Category: Classic Cars

The Morgan Plus 8 was first launched in 1968. It retained the basic classic sports car shape used on the first four-wheel Morgan introduced in 1936 and similar chassis and suspension. This Z-section ladder chassis with a suspension comprising coil springs at the front and a solid axle on semi-elliptic springs at the rear dated back to the original 1910 Morgan. However, it had a new Rover V8 overhead valve engine which gave it sparkling performance. When Rover adopted the 3.5-litre, small block, all-alloy Buick V8 engine for use in… Read more

The Buick Riviera could be considered as America’s answer to the Bentley Continental. At the time of its introduction Ford’s Thunderbird was one of the best selling cars and General Motors needed a response. General Motors design chief at the time told his staff that GM needed a car which was a cross between a Ferrari and a Rolls Royce. When it went into production the Riviera had all the chrome and accessories of its contemporaries but was blessed with some of the finest Detroit styling of the 1960s. In… Read more

This front wheel drive car with its unitary body/chassis was first produced in 1938 by Amilcar not long after this company was taken over by Hotchkiss. Designed by famed French engineer Jean-Albert Gregoire, it was introduced to the motoring world at the 1937 Paris Motor Show. Amilcar Compound was powered by a four-cylinder, side valve 1185cc engine with a fully synchromesh four-speed gearbox mounted in front of it with gear selection by cables. Drive was taken to the front wheels via short shafts and constant velocity joints. For all its… Read more

The Rover P5 was first introduced in the late 1950s as post-war design No. 5 and when production was ceased in 1973 there was nothing to replace it as a car so ideally suited for ferrying around highly paid public servants. The Rover P5 was a Rolls-Royce for the middle classes and, had the air of a solid means of transport and a self-effacing dignity not replicated in any other car built in the 1970s. In fact they were still used by the British public service’s high-ranking officials well into… Read more

Introduced in 1968 the Lamborghini Espada was a true four-seater sports coupe. Many sports coupes have had a rear seat which required a person with the skills of Houdini to enter and exit from but the Espada had a rear seat which offered the occupants a comfortable and spacious ride. Powered by a V-12 engine it was like a Rolls-Royce on Speed. At the time of its introduction this dramatically-styled car was the fastest four-seater in the world with an impressive top speed of 241 km/h from its 4.0-litre, 242… Read more