With the Lotus 14 of 1959-better known as the Elite-Colin Chapman demonstrated that his skills as a racing car designer and constructor could just as easily be applied to production road cars. The Elite was, nevertheless, conceived with competition in mind, as Chapman had his sights set on class wins at Le Mans and the Monte Carlo Rally. Just as innovative as Lotus’s outright competition cars, the Elite featured a fiberglass monocoque body tub, independent suspension at each corner, and Read More
Bentley’s magnificent Continental sports saloon has been synonymous with effortless high speed cruising at its grandest since its introduction on the R-type chassis in 1952. Unlike the ordinary, factory-bodied, “standard steel” R-type, the Continental was bodied in aluminum over a steel frame and first appeared with what many enthusiasts consider to be the model’s definitive style of coachwork-the lightweight, wind tunnel-developed, fastback of HJ Mulliner.
The Continental’s performance figures would have been considered excellent for an out-and-out sports car, but Read More
“Opinions vary greatly-and inevitably-on which is the ‘best’ of the new breed of Aston Martins. Sir David Brown puts his money on the DB5.”-Geoff Courtney, The Power Behind Aston Martin
The DB5 arrived in the autumn of 1963, essentially a positive development of the Series V DB4, sharing its classic Superleggera body construction devised by Touring of Milan. It was distinguished primarily by its larger, more powerful 4-liter version of the DB4 straight-6 unit, with triple SU carburetors (as standard) Read More
Chassis 64GX left Crewe as a standard Phantom II saloon, but in the late 1970s, Rolls-Royce collector Nicholas Harley of London decided to create a showcase of British engineering might. The restoration that ensued spanned approximately seven years, during which time the Phantom II frame was lengthened, reinforced and fitted with this lovely Gurney Nutting-inspired body constructed by Wilkinson’s of Derby, and a 27-liter Mk I Merlin V12 engine was fitted, fed by two fuel pumps delivering 100 gallons per Read More
Scotsman Alexander Govan obtained financial backing from Warren Smith of the National Telegraph Company in 1899 and designed and built his first voiturette using De Dion and MMC engines.
A vertical, single-cylinder engine was forward mounted, driving through a 3-speed gearbox with shaft drive to a live rear axle. A distinctive wrap-around radiator cooled on thermo-syphon principles. Early cars featured tiller steering, but in 1901, wheel steering replaced the tiller.
This car features wheel steering and is a 1901 Read More
This XK 120 drophead coupe is number 266 of just 294 right-hand-drive examples (out of 1,769 DHC cars) produced. The drophead model run was from April 1953 to August 1954. Equipped with the “SE” option package and C-type cylinder head, this example sports the 3/8-inch lift cams, lightened flywheel and damper, dual exhausts, and wire wheels.
These options boosted the base model by 50 hp, with Jaguar claiming 210 hp at 5,750 rpm. The car is supplied with Jaguar Production Read More
With development of the second-generation of DB 6-cylinder sports cars nearing its end, Aston Martin turned to the Italian Carrozzeria Touring of Milan, creator of the original DB4 of 1959, for the next model. Touring built a pair of two-seater prototypes, one right- and one left-hand drive (2661R and 2662L, respectively) which were displayed at the Paris, London, and Turin Motor Shows in 1966. The struggling Italian firm was already in receivership and would close at the end of the Read More
Determined to extend MG’s racing and record-breaking activities into Class G (1,100 cc), Managing Director Cecil Kimber announced the MG K-series “Magnette” range at the October 1932 London Motor Show. It comprised the roadgoing K1 (four-seater) and K2 (two-seater), as well as the sports racing K3.
Two of the first three production MG K3s finished 1st and 2nd in the 1,100-cc class of the 1933 Mille Miglia. As a result, MG became the first non-Italian manufacturer to be awarded the Read More
Jaguar’s chief engineer William Heynes said that until he went to the 1950 Le Mans race, he had “never seriously contemplated designing a car for racing.” Then he watched Leslie Johnson push his more or less standard XK 120 as high as 3rd until the clutch failed.
William Lyons watched the race with Heynes, and Johnson’s performance was enough to convince Lyons of the car’s potential: Jaguar was going racing, with the aim to win Le Mans in 1951.
Work Read More
Any slowdown in Vintage Bentley values due to the current economic climate is likely to push owners toward a cup of tea rather than Valium
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Chassis 356 was the first “Red Label” Bentley produced, and it was this model that was to lay the foundations of Bentley’s financial success. The final specification of the first Red Label, short chassis, Speed Model (generally known in the works as “Speed One”) was Read More
