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…
1987-89 Mercury Tracer: Hecho En Mexico
Sometimes a car is less significant for what it is than what it represents, and the original Mercury Tracer definitely falls into this category. Although it had a Ford sibling, the Asia-Pacific market Laser, both…
Flashback: Vega Kammback Wagons
Today, we’re flashing back to the summer of 1978 with a pair of Chevrolet Vega Kammback wagons. Look closely, and you’ll see two matching green versions of this tiny hauler, an early 1971-73 model in…
Volkswagen Type 34 Karmann-Ghia: The Razor’s Edge
The round, Chrysler-inspired, 1950s-era regular Volkswagen Karmann Ghia is a familiar sight in the USA, but there were actually three different Karmann Ghias in all. The original recipe Type 14, the 1970s-era Brazilian Type 145…
Subaru 360: First Star In The Constellation
If you see a Subaru 360 in the U.S., it’s probably a car that was imported here when they were new. The 360 and its bigger cousins, the Sambar truck and van, are some of…
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,…
Volkswagen Type 147 Fridolin: Special Delivery
Seeing any Volkswagen Type 147 Kleinlieferwagen, colloquially called the Fridolin, is a real rarity, but a Swiss-market model rolling up anywhere in the U.S.? That’s a genuine unicorn, and we spied this Swiss-spec one at…
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…
1967 International Travelall: The Proto Overlander
The Scout gets most of the ink today when people talk about International Harvester SUVs, but it actually appeared several years after the company’s first SUV, the jumbo-sized International Travelall. Yes, General Motors built an…
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…
1971 Plymouth GTX: The Heat Of The Moment
The Plymouth GTX lasted just five years as a stand-alone model, and the car was a resounding sales dud, but they were five glorious, bonkers years. The 1971 GTX seen here was the slowest seller…
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…