The Mk III is the most desirable of the Astons assembled at the Lagonda works, with increased power, better gearing, and improved brakes {vsig}2005-3_1824{/vsig} Two years after the introduction of the DB2/4 Mk II came the DB Mk III-the suffix “2/4” now dropped. The Mk III retained the one-piece grille […]

While the SIII roadster, with its longer wheelbase and flared wheel wells, could be considered an attractive design by most admirers, the 2+2 coupe is another matter altogether   {vsig}2005-2_1817{/vsig} Testing the new E-type Series III back in 1972, Road & Track reckoned the new V12 power unit, “a sheer […]

No less an authority on grace than Sir William Lyons was rumored to have tossed his scones on his first sight of a Dart {vsig}2005-1_1803{/vsig} Daimler of England startled the automotive world in 1959 with the Dart roadster, a swoopy sports car powered by an advanced 2.6-liter, hemi-head V8. With […]

Some early TR2s were immediately re-sprayed by their owners, changing effeminate colors like Olive Yellow and Geranium to more traditional ones like British Racing Green The post-war Standard-Triumph company, like most manufacturers of the period, found strong demand for its products. Exports were critical to the survival of the English […]

Raise the bonnet and you are treated to one of the most beautiful engine layouts in sports car motoring. As Sir William Lyons was rumored to have said, “It costs no more to make it pretty” {vsig}2004-11_1461{/vsig} The E-type is one of those rare gifts to the automotive world, the […]

The Elf was designed to appeal to older “Buick and Oldsmobile” customers, with a miniature vertical grille, leather interior and a strange projecting trunk that pretty much ruined the Mini’s perfectly cute lines A luxury Mini blessed with marginally greater trunk space and an improved interior, the Riley Elf (along […]

This Aston seems to have been banged around more than Drea de Matteo’s character on “The Sopranos” {vsig}2004-9_1206{/vsig} This competition-modified DB2/4 Mk I was supplied new to Lawrence & Hilton Ltd. of Blackpool, and spent much of its life in the Sussex area. A list of the car’s competition successes […]

The McLaren F1 is a wreck just waiting to happen – while names can’t be named, over a dozen cars were crashed by their over-exuberant owners soon after delivery {vsig}2004-8_1213{/vsig} The idea of creating the ultimate and most exciting road car was conceived as early as 1988. Following a meeting […]

This car was bought over the phone, bringing to mind a favorite jest of one of my good friends: {vsig}2004-7_1219{/vsig} The new Aston Martin DB6 was introduced at the 1965 London Motor Show as a distinctively restyled development of the successful DB4 and DB5 model ranges. The flat transom Kamm-tail […]

At a time when a Corvette cost just $8,000, convertible Interceptors were $25,000. It’s no wonder Jensen Motors Ltd. bit the dust. {vsig}2004-6_1226{/vsig} In 1931 brothers Alan and Richard Jensen opened a coachwork factory in West Bromwich, U.K., which supplied many British car manufacturers. Four years later, they built the […]