In the early ’30s, William Lyons’ design influence began to take its full effect. The Swallow Sidecar Company evolved into Swallow Coachworks with a highly successful line of Lyons-designed bodies, mostly for the Austin Seven and 6-cylinder Wolseley-Hornet. Swallow’s first complete car, the SS-I, based on the Standard (later to […]
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1970 Lamborghini Espada SII
After first the Miura, then the Marzal, Lamborghini once again stole the Geneva show in 1968 with the Espada, styled by Marcello Gandini, the genius who heads Bertone’s design studio. Despite its incredible styling the car was comparatively conventional, incorporating a pressed steel semi-monocoque built by Marchesi in Modena, into […]
When Old Cars Were New
“It was a grand time to be writing about cars,” said Car and Driver’s Brock Yates at the recent International Automotive Media Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was referring to the ’60s and early ’70s, when the horsepower race between American manufacturers was in full swing, Ford was locked […]
1953 Mercedes-Benz 300S
Originally introduced in 1951 at the Frankfurt Show, the Mercedes-Benz 300 range was very much a flagship designed to promote the Stuttgart manufacturer as a producer of the finest luxury cars; a design it undoubtedly achieved, ultimately offering imposing and elegant six seater coachwork, in either closed or open form, […]
1937 Cord 812 Cabriolet Coupe
Erret Leban Cord began building his empire in the mid 1920s when he became president and primary stockholder of Auburn. In 1929 Cord introduced a car bearing his name, the front-wheel-drive Cord L-29. There were unfortunately many technological problems with the L-29 that kept it from becoming the great car […]
1978 Alfa Romeo 2.0 Spider
The 1966 Geneva Motor Show saw the debut of the Alfa Romeo Duetto Spider, which replaced the existing 101 Series Giulia Spider. The Duetto’s Pininfarina-designed body was inspired by a styling exercise on a 3.0 litre Disco Volante chassis seen at Geneva in 1959, and sported an extremely attractive and […]
1960 Ferrari 250 GT PF Coupe
{vsig}1998-12_1580{/vsig} By the time the 250 PF Coupe arrived in 1959, Ferrari had refined its road models and, every year, the 250 improved as a practical car. It retained, however, the sporting heritage and the broad outline of the sports racing cars from which it derived. The 250 PF was […]
1958 Arnolt Bristol
In 1953, S. H. “Wacky” Arnolt, Chicago businessman and vice-president of Bertone, was in London for the Motor Show. He had already had some success with his Bertone-bodied MG TDs, which had whetted his appetite for sports cars, and he was very impressed b In 1953, S. H. “Wacky” Arnolt, […]
1972 Lancia Stratos Rally
The introduction of the Lancia Stratos represented a new high point in Lancia’s already illustrious competition history and showed the world a new concept in rally car design, winning three World Rally Championships between 1974 and 1976. The story of Stratos goes back to the 1970 Turin motor show where […]
A Red Egg for Christmas
Our day started innocently enough. Seven-year-old daughter Alexandra and I headed to a local swap meet in search of a pre-’55 American car to use in Martin Swig’s La Carrera Nevada event. While wading through the rusting junk, a.k.a. valuable restorable collector cars, she pulled suddenly at my sleeve.“Look Daddy, […]