Just a few months later, it would be swept aside by the radically aerodynamic, lozenge-shaped Sierra, but in early 1982 the Ford Cortina MkV was still a market-dominating machine in the U.K. Indeed, even after…
Browsing Category British Cars
Dodge SpaceVan: Anything But Space Age
Yup, it’s a Mopar! But definitely not one most American Dodge Charger, Plymouth GTX, or even Ram 1500 fans would recognize. This is a 1982 Dodge SpaceVan, a relic of Chrysler Corporation’s 1960s overseas ambitions…
Wolseley 18/85 & ADO17: High Tech Traditionalism
This Wolseley 18/85 was featured in our 2023 Hagerty story about the Kilbroney Vintage Show, but today, it’s time for a closer look at the car itself. Almost unknown outside of the U.K., the 18/85…
Lotus Excel: Hethel’s Best Kept Secret
It seems fair to say that the Lotus Excel is Hethel’s most underrated car. Nobody ever talks much about it, the company never again built anything like it after it was gone, and it dwelled…
Lagonda 3-Litre: Last Of A Classic Line
The Lagonda make goes all the way back to 1900, though its official founding was in 1906. Today, it’s most associated with the 1976-1990 Aston Martin Lagonda, William Towns’ wonder wedge supersedan, although more recently,…
Mini Moke: The Little Beach Car That Could
For a vehicle that completely missed the mark on its original mission, the Mini Moke sure has staying power. In fact, in a sense, it’s still with us today as a modern Moke is still…
Rover Montego Estate: The End Of The BAe Era
When BMW bought the Rover in early 1994—a moment that has lived in infamy for many parties ever since—its German bosses were surprised to learn that the former Austin Maestro and Montego were still in…
Ford Escort Mark II: Project Brenda
By the summer of 1980, Ford of Europe’s Escort Mark II was starting to feel old, and the automotive world was abuzz with news of its much-anticipated front-drive successor, “Project Erika.” However, while it was…
Lotus Elite Type 14: The Unbearable Lightness Of Being Fast
When the Type 14 Lotus Elite wowed the crowd at Earls Court in 1957, just nine years had passed since Colin Chapman had built his very first race car. After a meteoric rise in motorsport,…
Range Rover Classic: The Beginning of the Luxe Truck
Even Bentley and Rolls-Royce make SUVs today, as unusual as that idea might once have seemed, and 2021’s roads are chock-a-block with luxe utilities. That might not have happened if not for two pioneering trucks,…
Vauxhall Victor F-series: Tri-Five in Miniature
You don’t often see Vauxhalls in the USA, but for a little while, one member of GM’s British contingent was as transatlantic as Katherine Hepburn’s accent. What you see here is an F-type Vauxhall Victor,…
Rover P6: Modern Disguised as Traditional
James Bond might have driven Astons, but George Smiley was a Rover P6 man. Alec Guinness gave Smiley international TV fame two years after Star Wars, and two years after P6 production ended. Guinness was…