DB6…

The Ford Escort Mexico was introduced in November 1970 and was so named because of Ford Motor Company’s victory in the World Cup Rally, which started in London on April 19, 1970, and finished some 16,000 miles later in Mexico. Originally, Ford intended to use Escorts with the Twin-Cam or BDA engine, but after some…

The Trident Clipper started out as a Trevor Fiore styling exercise commissioned by TVR and exhibited at the Geneva Salon in 1965. When the Blackpool-based sports-car maker went through one of its many financial crises, the Clipper project was acquired by Bill Last, one of its dealers. Early Clippers used the TVR Grantura chassis before…

In an era when most cars stood tall, the 4½-Litre S-type Invicta, with its dramatically lowered chassis, caused a sensation. Few sports cars before or since have so looked the part. The Invicta Company’s origins go back to 1924, when Noel Macklin and Oliver Lyle, both of whom had motor-industry experience, got together to create…