The Triumph TR series is one of the great success stories in the history of the sports car and many would say that the TR5 is the pick of the line. It was a development of the TR4A which, in turn, was based on the TR3A chassis, but with independent rear suspension and styling by…
Carl Abarth (Carlo) was born in Vienna in 1908 and his formative years were punctuated by the two world wars. In the aftermath of the first he started racing cycles and motorcycles, which resulted in his apprenticeship at Castagna, more notable for their coachworks, designing frames for them, and even constructing his own racing machine…
By 1961, Ferrari was taking road cars very seriously and production was running at a rate of nearly one a day. The 250 GT, in both LWB and SWB forms therefore became the first ‘production’ Ferrari. With the company’s policy of developing models ‘on the run’, it meant that hardly any two cars were identical…
If Thor, the God of Thunder, owned a car it would be a Supercharged Mercedes. Very few cars, before or since, have been so imposing, exclusive, charismatic and simply Wagnerian in conception. Daimler Benz began development of the supercharged car for road and racing use at an early stage. Starting about 1919, they turned to…
The “official” Muscle Car era began in 1961, when Chevrolet introduced the 409. It lasted ten years until the early ’70s when the market was gutted by insurance premiums and the cars began to be strangled by emissions limits. Of course, the Muscle Car didn’t emerge fully formed like a butterfly from a chrysalis. It…
Pininfarina died just a month after the Duetto’s introduction in March, 1966, so the model carries the distinction of being his last design. Its design is virtually perfect in concept: an aerodynamic profile with a dramatic blood trough down the sides that ties the symmetrical front and rear together.The Duetto, whose side concavity appeared later…
The loss of the Healey 3000 Mk III at the end of 1967 left a void in the six-cylinder sports car line-up. Sure, there was the Jaguar Series II XKE ($5,500 in 1969) and soon a new upstart from Japan, the Datsun 240Z, would show the world how much GT car $3,500 would buy. Still,…
The DB5 Aston Martin rapidly became the very essence of the hand-built English classic car. Very expensive, built in tiny numbers by dedicated craftsmen, it was also an apt choice of mount for the suave secret agent James Bond. Equally deft was the director’s decision in 1995 to hark back 30 years, nostalgically providing a…
A left hand-drive model first registered in France, this striking Zagato-bodied Lancia features the Milanese styling house’s renowned double-bubble body form in which low overall lines and rounded streamlined shape are achieved by the simple but ingenious A left hand-drive model first registered in France, this striking Zagato-bodied Lancia features the Milanese styling house’s renowned…
With the intention of competing in the worldwide luxury car market, Ferrari introduced the totally new 365 GT 2+2 at the Paris Salon in October 1967. It bore a strong resemblance to both the 330 GTC Special built for Belgium’s Princess de Rethy and to the famous 500 Superfast. The car was a technical triumph.…