Combining eye-catching styling, excellent design and a low purchase price, the Buchanan Cobra looked to have everything needed for success. But, sadly, it joined the long list of Australian automotive failures. The Cobra was designed and built by Nat Buchanan of Sydney, who had started in the car-making business by More
The AMC Javelin was released in the American autumn of 1967 and was intended to finally give AMC a car to counter the Mustang. It was born from the marriage of Nash, Rambler and Hudson and followed a series of cars released after the Mustang first appeared in 1965, none More
Harry C Stutz built his first gas buggy in 1899 and later went into the manufacture of transmissions and axles. His first involvement with automobile manufacture was in 1907 when he designed the American Underslung. Stutz created the Underslung by inverting an orthodox chassis so that it hung from its More
The Riley Brooklands was first introduced in mid-1927 and was produced from 1927 to 1932. It was powered by a front mounted four-cylinder 1087 cc overhead-valve engine which had part spherical combustion chambers driving the rear wheels. This engine was originally introduced in the Riley Nine family car in 1926 More
At the end of World War II Aston Martin was taken over by tractor magnate, David Brown. He learned that Lagonda was also having trouble raising sufficient capital to recommence operations after the war so promptly bought them also. With the purchase of Aston Martin he acquired one of their More
Opel cars were first made in Germany by Adam Opel GmbH, a German automobile company founded by Adam Opel in 1863. It became a subsidiary of General Motors (USA) in 1929 with GM holding an 80 per cent interest. General Motors was very impressed by Opel’s modern production facilities and More
Donald Healey was born in Perranporth, in Cornwall, England in 1898. He became a successful competition driver, engineer and finally a car manufacturer with his own business. In 1931, driving a 4.5 litre Invicta he won the Monte Carlo Rally outright, and joined Triumph in Coventry in 1933 and shortly More
Although Austin models were first assembled and partly manufactured in Australia before WWI, the 1958 Lancer was probably the first to have a significant local design input. The Lancer was one of ‘twins’ produced by BMC in Australia, the other being the Morris Major. Powered by a 1.5-litre, four-cylinder engine, More
Gabriel Voisin gained his engineering experience in the infant aviation industry and was actually running an aeroplane factory in Paris before the Wright brothers’ planes were in production, producing a number of aircraft during World War I. He later switched to car manufacture and one of his best products was More
The Trojan was produced in the UK during the years 1922 to 1929. Originally assembled by Leyland up to 1926, production was then taken over by the designer, Leslie Hounsfield for the next few years. During this time some minor updating took place. The ‘Utility’ became the ‘Ten’ and sales More
